Pugh 'humbled' by free agency; no call from Giants

Justin Pugh has something to say...

My God. He loves the sound of his own voice.

has been a real humbling experience for us Giants fans...

So he's better than Norwell and should have been breaking the bank after Norwell signed. Same ole Pugh. And I've still got to live with him out here

In comment 13984758 Stu11 said:

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has been a real humbling experience for us Giants fans...

haha

Neither the Giants nor Pugh’s former coach Coughlin had any interest and TC decided to back up the BRINKS truck for Norwell at Pugh’s position. Pretty damning. I’d agree the small market, low expectations Cards are a better place for him.

once TC signed Norwell at Pugh’s position it sealed it for me, move on and do your best to get tougher, invest the bigger cap dollars at tackle and move fwd.

In comment 13984756 SFGFNCGiantsFan said:

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My God. He loves the sound of his own voice.

You know the media asks him this stuff, right?

“It started to worry me when it was going on because I was like, ‘Norwell signed. I think I’m as good if not better than him. He’s a run blocker.’ So once I knew New York was out of the question -- I didn’t even talk to New York -- once I knew it wasn’t going to happen I was like, 'Norwell, go to New York so every other guard team is out there.'"

He's nuts.

This guy couldn't hold Norwell jockstrap. All be does is talk talk and more talk. Surprised he didn't beg his favorite team the Eagles to sign him on a 1 year prove it deal. To me all he is a slightly more versatile upgrade over Will Beatty. Hurt half the time. No mean streak etc.. He will be lucky if he plays 10 games this year.

(on the open market) far more than the Giants were willing to pay after 5 seasons.

The rumblings I hear is that he was a "ME" guy, not in the sense of problem in the locker room, but never really grasped the leadership role many thought he should have. His injury history was a problem, too, as he missed more games with each successive season (0, 2, 2, 5, 8).

tackle and play both pretty well -- when healthy.

grew up an Eagles fan, no loss

for the world's biggest hole

...was that Norwell was more of a run blocker and he was more of a pass blocker, and it's a league that generally values pass-protection over run-blocking.

Compared to the linemen taking ahead of him in the 2013 draft, Pugh was an absolute steal for the Giants. Whatever position they asked him to play, he played at it at a starting quality level. If they had stuck him at left tackle as a rookie and left him there, he would've played the position better than anyone the Giants had there for the past five years. He would've been a Dave Diehl type of left tackle, not great, but good enough to win.

The only problem with Pugh were the injuries. You could rely on his talent, but not his health. Which is a huge problem, but not one we should be badmouthing him over. He's a guy who did everything the Giants asked of him. And he has the right to believe in himself. If he believes he's every bit as valuable to a team as Norwell, isn't that what you want him to believe? This is a far cry from Bobby Hart saying he's the best right tackle in football. With better luck in the injury department going forward, who is to say it won't prove to be the case? Time will tell.

p.s.--I get the hate for McAdoo on BBI. I didn't like him from the get-go, even during times when the offense was working and the team was winning. He was a poser, hiding behind a gruff expression and every cliche in the book of football cliches. But Reese and Pugh get entirely too much undeserved bashing on BBI. Reese was--at worst--a competent GM (if I were assigning him a letter grade, I would give him a "B"). And Pugh's only sin was missing too much time to injury.

Looks like he’s doing okay for himself!!
Link - ( New Window )

quite a bit better actually which explains why one was drafted in the 1st round and one was drafted in the 5th round. But Diehl was much more valuable because Diehl was reliable and consistent even though he was on his best day average.

In comment 13984756 SFGFNCGiantsFan said:

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My God. He loves the sound of his own voice.

He was asked a question and he gave a thoughtful and perfectly fine response. Do fans ever shut up?

didn't earn a 2nd contract here. I think he was terribly miscast and mismanaged. He was never going to be an upper echelon right tackle. He should have started at LG from day 1 and also been given a serious shot to earn the LT job after the Beatty injury.

If they wanted an RT, they should have drafted Kyle Long.

also thought he was as good as Kevin Zeitler last year. At least he got 1 team to buy his BS.

That’s a joke right?

When you finish as bad as the Giants did (with a team as bad as the 2017 Giants), and big chunk of your issues are with the OL, Pugh is a guy that you have to let go of; particularly when he has back issues. Sorry, but when you have to rebuild the OL while managing the salary cap, you don't spend big bucks on players that spend most Sundays walking the sidelines in street clothes.

In comment 13984836 lono801 said:

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That’s a joke right?

+1

Don't dignify the sentiment by trying to have a dialogue.

In comment 13984848 Racer said:

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In comment 13984836 lono801 said: Quote: That’s a joke right? +1 Don't dignify the sentiment by trying to have a dialogue.

I don't think David Diehl got this many compliments when he was playing

I will be shocked if he is missed.

Pugh will likely be available again soon once ARZ gets tired of the missing starts...

In comment 13984823 arniefez said:

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quite a bit better actually which explains why one was drafted in the 1st round and one was drafted in the 5th round. But Diehl was much more valuable because Diehl was reliable and consistent even though he was on his best day average.

Jeebus that is a pretty piss poor opinion.

ever to wear the uniform. He was on his best average and usually below average at every position he lined up at. But he lined up every game and that is valuable. Pugh didn't play enough but when he was healthy he played at a level Diehl never came close to.

in between what the best and worst BBI opinions of him were.

He's definitely a bit chatty overall (though I'm not sure this is an example). He was a good player - solid, if unspectacular, who was surrounded by a lot of crap and had too many injuries. Had either one of those elements been slightly different, we might think better of Pugh here.

Then again, he's an Eagles fan, so fuck him.

and will continue to miss time.

And I acknowledge that Diehl should have been canned about 3 years before he retired. But in the toughness department? Pugh is a micropenis by comparison.

In comment 13984758 Stu11 said:

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has been a real humbling experience for us Giants fans...

Lmao..well played sir...

* NOT a #1 pick type

* Yes, he was mis-cast; was put at RT (where he failed)

* Was then moved to LG (where he was just adequate)

* NO he is not just as good as Norwell

* Yes, injuries affected his career

He thinks he's elite, he's not. He just needs to be grateful he has a job.

In comment 13984864 widmerseyebrow said:

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And I acknowledge that Diehl should have been canned about 3 years before he retired. But in the toughness department? Pugh is a micropenis by comparison.

This isn't entirely accurate. Pugh was a much better guard than Diehl but Diehl was the better OT. People seem to believe that Diehl was a very good guard but the truth is that he struggled at G.

if he were he wouldn't have claimed that he was better than Norwell as Norwell was an all-pro and he received a much bigger contract.

for pulling the thread back on the rails. Fact is, Pugh would have been regarded as an excellent pick - not an outstanding player but an excellent pick - if he could have continued making 14-15 starts a year.

In comment 13984863 mrvax said:

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and will continue to miss time.

It's not his fault! We moved him around too much on the OL. Get off his jock!!!

;-/

In comment 13984882 Manny in CA said:

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* NOT a #1 pick type * Yes, he was mis-cast; was put at RT (where he failed) * Was then moved to LG (where he was just adequate) * NO he is not just as good as Norwell * Yes, injuries affected his career He thinks he's elite, he's not. He just needs to be grateful he has a job.

After playing for a player- friendly organization, then not getting a call from them in FA, and not being signed as quickly as your ego expected, SHOULD make you humble.
Just don't get hurt, Justin. Cardinals are not nearly as player friendly.

In comment 13984807 Milton said:

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...was that Norwell was more of a run blocker and he was more of a pass blocker, and it's a league that generally values pass-protection over run-blocking. Compared to the linemen taking ahead of him in the 2013 draft, Pugh was an absolute steal for the Giants. Whatever position they asked him to play, he played at it at a starting quality level. If they had stuck him at left tackle as a rookie and left him there, he would've played the position better than anyone the Giants had there for the past five years. He would've been a Dave Diehl type of left tackle, not great, but good enough to win. The only problem with Pugh were the injuries. You could rely on his talent, but not his health. Which is a huge problem, but not one we should be badmouthing him over. He's a guy who did everything the Giants asked of him. And he has the right to believe in himself. If he believes he's every bit as valuable to a team as Norwell, isn't that what you want him to believe? This is a far cry from Bobby Hart saying he's the best right tackle in football. With better luck in the injury department going forward, who is to say it won't prove to be the case? Time will tell. p.s.--I get the hate for McAdoo on BBI. I didn't like him from the get-go, even during times when the offense was working and the team was winning. He was a poser, hiding behind a gruff expression and every cliche in the book of football cliches. But Reese and Pugh get entirely too much undeserved bashing on BBI. Reese was--at worst--a competent GM (if I were assigning him a letter grade, I would give him a "B"). And Pugh's only sin was missing too much time to injury.

Agree. What's he supposed to do, refuse an ESPN interview? And the fact that he doesn't recognize the how his value is affected by injuries doesn't make him unique.

Guess he *was* aiming high.

“It started to worry me when it was going on because I was like, ‘Norwell signed. I think I’m as good if not better than him. He’s a run blocker.’

Maybe if Pugh was a better run blocker he would still be here. He also passed up on one year deals with contenders to "cash in". Makes it sound like he was all about the money (I get it but he seems to be soooo obvious). I thought he was part of the solution, but the more he talks, the more he sounds like part of the problem.

In comment 13984967 Reale01 said:

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“It started to worry me when it was going on because I was like, ‘Norwell signed. I think I’m as good if not better than him. He’s a run blocker.’ Maybe if Pugh was a better run blocker he would still be here. He also passed up on one year deals with contenders to "cash in". Makes it sound like he was all about the money (I get it but he seems to be soooo obvious). I thought he was part of the solution, but the more he talks, the more he sounds like part of the problem.

He was a pretty selfless player as a Giant. He probably has more value since he plays both guard and tackle. We should have never moved him from tackle, he was great there. If he was healthy the entire time his versatility would have netted him more, but he was always injured so...

Diehl was a far superior team player than Pugh as he was part of a unit that played exceptionally well together and always had Eli's back. Pugh played with five guys who couldn't protect the qb for shit. There were never any me first guys on that unit compared to Pughs group

But the guy is so fucking annoying with his media presence.

a very good player when healthy. I think teams were scared off by his injury issues. Back problems persist in big people and most offensive linemen are carrying more weight than they normally would in regular life which can make it even worse. I met him in person once and he was super nice to my wife and I so will still root for him.

In comment 13984900 Jay on the Island said:

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In comment 13984864 widmerseyebrow said: Quote: And I acknowledge that Diehl should have been canned about 3 years before he retired. But in the toughness department? Pugh is a micropenis by comparison. This isn't entirely accurate. Pugh was a much better guard than Diehl but Diehl was the better OT. People seem to believe that Diehl was a very good guard but the truth is that he struggled at G.

Much better as an offensive lineman in general. Peak Diehl was better than peak Pugh. Even as a guard I'd say it's debatable.

Hope he does well

No one here before had any allegiance to him either as there was no attempt to resign him before the staff was let go.

He knew he was going somewhere else and I'd bet he was less than willing to stick it out at RT in a lost season once they decided he and Fluker on the right side was the best configuration.

In comment 13984986 adamg said:

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But the guy is so fucking annoying with his media presence.

He's better, but only if he is able to play...

In comment 13984961 OntheRoad said:

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Guess he *was* aiming high.

ding ding

$15million guaranteed as well.

injuries continue now that he has gotten a second contract.