Let's first talk O:
With half season learning curve in year 1 of MacAdoo's system, an offensive line young and in-flux, and battling health issues all year, our offense finished 11th and Eli posted the 2nd best numbers of his entire 10 year career.
This is not even considering that this offense as a unit lacks the collective overall talent that many of it's predecessors had in the TC/Eli era. Contrary to the lack of big moves thus far, I think the future is bright here in year 2 of MacAdoo's system.
On defense, health and system played a huge detrimental role as well. Spagnuolo comes back a second time to hopefully replicate what he did the first time which was replacing the previous coordinator's system with one that utilizes the personnel more appropriately.
He will likely feature an attacking in your face style defense which better complements our players skillsets and dictates the pace rather than the read-and-react of Fewell.
A better system and/or coaching raises ALL 11 players level of play incrementally.
That could make Spagnuolo the key signing this off-season more than any individual player.
Perhaps another reason for lack of big changes this FA is the Giants sat back and re-evaluated the season performance then right or wrong, determined much of the issues weren't as personnel related as they were health and system related.
We had the most missed games by players in the entire league. Fewell defense was not a good fit and did not know how to adjust and MacAdoo's system took half a season to grasp especially for the OL.
Barring a flurry of late activity in FA, Giants are going to battle with a pretty similar team to last year. We will see if Reese's faith in the roster was well-placed.
On the Reese front, no GM is perfect and Jerry's imperfections aren't as bad when you compare him to the rest of the field.
BBI'ers are looking for a scapegoat for our recent bad performances and rightfully so. Hopefully, the new, for lack of a better term more 'player-friendly' systems on both offense and defense will ultimately allow us to see the full potential this collective group has moving forward.
Can you share in my optimism, fellow Giant brethren?
Spags replacing Fewell *huge*
Special teams w/a big upgrade on paper with harris, thomas and casillas
we quietly improved in all 3 phases and we haven't hit the draft yet.
Defense - going to struggle with likely continued poor LB and Safety play. Who is there to make 3rd down plays and get this team off the field?
Offense - look forward to hopefully seeing Beckham, Cruz, Jennings and Vereen on field to give Eli plenty of options. Throw in a more experienced Donnell to move the chains a bit as well if he stops fumbling.
Specials - be nice to more positive than negative here but who knows.
Defense - going to struggle with likely continued poor LB and Safety play. Who is there to make 3rd down plays and get this team off the field?
Offense - look forward to hopefully seeing Beckham, Cruz, Jennings and Vereen on field to give Eli plenty of options. Throw in a more experienced Donnell to move the chains a bit as well if he stops fumbling.
Specials - be nice to more positive than negative here but who knows.
Jimmy, I agree, but think about what you said. Playing more consistently and finishing games suggests that we will have a winning season. Doing that is what it takes. We were wildly inconsistent last season and showed great flashes of offensive strength. With Spags, I'm assuming the defense will hold the type of games we lost when we couldn't sustain the lead Eli got us late in the game. I think just playing consistently and finishing games will give us a HUGE bounce back. Along with the additions of our FA's and I hope a good draft will be part of that. To me, things are looking way up.
My optimism is based upon the low odds of us getting hit yet again with those season ending dreaded reports. It has to get better OR we have a serious problem with player preparation and conditioning.
My optimism is based upon the low odds of us getting hit yet again with those season ending dreaded reports. It has to get better OR we have a serious problem with player preparation and conditioning.
Could not have said it better -- and agree.
The half-full glass looks so much better.
So, the Giants being the Giants, the defense will surprise us & perform well while the offense regresses.
Not sure about that. New England is always tough, Buffalo is consistant QB play away from being a very dangerous team and Miami has improved as well. The Jets are what they are.
If we play as inconsistent as we did last year, and as poorly on D, we easily could go 1-3 against the AFC East.
So a big bounce back is possible, but not likely.
So, the Giants being the Giants, the defense will surprise us & perform well while the offense regresses.
I agree with being worried about the defense...if they could just improve a bit...just average(compared to simply awful)the Giants should improve. I'm hoping for a good draft and a little health.
OBj, will not get single coverage this year....
Can Cruz come back?
Will Donnell improve?
Can Jennings stay healthy?
Can Eli be accurate with Vereen?
Will Randle finally get it?
Will they get that 5th OLman, and will the line get their act together quickly(players playing 3, possibly 4 new positions)?
As for the defense, all you can hope for, is that they get better as the season progresses.....right now, they just don't have the players....
Nope.
Why?
Because when a team is near the very, very bottom at the point of attack on BOTH sides of the ball, that problem cannot be fixed in one or two years.
I think one side or the other can be "fixed" in a year -- both not both.
The biggest point is that as of this moment they have not brought in one player that makes anyone say what a great move. Sure if this was a winning team and they just added some depth that would be great but this team needed very good players on offense and defense so far none have arrived.
Here's to opening day.
Wait and see. That's why they play the games.
DAL and PHI arent going to be as good next season
also good things happen when the Gmen play the AFC East
2. Same o-line coach
3. Same strength/conditioning team
But I think the sound systems both offensively and defensively will play huge roles. Both broken 'systems' have been adressed. And I see some players here ready for much bigger contributions now that the proverbial shackles have been removed.
What bothers me is still retaining Quinn. The murmurs on BBI that he some sort of connections to ownership wouldn't surprise me in the least. To deflect blame off him we got a few quality Special teamers in Harris and Casillas. Hopefully the unit can just be adequate. One of the worst things Quinn has failed at is Punt blocking. You almost never see the gunners even close to impeded from a free run at the punt returner. That doesn't bode well for Harris.
Offensively we have Eli, Odell and hope for Victor. Our RBs do not scare anybody and Eli better figure out how to throw a short ball or Vereen will be a waste. The OL, well, we know the deal there.
I've heard all I need to hear about injuries. Jennings injury hurt us big time last year (BB56 deserves credit for warning us at the time) but remember we were 0-6 before the injuries really started piling up. 7-9, 6-10, like I said, I'd take 8-8 and no blow outs.
If that means TC is out, so be it. Nothing lasts forever.
Defense is another question entirely. Here we've really got to make some progress. We need Beason to be healthy (a huge question mark), and we need to add talent both up the middle of the DL and on the edges. I think that we've added two LBs who will help us defend the seam and short middle zones, as well as help us to deal with the option better. But we have no Safeties, and a CB group that is much thinner than last year.
Then there's our competition. I just don't think as currently constituted that we can stop Dallas from running the ball down our throats and also beating our secondary in the passing game. To me they are our biggest competition. Chip Kelly's teams have also always found ways to win, and they will be tough as well.
So I guess I'm cautiously optimistic, but am hoping for a really great draft and a few more FA additions to firm up the roster so that I could become more confident that we'll have a winning season.
We have seen repeated examples of teams with a new coach/system turning their fortunes dramatically.
Lewis to Spagnoulo round 1
Marinelli last year as Dallas' DC
(Across the pond in Hockey)Torterella to AV
LeBeau's 1st year (I think) in Pittsburgh
The personell in many of these cases was not overhauled with wholesale changes yet their was substantial turnaround each time.
Going from a bad DC/system to a good DC/system raises the level of play of ALL 11 players.
This doesn't guarantee a huge turnaround if Spags somehow flops but I don't see that happening.
I believe that Spagnuolo will be a big step up simply by
being flexible enough to not force fit players into his vision of the defense but rather constructing a defense that is much more appropriate to his players strengths.
I believe that Spagnuolo will be a big step up simply by
being flexible enough to not force fit players into his vision of the defense but rather constructing a defense that is much more appropriate to his players strengths.
That is also my definition of a good coach: finding ways to maximize the talents and minimize the weaknesses of the players you have by using the strategy and tactics that "fit" those players. [See photo of Bill Belichik, who seemingly changes players and modifies his "system" every year]. Thanks, Coach M.
The team in general has too many question marks, starting from the offense to the defense. I need to see how the team shapes up, but right now I wouldn't expect much than a .500 team.
If people can stay healthy as step 1. Step 2, if they can then produce, then i think we can get to that optimist 9-7 record.
Teams go from bad to good. It happens all the time. Get on board.
Not much separates the 10 win teams from from the 6-7 win teams. The Giants just need a little more talent at some weak spots which may happen from within and they need a shred of luck. Some of you act like this team and other teams like NY are miles and miles away. You're wrong. I'm not saying that the Giants will win 11 games in 2015 but I am not saying they will lose 8 games either. There's way too much unknown that can go right or wrong in the NFL to sit here and proclaim anything right now. Other than a few elites and a few train wrecks the NFL is a fluid dynamic. The Giants know how to develop young talent. I trust them.
Not much separates the 10 win teams from from the 6-7 win teams. The Giants just need a little more talent at some weak spots which may happen from within and they need a shred of luck. Some of you act like this team and other teams like NY are miles and miles away. You're wrong. I'm not saying that the Giants will win 11 games in 2015 but I am not saying they will lose 8 games either. There's way too much unknown that can go right or wrong in the NFL to sit here and proclaim anything right now. Other than a few elites and a few train wrecks the NFL is a fluid dynamic. The Giants know how to develop young talent. I trust them.
True we were in a few close games too. We should win a couple more of those simply on incremental better play in year 2 of MacAdoos system and a non-Perry Fewell scheme.