A tough 2014 season will be remembered for its lengthy injured reserve list that included key players like wide receiver Victor Cruz, cornerbacks Prince Amukamara and Trumaine McBride, linebacker Jon Beason, and offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz. They are all eying a healthy return in 2015.
We have over 20% of the starters coming back to the team that didn't play last year. Plus guys like Jennings and DRC who were severely compromised. You add to that just a few developing draft choices and new FAs and you have a vastly different team.
say I'm confident about the upcoming season but there's just too many Rookies and players with very little to no experience manning key positions. I obviously hope for the best but it's very difficult to imagine these guys really shining with such little experience under their belts....not to mention fragile and injury prone players. I'm not pessimistic but I'm very realistic when it comes to 2015...long term, different story.
This offensive line could be a disaster. You can scheme around 1 bad OT, but if Flowers isn't ready and Newhouse is who we fear he is, it could really hurt our offense and we need the offense to carry this team. I really think we need to sign Jake Long assuming he can be ready for Week 1 because if he can give you a couple quality games while Flowers gets acclimated, that will be a huge help.
The defense I feel good about but as Eric has said, there is no depth in the secondary and we have injury prone players back there.
I think we will see significant improvement this year but I still think this team is one year away from really being ready to challenge for a title.
After blowing a 21-0 lead gainst one of the worst teams in the league, we beat 3 bad teams and then lost at home to the Eagles who had zero to play for. Color me unimpressed.
Salomone writes for the Giants and they pay him to be happy about this team.
7-9 if we stay healthy, and that's a big if. Too many holes, too many fringe NFL players in key roles and a team with a history of too many injuries.
We are still one very good offseason away from sniffing competing in the NFC East. We've added some pieces but we still have a lot of stop gap players who have no business on a contender and some none in the NFL. Our depth everywhere but WR and RB is laughable and that's only because this team has excelled at finding WR and RB talent for Reese's duration here. OL, not so much, along with LB we have been abysmal in bringing in and evaluating.
I do take some comfort in David Merritt though, it seems no matter who is back at safety he's gotten the best out of them. S has almost never been a weakness on this team during his tenure, even when we had James Butler and Michael Johnson playing in a SB for us, they still did the job. He may not have much to work with, but no one thought much of Will Hill as a UDFA or Stevie Brown after his bad run with the Colts but both flourished under Merritt.
How can anyone say we aren't ready to "sniff" the NFC East? There are no teams in the NFC East that are intimidating. The Giants could easily win the division - or finish third. A do think that a lot would have to go right for the Giants to beat Seattle or Green Bay, but beyond those two anything is possible.
I agree with Joey in VA and others who think they are not ready
to contend. 8-8 with a strong finish would be a good season. A revamped OL, Beatty out, all rookie Safety corp, usual middling LBs, lack of depth at CB, many ?? on DL and a new Def Co and system do not add up to a fast start and a division title. They are probably 7-9 and could easily be 6-10 again (or worse) if the rooks take longer than expected to acclimate or they have another disastrous injury plague.
and are counting on a rookie LT and a scrub RT to hold up.
We COULD stay healthy, we might sign a guy like Long for one OT spot, and perhaps Spags can somehow make the defense become effective again, but those are a lot of ifs.
I'm looking forward to being pleasantly surprised, but I see us at about 8-8.
I think no matter what you can feel like this team is moving in the
And if things break right on offense (i.e. Flowers plays at a high level and Schwartz rebounds from his injury), this offense could be special and could carry this team into the playoffs and we all know once you are there anything can happen. And if JPP regains his dominant form in this his franchise tag year, he can carry the defense as he has proven in the past. This is not a scrub team, just not a deep or perfect team.
But as I said, it's more likely the team is still a year away.
because they can't not be in their neighborhood/town... They spew pessimism in the name of being above the "knee jerk fans". Based on a limited sample, we may have the best wide receiver in the league. Cruz is coming back. we added Vareen. We finished the year incredibly strong on offense. Eli's in the second year in the offense and improved week to week last year. 6-10 my ass.
This offensive line could be a disaster. You can scheme around 1 bad OT, but if Flowers isn't ready and Newhouse is who we fear he is, it could really hurt our offense and we need the offense to carry this team. I really think we need to sign Jake Long assuming he can be ready for Week 1 because if he can give you a couple quality games while Flowers gets acclimated, that will be a huge help.
The defense I feel good about but as Eric has said, there is no depth in the secondary and we have injury prone players back there.
I think we will see significant improvement this year but I still think this team is one year away from really being ready to challenge for a title.
I agree 100%. The Giants have to figure out how to cut down on injuries to some extent. Year after year they are up there or leading the league.
I'm concerned about both tackle spots on the Oline unless I knew Pugh would be playing tackle this year. So far, it doesn't look that way. Believe me, I'd love to see Flowers and surprise me and play OK at either tackle spot. Like others have said, Newhouse is pretty much (in NFL terms) a turd.
If Cruz is near 100%, I'll consider it a miracle. Just stay f'ing healthy and the Giants should compete for a playoff spot in Coughlin's final season.
Sign Jake Long if he's healthy because Newhouse if god-awful
How can anyone say we aren't ready to "sniff" the NFC East? There are no teams in the NFC East that are intimidating. The Giants could easily win the division - or finish third. A do think that a lot would have to go right for the Giants to beat Seattle or Green Bay, but beyond those two anything is possible.
In general, I tend to agree as we have upgraded our overall talent. The injury to Beatty is a huge blow BUT if it had to happen better now than in the middle of camp. I think Flowers will be moved to RT and Newhouse the veteran to LT.
The offense will struggle mightily if both can't at least be adequate. Not many teams can lose their starting LT and be no worse off due to depth. Maybe Canadian Jones shows well at OG and Schwartz moves to RT? Newhouse to left while Flowers learns?
Flowers is too raw in pass protection and camp will reveal that. 21 and raw and expected to start as a rookie LT?? I am concerned and see us likely moving people around during camp. But hey, maybe Flowers works hard and picks it up quickly?
One thing I do believe is we will run well behind Flowers and the OL from game 1 and that would be huge.
Newhouse should not be starting at RT, let alone LT.
I'd keep the rookie at LT, growing pains notwithstanding. With Pugh to his right and Richburg in the middle, I feel pretty confident in 3/5 of the O-Line.
The big question at RG is Schwartz's health. If he's going to miss a considerable amount of time again, someone not named John Jerry will have to step up. One guy I'll be keeping an eye on this summer is Adam Gettis. He's a little on the small side, but he's a scrappy kid with good feet. He can also play both Guard spots. I'd see if he could play Center, too. I'm pretty sure the Giants will also give Bobby Hart a long look at RG, too. He isn't the athlete that Gettis is, but he's a hell of a lot bigger and more powerful.
RT is up for grabs. For me, it's anybody but Newhouse. Maybe Brandon Mosley will finally justify his existence. Maybe Michael Bamiro will shock the world. We can only hope.
We have over 20% of the starters coming back to the team that didn't play last year. Plus guys like Jennings and DRC who were severely compromised. You add to that just a few developing draft choices and new FAs and you have a vastly different team.
The defense I feel good about but as Eric has said, there is no depth in the secondary and we have injury prone players back there.
I think we will see significant improvement this year but I still think this team is one year away from really being ready to challenge for a title.
7-9 if we stay healthy, and that's a big if. Too many holes, too many fringe NFL players in key roles and a team with a history of too many injuries.
We are still one very good offseason away from sniffing competing in the NFC East. We've added some pieces but we still have a lot of stop gap players who have no business on a contender and some none in the NFL. Our depth everywhere but WR and RB is laughable and that's only because this team has excelled at finding WR and RB talent for Reese's duration here. OL, not so much, along with LB we have been abysmal in bringing in and evaluating.
I do take some comfort in David Merritt though, it seems no matter who is back at safety he's gotten the best out of them. S has almost never been a weakness on this team during his tenure, even when we had James Butler and Michael Johnson playing in a SB for us, they still did the job. He may not have much to work with, but no one thought much of Will Hill as a UDFA or Stevie Brown after his bad run with the Colts but both flourished under Merritt.
Pitchforks, torches, angry faces, and tons of mouthbreathing.
We COULD stay healthy, we might sign a guy like Long for one OT spot, and perhaps Spags can somehow make the defense become effective again, but those are a lot of ifs.
I'm looking forward to being pleasantly surprised, but I see us at about 8-8.
And if things break right on offense (i.e. Flowers plays at a high level and Schwartz rebounds from his injury), this offense could be special and could carry this team into the playoffs and we all know once you are there anything can happen. And if JPP regains his dominant form in this his franchise tag year, he can carry the defense as he has proven in the past. This is not a scrub team, just not a deep or perfect team.
But as I said, it's more likely the team is still a year away.
I'm excited. I think Eli will put up a 35/10 type season.
The defense I feel good about but as Eric has said, there is no depth in the secondary and we have injury prone players back there.
I think we will see significant improvement this year but I still think this team is one year away from really being ready to challenge for a title.
I agree 100%. The Giants have to figure out how to cut down on injuries to some extent. Year after year they are up there or leading the league.
I'm concerned about both tackle spots on the Oline unless I knew Pugh would be playing tackle this year. So far, it doesn't look that way. Believe me, I'd love to see Flowers and surprise me and play OK at either tackle spot. Like others have said, Newhouse is pretty much (in NFL terms) a turd.
If Cruz is near 100%, I'll consider it a miracle. Just stay f'ing healthy and the Giants should compete for a playoff spot in Coughlin's final season.
The offense will struggle mightily if both can't at least be adequate. Not many teams can lose their starting LT and be no worse off due to depth. Maybe Canadian Jones shows well at OG and Schwartz moves to RT? Newhouse to left while Flowers learns?
Flowers is too raw in pass protection and camp will reveal that. 21 and raw and expected to start as a rookie LT?? I am concerned and see us likely moving people around during camp. But hey, maybe Flowers works hard and picks it up quickly?
One thing I do believe is we will run well behind Flowers and the OL from game 1 and that would be huge.
The big question at RG is Schwartz's health. If he's going to miss a considerable amount of time again, someone not named John Jerry will have to step up. One guy I'll be keeping an eye on this summer is Adam Gettis. He's a little on the small side, but he's a scrappy kid with good feet. He can also play both Guard spots. I'd see if he could play Center, too. I'm pretty sure the Giants will also give Bobby Hart a long look at RG, too. He isn't the athlete that Gettis is, but he's a hell of a lot bigger and more powerful.
RT is up for grabs. For me, it's anybody but Newhouse. Maybe Brandon Mosley will finally justify his existence. Maybe Michael Bamiro will shock the world. We can only hope.