First off, apologies we didn’t have time to do an interview today. I had to jet out of there at 12:40 today. We were there for the majority of practice, when they moved the team inside the facility we opted to leave, as the meat of the action was over.
Saw Mike Nugent get the kicks today, don’t read in to depth chart stuff there. These guys aren’t going to kick a lot of volume at this point, they may even flip flop each day. This will be a battle that goes to the end. Rosas’ leg is stronger.
OFFENSE NOTES
-Was looking at the OL as much as possible today. When it comes to the first strong, Ereck Flowers still struggles with his pad level. Defenders are constantly getting underneath him, causing him to lean over and bend at the waist, making his hand placement sub-par. More of the same there but he did have a couple of run blocks where his natural power and strength were on full display. That’s one thing he always has, strong punches and ability to anchor. Right guard anyone? OG Justin Pugh got in to a couple fights today. He looks to be the enforcer of this offense, he doesn’t want any of his guy taking extra hits and showed no hesitation in defending them when they did.
-I wanted to get more looks at UDFAs Jessamen Dunker. Early in practice, Dunker impressed me with both straight line and lateral movement. Definitely a plus athlete that can be where he needs to be at the right time. But body wise, he is a year away. He will be one of my practice squad predictions but he did get hurt today, we’ll see there. OT Jarron Jones is at the very beginning of a very long road when it comes to his OT progression. He won’t be a factor on the field this season, not even close. Expectedly so, he looks 2-3 steps behind every time he is out there in live action. My question is, will they use a practice squad spot on him? He will have to show a consistent work ethic and approach if he has any shot.
-Was rough to see WR Shepard go down. I saw the whole process and at first I thought it was an Achilles, he was visibly upset and in pain. A sprained ankle can linger for months and in some cases can be worse than a fracture. Now it’s a waiting and hoping game.
-Who is going to step up in his place? Tavarres King was with the first three WR set. He is the best short area mover of the rest. Quality route runner, can be slippery after the catch. Roger Lewis may have more raw talent but he’s still towards the beginning of his WR maturation process. I see the team trying to get more and more looks at Darius Powe. Physical pass catcher with some ability after the catch. They like the dependability of Dwayne Harris. Could this open a door for the fastest guy on the team, Kevin Snead?
-TEs Matt LaCosse and Jerell Adams caught passes on the all-out move today, a welcoming sign for a team that didn’t get enough from that position in 2016. Hard ti ignore the every down upside of Adams.
DEFENSE NOTES
-This LB core looks angry. All of them. While the group fights may be a little over the top and the coaches supposedly don’t like them, part of me likes the fact these LBs are starting them. They are hitting a little too hard but they are doing it on purpose. It’s a personality trait to a defense that you want. Goodson, Kennard, and Casillas especially were instigating. This defense is VERY physical.
-Still a little confused how this team plans on using LB Stansly Maponga. He is very strong and stout. But I don’t see him performing well in space and he can’t play DE in this scheme. I think he is a 3-4 OLB-only type but maybe NYG has a role for that kind of guy more than we think.
-DT Dalvin Tomlinson got some snaps against first time linemen. He has great short area burst and closing speed. I think there is some more pass rush potential here than I initially thought. On the flip side, he got handled by DJ Fluker a couple times on running plays.
-S Eric Pinkins is interesting to me. There is a lot of talk about backup safeties and I have to think this hybrid S/LB, plus athlete is in the mix. He is a superb athlete with good size. Physical kid and he was performing very well in special team drills.
-I haven’t seen much out of DT Corbin Bryant and with the DL being pretty crowded depth wise, he will need to stand out over the next few days if he is going to make this team.
3 STANDOUTS
-OT Bobby Hart – For the second day in a row, I walked away with a positive impression on Hart. He looks more confident and quick-minded out there. Reacting more so than thinking his way through things. He wins almost all of his physical one on one battles, and his pass protection techniques look like they’ve been cleaned up.
-DE Romeo Okwara – On a team full of physical specimens, Okwara takes the cake. He is by far the most impressive athlete on this team. He is still a little raw and too straight line dependent when it comes to movement, but the tools are there and if NYG is patient, I think he is going to be a good one. Pad level, post-engagement moves, and consistent leverage are things he needs work on but in time, they ae very correctable. I am really excited about him.
-OG DJ Fluker – Really food day for this big man. And I mean BIG. He swallows defenders, even makes DT Harrison look small. I’ll say this about Fluker, if he gets his hands on the man he needs to run block, it’s over. He won every battle I watched him on. I think RG is the perfect home for him.
See ya tomorrow!
August 2 Video
Anyone for LT?
I'm j/k, I'm actually a huge Flowers fan. A few of these reports in a row citing his continued lack of fundamentals is not what I wanted to read but I hold out hope that it is still early and this still not even pre-season game action yet.
Great news about Hart and Okwara. It would be nice to have RT and the very important 3rd/rotational DE roles locked up by young, ascending players.
That is a very strong statement on a team with Odell Beckham. Of course very different size / skill sets between Okwara and Beckham.
Your draft and camp reports are wonderful. BBI is very lucky to have you as a contibutor.
I wasn't suggesting doing it this season. If Flowers doesn't improve then the Giants need to find another LT. The Giants will have the year to see if either Wheeler or Bisnowaty are the answer there. If they aren't they will have to bring in another LT either through the draft or FA.
SY’56 has been scouting players since 2006 and has developed his own grading system. His work has landed him a position with Ourlads.com. He spends 20-25 hours per week on scouting players throughout the year.
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Report, I really appreciate your observations and posting of them... Are you a coach or just a opinionated fan?
SY’56 has been scouting players since 2006 and has developed his own grading system. His work has landed him a position with Ourlads.com. He spends 20-25 hours per week on scouting players throughout the year.
If you go to the Team Building section of the website, you can find Sy's pre-draft scouting reports in The Draft. They're definitely worth reading.
The LG position usually requires a quicker player who is good at pulling.
I agree. I also expect if McAdoo has any say (and perhaps Spags recognizes this himself), the third and fourth DEs are going to be featured a lot more than they were last year, in light of JPP's injury and the fact that he and OV were the league leaders in snap % among DL generally.
I'm excited to see what Devin Taylor looks like when he finally gets in the ring. He's among the biggest guys on the team. If he and Okwara can both come in in passing situations, pushing both JPP and OV to the inside, we may have a new aces package that can get at the QB (and potentially adding Kennard and Moss in the mix there as well).
I'd hate to try and take the cake away from him.
Wouldn't move Pugh there because if e has a good year he's going to want left tackle money. Would move him there after this year and sign him to guard money
Good that at least B. Hart looks better and ready. If he can hold his own that would be HUGE; especially IF E. Flowers continues to struggle this year in pass protection.
You can protect one guy but two is very hard.
I'm expecting to see quite a bit of Ellison-Flowers this season.
Flowers is not looking like NFL LT material ... Ellison will help, but I'd love to see Flowers slide in at RG and just maul people. I know LT's don't grow on trees - hopefully this year's draft class is better
Most of the money/skill is in front of them and behind them. Giants have a D-Line that can set up the secondary and a secondary that can set up the D-line in return. The LB's should be excited to fly around punish guys when they get their shots.
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But there are some things the Giants can do personnel-wise, scheme-wise, to give him some help in pass-protection. One of the reasons I liked the Ellison signing (even though there were other UFA TEs I liked a bit more) was that he spent his last year in Minnesota virtually joined at T.J. Clemmings' hip, giving the struggling LT as much help as he could. Sure, it would be great if Flowers...ahem...blossomed, but if the Giants have to work around him, I think they'll be able to, especially if they can lock down the right side of the O-Line.
I'm expecting to see quite a bit of Ellison-Flowers this season.
Flowers is not looking like NFL LT material ... Ellison will help, but I'd love to see Flowers slide in at RG and just maul people. I know LT's don't grow on trees - hopefully this year's draft class is better
Honestly, outside of McGlinchey from Notre Dame I don't have a clue about the OTs in 2018. Sy's probably already clued in...Colin at GBN, too.
if he struggles in pre-season would they make a move
to get a LT I know it won't be cheap but maybe a team
rebuliding or whatever . Maybe Ellison will just have
to help out when he does struggle lets hope its not
every game .
Mentioning Okwara hope that he builds on last year would
be nice to get an 8-10 sack season out of him . I am curious to see what Devin Taylor can do as well if both
do well in the pass rush then we should be in great shape .
Sucks about Shepperd hopefully he is not out too long
but I feel we have some depth in the passing game now
that it won't hurt too awful much .
This pre-season I've found I'm really only interested in reading your reports. Thank you so much for the dependable and very reliable reporting. I find it incredibly valuable as a Giants fan.
It's early but in the link below and on the MSG camp show tonight, it looks like the same Ereck Flowers from 2015 and 2016. That's f'ing scary.
Link - ( New Window )
Besides Flowers,my biggest concern about this year's team is the ability or inability to run the ball. We have a questionable offensive line with I guess what would be called unproven runners. What do you forsee out of the running game?
Besides Flowers,my biggest concern about this year's team is the ability or inability to run the ball. We have a questionable offensive line with I guess what would be called unproven runners. What do you forsee out of the running game?
The running game, even moreso than the passing game, lives and dies on the OL. I would day NYG is 50/50 on strong/weak in that department. Good enough to be effective but a very limited ceiling.
I do think Perkins is the most talented RB NYG has had in a very long time. Very good running style, low to the ground, let quickness, balance, vision. It's all there. I think it will be "good enough" but not gamebreakinig at all
The problem is that they simply don't have any better alternative to man LT. I think it's become pretty clear that Flowers would be better inside or at least on the right side - but Fluker seems to be off to a good start @ RG, and Pugh is pretty entrenched @ LG at this point.
We basically have two options - neither of which seem to be better alternatives. One would be flipping Pugh and Flowers - the other would be flipping Hart and Flowers. Flowers would probably be better suited @ RT, but Hart is finally starting to look comfortable there - I'm not sure I'd want to stunt that by putting him on the other side.
It is what it is. I think Flowers is going to get a lot of help from Ellison and I think that was something that was strongly considered when we signed him.
Giants have had some good drafts lately and killer FA pickups, but that Flowers pick - one reasonably expects a top 10 Oline pick to pay at least some dividends - has really left a gaping whole on the offense.
Rhett Ellison is going to be a very important player for NY in 2017. By 2018 EF likely will not be the Giants' LT anymore.
Maybe, hopefully, I'm wrong and he improves but that clip is damning cause it's the same glaring weakness we saw his first couple seasons.