a player who could turn the entire NFL upside down, a player of historical talent was the major factor and the wisdom and luck to use the second pick in the draft to draft him. In retrospect it looks easy but it wasn’t.
Sure George Young was critical, but it took 5 years for Simms to be an NFL qb, and for Parcells to overcome his mistakes and personal losses, etc.But the Giants would never become that great team of the 80’s without LT, the player of the century or more. That’s what we need now, that kind of football player. Sadly they are very very rare. Saquon might be one, but I doubt anyone else on the team or within its sight can be.
Reese left the organization very bare of talent, it takes time to replenish that. And while this team needs a lot to improve to where they are again playoff team, at least IMO they got the biggest hurdle out of the way, the next franchise QB. Now they have to keep adding enough building blocks of other talent around him.
Of course it would be great for them to draft the next LT, it goes without saying, but realistically that isn't the path required to return to a winning team. A lot of other teams have gotten there without LT, and even when we had him the Giants only won two championships in his thirteen years with the organization.
We need more talent on this roster and likely a new coaching staff.
Of course there will never be another player like LT. If there was another LT in this day and age, he would be fined and suspended into Oblivion.
Even role playing guys like Terry Kinard were far superior
Someone on here called Chase Young the best ER prospect since LT. I don't know whether that's true, or whether he's really that good. But suppose the Giants take him.
If he's a 9-time Pro Bowler but never All-Pro, though we'd be thrilled, he's not LT.
If he's an All-Pro, say, five times, we'd be ecstatic, but not HOF, then he's still not LT.
If he's a first-ballot HOFer, we'd be in awe, but he's still not LT.
If he's in the conversation for GOAT, then he might be LT. Maybe.
Like I said, not really a repeatable strategy.
As for Big Bill he made some colossal mistakes eg Brunner over Simms, threatening to leave, just look at his coming and not coming to the giants (and staying at USAF academy) and his peripatetic college career and playing career. Freshman year at Colgate( I was there) and then Wichita State, etc etc.
Little Bill and his photographic memory helped greatly to make Big Bill. The old canard that Big Bill never won a championship without little Bill maybe old, but it’s true and might be saying something about each.
Anyway the current Giants need something's both in the talent level and in the coaching arena, where they desperately creativity and leadership which I have come to agree with many here that PS lacks.
This weekend game in Chicago will be telling. It will be cold, hitting will hurt as will catching and holding on to the ball, there will be wind hindering the passing game, the giants running game is in the toilet, and they have come out asleep for the first quarter repeatedly. That can all be worse after a bye week. It could spell curtains for PS at end of season if not sooner.
We desperately need a redeemer in Blue, i don’t know how that happens as LT is history. So EG is drafting as he should and is building a seeming solid base of new talent. It’s going to take more time.
that was the start of it!
It's certainly not coincidence you had the greatest player, a HoF coach with the greatest coaching tree, and the greatest HC all working together for many years in the early prime of their careers.
Then came Brian Kelley and Harry Carson and Brad Van Pelt. And then LT.
Gary Reasons and Pepper Johnson came along to replace Brian Kelley. And Carl Banks replaced Brad Van Pelt.
Backups were Byron Hunt, Andy Headen, and Steve DeOssie. And a young Jessie Armistead was the last addition to the LT era.
It was all about the linebackers.
LT's arrival can't be understated. That defense went from good to explosive overnight. There were still weaknesses, but big plays were far more frequent once LT manned that WLB spot.
It's hard to put into words how frustrating it was to be completely unable to execute on offense. The running game was God-awful. It changed the moment Carpenter arrived - sustained drives were suddenly not only possible, but expected.
The drama of the franchise through the George Young gears was wonderful, and I hope we are as fortunate to see diamonds from the coal of a bad generation of team management.
I don't think Perkins get enough credit for the start of it all.
Man, Adams is a FUN player to watch. Different motor on that guy than on others.
I don't think Perkins get enough credit for the start of it all.
He sure doesn't. That 1981 season was insane for those of us who had been dying on the vine for years with this team.
Let's face it, though, after 'The Fumble' in '78, this team had nowhere to go but up.
I have no idea what kind of mega-disaster it's going to take this time.
Quote:
He imposed his will on the offense both mentally and physically. I don’t think we’ll ever see another LT but some of the players today show me similar heart ... I think Jamaal Adams from the Jests is one, Jaylon Smith from the Cowboys is another ...There are others in the league that make average defenses look very good.
Man, Adams is a FUN player to watch. Different motor on that guy than on others.
Yeah he is and he's got a DC who knows how to use him to get the max out of his skills.
Quote:
turned this team around.
I don't think Perkins get enough credit for the start of it all.
He sure doesn't. That 1981 season was insane for those of us who had been dying on the vine for years with this team.
Let's face it, though, after 'The Fumble' in '78, this team had nowhere to go but up.
I have no idea what kind of mega-disaster it's going to take this time.
You missed the mega disaster? It already happened, even if it wasn't a single catastrophic event like "the fumble."
The disaster most recently was Eric Flowers and Bobby Hart starting at OT with an immobile Eli Manning at QB.
It got Reese and Ross shit canned tout suite. You don't can a GM with 2 SB rings in just a few seasons on the job, without a serious "catastrophe" in evidence. Like 7 years of horrid drafting.
I don't think Perkins get enough credit for the start of it all.
I agree about Perkins not getting enough credit, I have said the same thing many times myself. He was a huge difference maker at the hardest time to be one.
Saquon may be that type of player, but I don't think we have the coaches to allow Saquon to be Saquon.
The disaster most recently was Eric Flowers and Bobby Hart starting at OT with an immobile Eli Manning at QB.
It got Reese and Ross shit canned tout suite. You don't can a GM with 2 SB rings in just a few seasons on the job, without a serious "catastrophe" in evidence. Like 7 years of horrid drafting.
And where are we now? Apparently, the Flowers/Hart combo resulting in a shitcanning of front office personnel has not come anywhere near to fixing the problem. The current state of the Giants tells me the issues start higher up.