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Andrew Thomas shows improvement article

LawrenceTaylor56 : 12/3/2020 1:40 pm
Quote:
In the first half of the season, the struggles of rookie left tackle Andrew Thomas were very well-documented and outright mystifying to those who saw him play at the University of Georgia. Pro Football Focus credited him with surrendering 36 pressures and a lowly 45.3 pass blocking grade, and the eye test showed him to be a pass protection liability frequently beat by inside moves. But over the last four games, Pro Football Focus now notes that Thomas has shown significant improvement: He has allowed only eight pressures in the last four games, and his pass blocking grade has improved to 69.6.


Nice little article on our first round draft pick.
Thomas Improvement - ( New Window )
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The direct quote was "for a period this year"  
NoGainDayne : 12/4/2020 11:57 pm : link
if that is sounding like 5 years to you, seems like a language interpretation problem. I believe 7 or 8 games in he had allowed the most pressures of any T in the NFL. You do realize it's only been ~half of the games he's looked better right? People seem to want to project good play forward forever and disregard bad play until they see way larger samples. At least be consistent.

If you can't see why people wouldn't be pleased at the #4 pick looking like the worst tackle in the NFL through half the season, I don't know what to tell you. Not just a little bit of a struggle, he was atrocious.
to me  
Bill2 : 12/5/2020 12:02 am : link
Too many posters are continuing to put DG to trial. But I submit the trail has taken place and the end is not yet overtly visible

Gates was a UDFA and a reserve backup at several positions. Hence the choice of Halapio and Pulley. That was the choice under DG

IN 2020...a very different choice was made, defended against all alternative options and successfully developed.

DG is no longer the center maypole holding up the tent. There are lots more tent poles

There is a distinct possibility that the trial already took place and the final sentence and replacement selection not yet played out. What we are supposed to see is over this season or next. What we can chose to see is that the transition is well underway. Already

Oliver Cromwell was allowed to die of natural causes but many many always knew he would also be drawn and quartered for prior crimes. And he was in fact a dead man walking since 1640...his chosen route of succession quickly replaced and he was exhumed, cut into pieces and displayed at Tyburn. The trial and the visible end of failure separated by years in Cromwell's case.

Thats why I chose to include Miltons comment about his luck and actual design when describing the mystery of still being alive

RE: RE: I also don't understand the way people talk on this site sometimes  
.McL. : 12/5/2020 12:04 am : link
In comment 15066284 BestFeature said:
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In comment 15066265 NoGainDayne said:


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as if the Giants deserve some kind of positive spin because we are fans. The reason there was a lot of attention paid to Thomas struggling was because it is a huge story when the #4 pick struggles like he was especially with talent at the position behind him in the draft. The #4 pick playing decently isn't really a story, it's certainly a lovely sight to see. Forgive the naysayers but for a period this year Jones and Thomas were both prime reasons for us losing which is not at all what you want from a #6 and #4 pick in back to back years. 



You make it sound like the guy was struggling for 5 years, it was half a fucking season.

I think you missed te point. It has less to do with Thomas himself and more to do with the Giants org...

If you read NGD's longer post, its clear that his point is that the Giants organization has not earned to benefit of the doubt with regards to their ability to pick and develop OL.
RE: to me  
.McL. : 12/5/2020 12:11 am : link
In comment 15066286 Bill2 said:
Quote:
Too many posters are continuing to put DG to trial. But I submit the trail has taken place and the end is not yet overtly visible

Gates was a UDFA and a reserve backup at several positions. Hence the choice of Halapio and Pulley. That was the choice under DG

IN 2020...a very different choice was made, defended against all alternative options and successfully developed.

DG is no longer the center maypole holding up the tent. There are lots more tent poles

There is a distinct possibility that the trial already took place and the final sentence and replacement selection not yet played out. What we are supposed to see is over this season or next. What we can chose to see is that the transition is well underway. Already

Oliver Cromwell was allowed to die of natural causes but many many always knew he would also be drawn and quartered for prior crimes. And he was in fact a dead man walking since 1640...his chosen route of succession quickly replaced and he was exhumed, cut into pieces and displayed at Tyburn. The trial and the visible end of failure separated by years in Cromwell's case.

Thats why I chose to include Miltons comment about his luck and actual design when describing the mystery of still being alive

Ok...
That's good!

I have to admit, that although I know Cromwell's history, I didn't make the connection to the "dead man walking" thing. I was still focused on the past improprieties.

That said, I tend to agree that DG is GM pretty much in name only. I think he has been stripped of a large chunk of his power. He more or less said this at one point in the spring. So yeah, I see the parallel now with Cromwell.

Unfortunately, it was lost on me in the discussion of whether or not UDFAs becoming starters is more than just luck.
.  
Bill2 : 12/5/2020 12:16 am : link
I believe its over for DG.

It could be as simple as his successor is not yet available.

It could be that he is in a new job...GM as administrator of choices the group of key influencers makes.

Or as in NE and other franchises...the GM as the person in charge of executing the general road map Belichek or owner provides.

You can be a GM and be the coordinator and not in charge of anything or be a GM that dictates when everyone will breathe

Dont know.

But things that happen in 2020 positively or negatively dont hang on DG shoulders with the weight they did in prior years.

imo
RE: .  
.McL. : 12/5/2020 12:26 am : link
In comment 15066292 Bill2 said:
Quote:
I believe its over for DG.

It could be as simple as his successor is not yet available.

It could be that he is in a new job...GM as administrator of choices the group of key influencers makes.

Or as in NE and other franchises...the GM as the person in charge of executing the general road map Belichek or owner provides.

You can be a GM and be the coordinator and not in charge of anything or be a GM that dictates when everyone will breathe

Dont know.

But things that happen in 2020 positively or negatively dont hang on DG shoulders with the weight they did in prior years.

imo

Cromwell only lived for a few months after his resignation. He was already in failing health due to malaria if I remember correctly.

It would seem that if DG is following the Cromwell path that his resignation should be coming shortly...

But yeah, you could tell from his pressers that he wasn't the same over confident blustery blow hard that he'd been in the past. His demeanor made it obvious that things had changed.
More likely  
Bill2 : 12/5/2020 12:48 am : link
a Legion of Merit and a pension.

Marshall Ney: Why do you spend so much time designing medals?

Napoleon: Do you really think men fight for France?
I have for years  
section125 : 12/5/2020 6:32 am : link
believed coaching was the difference between the Giants Oline sucking and being competitive. I have said it numerous times that I have closely watched other teams with "good" lines and noticed all the nobodies they have starting and then almost seamlessly replacing injured players with bench guys and kept going.
I absolutely believe that coaching is the reason for this line beginning to play well. The players that make NFL rosters are pretty doggone close in ability, for the most part. Of course there are the standouts - the perennial All Pros - but by far, most OLinemen are only shades different in ability.

As far as Gates being a UDFA - players from colleges with bad programs often go unnoticed. Players from successful programs become "darlings" and then fail when they go to the NFL because their college program makes them look better than they are. Happens all the time at virtually every position. While it is rare, even UFDA QBs get over looked (i.e., Romo, Warner) even Brady was a 6th round pick.

So yes it is an anomaly for Gates to make it as a starting center(fingers crossed). But obviously DG and the staff must have seen something in his play to invite him. So is it blind luck?(doubtful) Or is it a combination of identifying physical and mental traits that could lead to an NFL lineman.

One thing we do not know, is how much the "need" to continue playing Eli lead to poor decisions personnel wise and cost them a year of reconstruction. Others have pointed in this direction and I did not necessarily agree, but in hindsight think it is an absolute possibility.
RE: RE: RE: RE: Here's an overall PFF snapshot.  
fireitup77 : 12/5/2020 7:22 am : link
In comment 15066177 BrettNYG10 said:
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In comment 15065369 fireitup77 said:


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In comment 15065286 BrettNYG10 said:


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In comment 15065282 guitarguybs12 said:


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Something definitely clicked Week 8 it seems.

Wk1. 53.8 PBLK/64.7 RBLK | 0 SK/0 HIT/4 HUR
Wk2. 52.5 PBLK/47.4 RBLK | 1 SK/1 HIT/3 HUR
Wk3. 51.5 PBLK/58.0 RBLK | 0 SK/2 HIT/2 HUR
Wk4. 53.0 PBLK/44.9 RBLK | 2 SK/0 HIT/4 HUR
Wk5. 31.7 PBLK/73.7 RBLK | 1 SK/0 HIT/8 HUR
Wk6. 56.2 PBLK/79.5 RBLK | 0 SK/0 HIT/3 HUR
Wk7. 40.2 PBLK/73.3 RBLK | 1 SK/1 HIT/3 HUR
Wk8. 72.2 PBLK/59.3 RBLK | 0 SK/0 HIT/3 HUR
Wk9. 66.4 PBLK/58.2 RBLK | 0 SK/0 HIT/1 HUR
Wk10. 64.0 PBLK/40.0 RBLK | 1 SK/2 HIT/1 HUR
Wk12. 67.3 PBLK/59.5 RBLK | 0 SK/0 HIT/0 HUR



I believe that was the first game Lemieux started. I think Lemieux has looked really good and maybe some of Thomas' improvement can be attributed to him? I think Hernandez has been absolutely atrocious this year, and imagine that hurt Thomas.



Hernandez has not been atrocious this year. Actually he was one of our best ol before getting covid. Thomas has played better because he improved his fundamentals.

Lemieux has gotten better each game but he was pretty bad the first game. Let's hope that continues.

It boggles my mind that so many people here shit on good players.



I really disagree. I don't think Hernandez has been good at all - I think he's been a massive issue.


He has been an above average guard. People here are pissed because they feel he should be an all pro because he was taken high in the second round.
RE: RE: RE: RE: Without going thru a listing of every OL transaction  
fireitup77 : 12/5/2020 7:25 am : link
In comment 15066204 LBH15 said:
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In comment 15066006 Victor in CT said:


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In comment 15065966 .McL. said:


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In comment 15065947 LBH15 said:


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I agree completely with the sentiment that Gettleman has not done well at all in his decision making with respect to this critical area. Definitely not for a lack of effort, but the process still resulted in poor decisions and results which is really all that should matter in grading DG and determining if he should be trusted further in this capacity.

And yes, I agree he probably felt desperation sink in this past offseason which is why we got the OL Strategy that underpinned this past draft. This was the biggest flaw in the team and his poor decisions in this area were also killing the potential careers of Barkley and Jones, his two "franchise" picks. He had to draft at least 3 O-lineman, including two Tackles and he still needed the Gates experiment to bear fruit at Center to boot. It actually had to happen...think about that.

Quite frankly, thank the lord we are seeing some improvement. But to see the progress the Giants have had this season with their OL, including Gates, and calling it "fixed" is way too premature. This line has a ways to go in terms of development before we can suggest it is a strength in run & pass. And to convert that premature thinking into the main reason to keep Gettleman on further as GM is also eye-rolling to me which has been suggested as of late.

And lastly, save me the "no GM gets every decision right" speech as well. The NYG franchise shouldn't have to rely on pure desperation just to put together a functioning Offensive Line after several years on the job. At that point I actually can't conclude the GM did anything really well...it's that he finally got lucky.




Agreed LBH, the posts above are picking on picayune details and missing the bigger picture that I was trying to paint, but that you summarized well.

THe constant thought I have in my head regarding DG and the OL this year is... Even a blind squirrel sometimes finds a nut.



5 nuts in 2 years in pretty good. Gates was some real digging. Thomas, Hernandez, Lemieux, Peart, Gates is not bad. And Fleming as the backup where he belongs will be fine. And for the first time in years they're a well coached unit.



Yeah, not so much. I will agree with Gates as he has been a clear find for this regime. But all the free agent OL signees have been awful. Hernandez is losing his starting job to a Day 3 rookie. And Zeitler was a trade, while beneficial still weakened another area and he has shown himself to be much less than expected for his price tag.

This 2020 draft is kind of what needed to happen back in 2018. Gettleman just didn’t have things planned out well as to how to rebuild the Giants.

But that isn’t new news.


Weakened another area? We traded a guy that was about to be cut for him. Come on googs.
And we should have  
fireitup77 : 12/5/2020 7:27 am : link
Drafted 3 ol in 2018? Okay please tell us which players he should have drafted then.
RE: RE: McL  
fireitup77 : 12/5/2020 7:37 am : link
In comment 15066259 .McL. said:
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In comment 15066252 Bill2 said:


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Before I notice risk...I see a guy trying to be a pretzel.

Why? Is the question you should look into


I don't see any pretzels

My original point was that Gates was a 2018 UDFA. Any UDFA making it is luck. Period end. I never extended that statement of luck to this year, you and others did as a way of giving DG more credit or at least trying to discredit my comment. But that wasn't what my comment was. However, as long as you are going to take there. Not only was it luck that a UDFA "made" it, relying on him as a convert T was a risk, no matter how calculated, and that also bears an element of luck.

My main comment that people are objecting to was that Gates making it from being a UDFA in the first place was luck.

Refute that without turning yourself into a pretzel.


If DG didn't have a history of finding late draft picks and UDFA you might have a point. But he does have a track record of doing just that. Maybe DG is just good at finding hidden gems along the OL.....
RE: And we should have  
LBH15 : 12/5/2020 7:59 am : link
In comment 15066321 fireitup77 said:
Quote:
Drafted 3 ol in 2018? Okay please tell us which players he should have drafted then.


Orchestrate a trade down from overall #2, accumulate extra picks and do it. This is how you efficiently rebuild broken teams.

I presume decent OL were available after #2 spot, so I will let you hypothetically determine who was worthy if it matters.
RE: RE: And we should have  
RCPhoenix : 12/5/2020 8:23 am : link
In comment 15066324 LBH15 said:
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In comment 15066321 fireitup77 said:


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Drafted 3 ol in 2018? Okay please tell us which players he should have drafted then.



Orchestrate a trade down from overall #2, accumulate extra picks and do it. This is how you efficiently rebuild broken teams.

I presume decent OL were available after #2 spot, so I will let you hypothetically determine who was worthy if it matters.


It wouldn’t have mattered b/c Shurmur and his staff did a poor job of coaching the OL. No one on his staff, and not Shurmur, has anything close to the level of detail that Judge has.
RE: RE: And we should have  
fireitup77 : 12/5/2020 9:01 am : link
In comment 15066324 LBH15 said:
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In comment 15066321 fireitup77 said:


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Drafted 3 ol in 2018? Okay please tell us which players he should have drafted then.



Orchestrate a trade down from overall #2, accumulate extra picks and do it. This is how you efficiently rebuild broken teams.

I presume decent OL were available after #2 spot, so I will let you hypothetically determine who was worthy if it matters.


And if there are no trades to be had? My point is you don't go into a draft with the mindset that I have to get X amount of OL this year. And you don't make a bad trade just to trade.

You do realize that there were other parts of the needed help too.

As to the giants changing the process in how players are chosen. It seams clear that there is a new process. What's not clear is who began/ made the changes. It's assumed here that it Was Judge. But if you go back to DG's first year press conference he talked about changing how the scouts scout. Creating communication between the scouts and coaches. Creating a new computer system to handle the information. Mara mentioned this as one of the reasons for keeping him this season. Ownership felt it was better to let him finish the job.

I don't know if these new systems came from DG or JJ. But there is some evidence that it started with DG.
RE: RE: RE: And we should have  
LBH15 : 12/5/2020 9:14 am : link
In comment 15066342 fireitup77 said:
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In comment 15066324 LBH15 said:


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In comment 15066321 fireitup77 said:


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Drafted 3 ol in 2018? Okay please tell us which players he should have drafted then.



Orchestrate a trade down from overall #2, accumulate extra picks and do it. This is how you efficiently rebuild broken teams.

I presume decent OL were available after #2 spot, so I will let you hypothetically determine who was worthy if it matters.



And if there are no trades to be had? My point is you don't go into a draft with the mindset that I have to get X amount of OL this year. And you don't make a bad trade just to trade.

You do realize that there were other parts of the needed help too.



Go research whether DG had a trade available to him and whether it was reasonable.

And yes, lots of parts were needed...so that is why you accumulate picks. Assuming OL could be some portion of them.
RE: RE: RE: RE: And we should have  
fireitup77 : 12/5/2020 9:21 am : link
In comment 15066346 LBH15 said:
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In comment 15066342 fireitup77 said:


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In comment 15066324 LBH15 said:


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In comment 15066321 fireitup77 said:


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Drafted 3 ol in 2018? Okay please tell us which players he should have drafted then.



Orchestrate a trade down from overall #2, accumulate extra picks and do it. This is how you efficiently rebuild broken teams.

I presume decent OL were available after #2 spot, so I will let you hypothetically determine who was worthy if it matters.



And if there are no trades to be had? My point is you don't go into a draft with the mindset that I have to get X amount of OL this year. And you don't make a bad trade just to trade.

You do realize that there were other parts of the needed help too.





Go research whether DG had a trade available to him and whether it was reasonable.

And yes, lots of parts were needed...so that is why you accumulate picks. Assuming OL could be some portion of them.


And like I said you don't trade just to trade. There were no offers of value.
You or I could have picked Thomas.  
cosmicj : 12/5/2020 9:26 am : link
In fact, I started a thread last November suggesting he could be a very good pick for NYG, and I don’t even watch college football.

The real test is whether Thomas is better than the three other OL that were being ranked in that area (or as good if one of the others is excellent). That’s the test of real success.
You trade one pick for multiple when situation warrants it..  
LBH15 : 12/5/2020 9:30 am : link
And a team in serious need of rebuilding at most positions needed a specific RB less and everything more. It was warranted. Can't say I know what the offer(s) were or who would have been the picks, but it was the better path not taken.

Bill2 really good comments.  
cosmicj : 12/5/2020 9:33 am : link
Love that Emerson quote. I’ll throw in another 19th century one: “the dog that didn’t bark.”

One Gettleman bark that he didn’t make that bothers me to this day is the trade up for that loser DeAndre Baker. He could have stayed put and picked Jawaan Taylor, who has been starting for the Jags for two years now. Taylor was available at a position if critical need and DG opted to bypass him. Ooops.
RE: You or I could have picked Thomas.  
LBH15 : 12/5/2020 9:33 am : link
In comment 15066355 cosmicj said:
Quote:
In fact, I started a thread last November suggesting he could be a very good pick for NYG, and I don’t even watch college football.

The real test is whether Thomas is better than the three other OL that were being ranked in that area (or as good if one of the others is excellent). That’s the test of real success.


To some degree, yes. Are all the top OTs playing Left Tackle...not sure but didn't think so.
Bill2 has been stressing that we don’t know what  
cosmicj : 12/5/2020 9:38 am : link
Exact role DG is playing. I’ll also point out that I think DG is exceptionally deferential to his coaches. He picked up several players clearly at Bettcher’s urging, unfortunately. So I think Judge and the OCs have a lot of input into the drafting.

For example, the selection of McKinney, coming from a program which knows talent and where Judge will have excellent connections, makes me optimistic about that pick. To me, that is like Saban reaching into the giants’ war room.
LB  
cosmicj : 12/5/2020 9:41 am : link
It doesn’t matter which tackle position they are playing. If Wirfs proves to be an exceptional RT and Thomas is only a solid but unexceptional LT, that drafting mistake will be a big error directly attributable to DG. We don’t know yet.
RE: funny how there are no replies to this thread  
Gatorade Dunk : 12/5/2020 9:41 am : link
In comment 15065256 ryanmkeane said:
Quote:
but there were probably 200 posts about how he was a bust after the first Eagles game.

Maybe because it's a 247sports article.

Or because people were wondering what an "improvement article" was? Is it like an oxford comma? A past participle?

What I think is funny is that you somehow gain no intelligence over time.
there is so much misplaced emotion on the subject of DG  
Eric on Li : 12/5/2020 9:55 am : link
it's sort of mind boggling and the pretzel description fits so well with the group who persists the same tired refusals to acknowledge any positive progress whatsoever.

the OL seems to be heading in the right direction. Everyone has wanted to see resources pumped into the OL and that's what they did.

in the remaking of the defense the priorities have been on a big physical front and coverage in the secondary - drafting Lawrence and Baker high was indicative of those priorities. the pass rush by committee approach wasn't popular but they didn't force a move that may not have been there.

Those are high level philosophical decisions made pretty early on in the rebuild - and while neither unit (OL + D) is at the final destination yet imo we are seeing that there was a soundness to the strategy. When the OL protects the QB and opens running lanes, and the defense stops the run and prevent big plays in the secondary, the games are highly competitive. They haven't done all of those things in every game and in particular had trouble protecting the QB early in the year but the story of this season has been progress in each of those areas.

The entire NYG FO deserves credit that the areas where there has been progress are the areas where they have made their biggest investments and the coaching staff deserves credit for generating return on those investments. Andrew Thomas is one piece of that but it really goes beyond him.
RE: LB  
LBH15 : 12/5/2020 10:55 am : link
In comment 15066366 cosmicj said:
Quote:
It doesn’t matter which tackle position they are playing. If Wirfs proves to be an exceptional RT and Thomas is only a solid but unexceptional LT, that drafting mistake will be a big error directly attributable to DG. We don’t know yet.


In your hypothetical, if there is a big enough spread then I would agree. But general rule of thumb is LT is more valuable, and Thomas can play both.
RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: And we should have  
Gatorade Dunk : 12/5/2020 2:18 pm : link
In comment 15066348 fireitup77 said:
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In comment 15066346 LBH15 said:


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In comment 15066342 fireitup77 said:


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In comment 15066324 LBH15 said:


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In comment 15066321 fireitup77 said:


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Drafted 3 ol in 2018? Okay please tell us which players he should have drafted then.



Orchestrate a trade down from overall #2, accumulate extra picks and do it. This is how you efficiently rebuild broken teams.

I presume decent OL were available after #2 spot, so I will let you hypothetically determine who was worthy if it matters.



And if there are no trades to be had? My point is you don't go into a draft with the mindset that I have to get X amount of OL this year. And you don't make a bad trade just to trade.

You do realize that there were other parts of the needed help too.





Go research whether DG had a trade available to him and whether it was reasonable.

And yes, lots of parts were needed...so that is why you accumulate picks. Assuming OL could be some portion of them.



And like I said you don't trade just to trade. There were no offers of value.

DG himself admitted that there was at least one fair trade offer. He had likely already built his shrine to Saquon at that point, so the trade offer was probably moot, but it did exist according to DG himself.
RE: there is so much misplaced emotion on the subject of DG  
.McL. : 12/5/2020 7:47 pm : link
In comment 15066373 Eric on Li said:
Quote:
it's sort of mind boggling and the pretzel description fits so well with the group who persists the same tired refusals to acknowledge any positive progress whatsoever.

the OL seems to be heading in the right direction. Everyone has wanted to see resources pumped into the OL and that's what they did.

in the remaking of the defense the priorities have been on a big physical front and coverage in the secondary - drafting Lawrence and Baker high was indicative of those priorities. the pass rush by committee approach wasn't popular but they didn't force a move that may not have been there.

Those are high level philosophical decisions made pretty early on in the rebuild - and while neither unit (OL + D) is at the final destination yet imo we are seeing that there was a soundness to the strategy. When the OL protects the QB and opens running lanes, and the defense stops the run and prevent big plays in the secondary, the games are highly competitive. They haven't done all of those things in every game and in particular had trouble protecting the QB early in the year but the story of this season has been progress in each of those areas.

The entire NYG FO deserves credit that the areas where there has been progress are the areas where they have made their biggest investments and the coaching staff deserves credit for generating return on those investments. Andrew Thomas is one piece of that but it really goes beyond him.


What refusal to acknowledge...

Do you have eyes, can you read? Have you actually read the things that Terp, bw, GD, TTH, christian, JonC, LBH, NGD, myself and others have been writing lately. EVERYBODY has acknowledged the improvement and expressed some level of hope. It remains that as currently constituted the Giants are beating the dregs of the league, but still losing to the good teams. TO this point, they have not beaten a team with more than 4 wins this year. That means the Giants are still a below average team. We will start doing back flips when they next appear in the Super Bowl. Until then we are cautiously optimistic. But measured optimism isn't good enough for you over the barrel cheerleaders. Give it a rest for a change, wait and see how things play out before you pronounce the Giants "fixed" and can take their place among the NFL elite.
Agree with McL and would add  
NoGainDayne : 12/5/2020 11:54 pm : link
that we aren't super resource efficient right now. We are a 4-7 team with no strong wins with a QB on a rookie deal.

To keep LW he will probably increase his cap hit ~20% and Tomlinson will get a big raise to keep him. If we pay Saquon i'm just not sure the Patriots model of building throw the middle will work. You can't ignore that the Patriots model included one of the best QBs of all time playing at a discount. You can't necessarily build the same way as them. The D gave up some 4th Q leads and we don't really have good data to say this strategy we are pursuing works from a resource allocation standpoint.
As for the DG "trial"  
NoGainDayne : 12/6/2020 12:03 am : link
my problems with him before the season remain but mostly as what he represents of the old ways regardless of the kind of GM he is.

We've definitely heard in some of the modernization and technology conversations in the past that the Giants look at it as a budget issue, in terms of spending in these uncapped ways, they don't seem willing to spend like other teams. To me the big concern is this, the Mara's aren't like Robert Kraft. There is plenty of evidence that there isn't enough knowledge of innovation in the building with Judge as the stark exception. The salary that DG makes, it's kind of a waste to spend that as someone that isn't a good innovation partner for Judge as what, a pension? A lifetime achievement award?

No doubt if the Giants were ahead of the curve and willing to overspend, sure, keep DG around. I don't think smart people with different perspectives are ever a bad thing. However, if you want to maximize the potential of Judge it would seem that they'd be way better off spending that money on a GM that wasn't an administrator.

And that's really even the unification of my last post and this one. I'm not sure how much room there is for success in limited resources when you weigh sentimental things as much as the Giants have shown to recently.
There are many ways to gain competitive advantage  
Bill2 : 12/6/2020 7:24 am : link
The Giants ( Judge and FO) to make the first major changes in investment behind training and development.

Said so loud and clear, went out an selected for that, fired for that cause, spent for it, increased the size of the staff for it and seem to have evidence of progress.

Given that human organizations improve when the degree of change per year is about 15-30% ( this truism is present in the writings of Frederick Taylor, Maslow, Alfred Sloan...so its not new news and its experientially true in a modern career) and slide into chaos when the number of required adjustments slides higher than that, selecting one lever to change and changing it - is long proven sound.

If they made another major change to an organizational lever its in the area of rigor per player and game preparation and per selection. This combined with selection process changes is one hell of a lot of overhaul per organizational year. Especially when considering the number of new people who have to be bought in and oriented.

Three organizational levers that were pulled:
- Dedication to Development
- Rigor prior to decisions
- Selection Process

Have there been other efforts of all different kinds? Of course. But by strategy or because humans absorb only so much at a deep level and the rest is fleeting or picked up by only a few...three major initiatives seems the boundary of large scale change efforts in all kinds of organizations.

If we focus on chosen improvement levers and not just personalities, we wind up with a picture of where progress is being made. If we focus on scores, we focus on lag indicators of progress. As each year goes by, our balance between lead and lag indicators should shift. (So should the organizations).

Progress should get faster when the first improvement levers are foundational and established habits. The weaknesses and potential impact of each top org person gets rounded down as process and practice weave their input into less impact per warlord and more impact per culture

As always, its up to each fan to see what they see and play out fandom by their core emotive needs.
You wanted change of personalities based on a sense you have?
You wanted change via the way modern change management is done?
Or you wanted to continue to show you knew better?
Back to the more interesting OP  
LBH15 : 12/6/2020 7:58 am : link
Andrew Thomas has shown nice improvement in recent weeks.

Clearly see him side step more smoothly and handle the inside pass rush move better than he did in early weeks. He and the Guard(s) are recognizing and picking up stunts quicker. Still would like to see him anchor a bit sooner versus giving up space, and stop getting caught riding his man around the backside of the QB (although nice recovery effort here). Strength-training will be a priority this offseason.

Be nice if the Tackles can keep McCoy clean today as we might need to actually score touchdowns versus FGs to stay in this game.
2 thoughts McL  
Eric on Li : 12/6/2020 9:45 am : link
In comment 15066740 .McL. said:
Quote:



What refusal to acknowledge...

Do you have eyes, can you read? Have you actually read the things that Terp, bw, GD, TTH, christian, JonC, LBH, NGD, myself and others have been writing lately. EVERYBODY has acknowledged the improvement and expressed some level of hope. It remains that as currently constituted the Giants are beating the dregs of the league, but still losing to the good teams. TO this point, they have not beaten a team with more than 4 wins this year. That means the Giants are still a below average team. We will start doing back flips when they next appear in the Super Bowl. Until then we are cautiously optimistic. But measured optimism isn't good enough for you over the barrel cheerleaders. Give it a rest for a change, wait and see how things play out before you pronounce the Giants "fixed" and can take their place among the NFL elite.


1. Never said the NYG are "fixed". In fact I clearly stated the opposite that there is more work to be done even in the areas for optimism.

2. I think we have different definitions of measured/cautious optimism. When I see things trending in the right direction, absent an egregious failing I generally don't also think replacing key leadership.

I can literally hear some DG detractors typing their replies to the words "egregious failing" now before even submitting this reply, and I'd hopefully like to spare everyone from the same ground being recycled for the millionth time and just say few of them project "cautious or measured optimism" (imo).

3rd bonus thought - I'm not saying there haven't been moves worthy of criticism. Most everything from 2018 didn't work out. Just that some can't bring themselves to ever say "Gettleman did a good job with _______" without defensive caveats. Especially re anything pre-Judge because that then impacts the narrative. And the 2019 offseason looks pretty good in hindsight.
Gettleman did a good job with signing  
LBH15 : 12/6/2020 9:50 am : link
Bradberry and Martinez.

For about the 10th time.
Cherry picking from Bill  
Eric on Li : 12/6/2020 9:59 am : link
In comment 15066909 Bill2 said:
Quote:

If we focus on chosen improvement levers and not just personalities, we wind up with a picture of where progress is being made. If we focus on scores, we focus on lag indicators of progress. As each year goes by, our balance between lead and lag indicators should shift. (So should the organizations).


The bolded part not only resonates with whatever macro (non-personality driven) progress being made at the organizational level, but also on the macro field level.

I recall a stat from last week's game that it was the team's 6th game in a row with 100 yards rushing and that was the first time that happened since 2010. If we could all step back from arguing individual personalities - whether it's Thomas, Barkley, Hernandez, etc. - I think we'd see while there may have been some non-ideal selections along the way the sum of the parts is starting to generate aggregate production that could setup the foundation of success for this next 2-4 year window. The TO differential is improving, pass rush improving, coverage units improving, clock management, etc.

There is good going on if we can accept that it's not perfect.
RE: Gettleman did a good job with signing  
Eric on Li : 12/6/2020 10:01 am : link
In comment 15066977 LBH15 said:
Quote:
Bradberry and Martinez.

For about the 10th time.


Now do LW!

(jk pls dont)
RE: RE: Gettleman did a good job with signing  
LBH15 : 12/6/2020 10:13 am : link
In comment 15066984 Eric on Li said:
Quote:
In comment 15066977 LBH15 said:


Quote:


Bradberry and Martinez.

For about the 10th time.



Now do LW!

(jk pls dont)


I would if it was a good move. Is he signed yet to a market contract?
RE: RE: RE: Gettleman did a good job with signing  
Eric on Li : 12/6/2020 10:21 am : link
In comment 15066993 LBH15 said:
Quote:
In comment 15066984 Eric on Li said:


Quote:


In comment 15066977 LBH15 said:


Quote:


Bradberry and Martinez.

For about the 10th time.



Now do LW!

(jk pls dont)



I would if it was a good move. Is he signed yet to a market contract?


He's under contract at the 5th highest cap # for a DT this year, so yes. And they have the option to keep him at the same number again next year.
Let me know when you get to  
LBH15 : 12/6/2020 11:08 am : link
the good part.
RE: RE: Mcl  
djm : 12/6/2020 11:39 am : link
In comment 15066231 .McL. said:
Quote:
In comment 15066216 djm said:


Quote:


You’re relentless on anything dg has done with the OL yet we have what appears to be a very good young unit. Spin it any frickin way you want thems the facts. It’s been 2.5 years since DG took over not 10. Assuming this OL holds up here and stays on this trajectory you and everyone else needs to tip your hat and move the hell on. You’re treating every positive move with a negative slant. Kidding me.


So finally in the 3rd off-season DG does what he should have done in his first and we are supposed to praise him... Sorry, no can do.

About as far as I can is to say that, I am glad he finally came around. He is still a lousy GM. And Yes, perhaps some of his new found success has something to do with Judge. The fact that Judge may have a positive influence seems more likely than DG suddenly got a clue.


He’s also rebuilt the D. Added a young qb and drafted a franchise talent at RB who has suffered bad luck injuries the last two years.

DG will never receive any credit from you and others because you are so dug in. It’s comical to watch some of you spin.

Reminder, it’s year 3. And the roster wasn’t exactly ripe for a rebuild when the ashes and soot started to settle in January 2018.

After 2 years the team is taking shape but in your world “gross negligence for years”

3rd year. Not the 5th. And the above average defense here would like to remind you that the nyg D from 2014-2017 was a complete shit show. Now we have a pro unit in place with room for upside and growth.

Exhausting.
By not ripe for the rebuild  
djm : 12/6/2020 11:41 am : link
I mean you don’t just replace 54 players in one frickin offseason. It ain’t that simple.

The official moment this rebuild started was halfway through 2018 when the season was all but lost. That’s when DG flipped the entire team upside down. Here we are 2 years later from that moment.

You hate the guy and want him out. Sorry, you’re gonna lose this one. At least the team is on the way back. Could be worse, you could have been right.
bill, i'd never advocate trying to change too much at  
NoGainDayne : 12/6/2020 12:17 pm : link
once. I'm a big believer in the scientific method, you can't figure out what is even working and what isn't if you try to change too much too fast.

That being said, especially within the scope of managing resources, it never hurts to have more people testing new things without putting them into production or interfering with the process of running the business. We had this discussion when talking about bringing on a CTO in the past. Plenty of room for R&D without interfering with the day to day.

And that's where spending money on an "administrator" comes in. I think it becomes more of a question of how productive that person for a very high salary? How much are they adding? Let's say they are just rolling out more high tech new processes with Judge, how valuable is DG to that process vs. someone that might be able to be more additive to the process of implementing the new things Judge wants to? I'd argue that someone who types on fake keyboards to make fun of advanced math among other things we've seen from him wouldn't be super additive to that process. I'd also argue that someone that seems as allergic to trading down as DG isn't super additive to a drafting process.
Unless..  
FatMan in Charlotte : 12/6/2020 12:30 pm : link
you have evidence of Gettleman being a barrier to adopting new processes, your take on what is "super additive" doesn't really mean a whole lot.

I'm guessing you would also feel Belicheck is not super additive because he's mocked aspects of analytics in the past too.

RE: bill, i'd never advocate trying to change too much at  
crick n NC : 12/6/2020 12:35 pm : link
In comment 15067107 NoGainDayne said:
Quote:
once. I'm a big believer in the scientific method, you can't figure out what is even working and what isn't if you try to change too much too fast.

That being said, especially within the scope of managing resources, it never hurts to have more people testing new things without putting them into production or interfering with the process of running the business. We had this discussion when talking about bringing on a CTO in the past. Plenty of room for R&D without interfering with the day to day.

And that's where spending money on an "administrator" comes in. I think it becomes more of a question of how productive that person for a very high salary? How much are they adding? Let's say they are just rolling out more high tech new processes with Judge, how valuable is DG to that process vs. someone that might be able to be more additive to the process of implementing the new things Judge wants to? I'd argue that someone who types on fake keyboards to make fun of advanced math among other things we've seen from him wouldn't be super additive to that process. I'd also argue that someone that seems as allergic to trading down as DG isn't super additive to a drafting process.


I do not believe Gettleman made an explanation or was even asked to explain what he meant with his air keyboard reaction. So, we are only guessing what he meant. I feel this benign gesture (in my view) spoiled a lot of the math people against him even if they are only guessing that he was mocking mathematics. That is unfortunate, because even if he was mocking mathematics, it is still possible for him to repent of that thinking, it is also unfortunate because I feel people's guesses as to what he was mocking have become concrete to consistently be certain that Gettleman thinks math and numbers are foolish.

In my view he was more than likely mocking those who insinuate that football problems can be easily solved by inputting (air keyboard) a formula and the problem to instantly retrieve a solution to a football problem that has stumped many which is now retrievable through analytics.
.  
Bill2 : 12/6/2020 1:12 pm : link
There are many facets of the GM job.

Handling small and large issues with the NFL departments, agents, lawyers and 31
other front offices is all hidden from us.

Yet part of the job you don't want to burden the HC.

A well functioning whole FO is what you want and thats hard to evaluate ànd personalities inside a functioning whole are very hard to isolate well enough to be certain of individual contribution.

I think thats easier under prior times example: DG before this set of scouts and coaches and agreements on Mara's role and harder now. Imo
And look I’m fully aware  
djm : 12/6/2020 1:26 pm : link
I sound like a loud apologist but when thread after thread turns into a bashing DG rally I’m going to call out shit when I see it.

I don’t even want to get ahead of things yet there still important football to be played. The OL and defense still have much more to prove but they are on their way the last couple of months.
Maybe read the threads moreso and see if the  
LBH15 : 12/6/2020 1:45 pm : link
comments made relative to DG's body of work are/are not more objective than your comments.
To be clear  
.McL. : 12/6/2020 6:43 pm : link
My comments began with somebody praising all 3 years (and it's been 3 years despite some saying just 2) of DGs tenure.

How anybody can spin his first 2 as anything but atrocious, I have no clue. Heck, DG publicly admitted that his first 2 years were not good. So, when DG himself says it was bad, how can the apologist turn around and say it was good.

I think everybody agrees that there was something different this year.

Let's see, what changed this year... Oh yeah, Judge came in, and DG admitted that some of his responsibility was stripped.

So, we are supposed to suddenly say he has been a good GM, when he admitted that he hadn't been good his first 2 years, was stripped of power. Then after a new coaching staff, and a new philosophy top to bottom we see improvement and it is supposedly attributable to DG. That's some really sound logic there.

I'm with Bill2. The trial on DG already happened. He was stripped and we don't know exactly to whom we should apportion credit for the improvement, but it's doubtful that it's DG.
I thought Thomas was great today.  
BrettNYG10 : 12/6/2020 7:36 pm : link
I think Lemieux is the best linemen, but Thomas had an incredibly impressive game.
RE: To be clearh  
djm : 12/6/2020 7:57 pm : link
In comment 15068517 .McL. said:
Quote:
My comments began with somebody praising all 3 years (and it's been 3 years despite some saying just 2) of DGs tenure.

How anybody can spin his first 2 as anything but atrocious, I have no clue. Heck, DG publicly admitted that his first 2 years were not good. So, when DG himself says it was bad, how can the apologist turn around and say it was good.

I think everybody agrees that there was something different this year.

Let's see, what changed this year... Oh yeah, Judge came in, and DG admitted that some of his responsibility was stripped.

So, we are supposed to suddenly say he has been a good GM, when he admitted that he hadn't been good his first 2 years, was stripped of power. Then after a new coaching staff, and a new philosophy top to bottom we see improvement and it is supposedly attributable to DG. That's some really sound logic there.

I'm with Bill2. The trial on DG already happened. He was stripped and we don't know exactly to whom we should apportion credit for the improvement, but it's doubtful that it's DG.


Whatever works. The team is on the right track. I’ve seen this song and dance before now we’re saying dg isn’t even making decisions anymore.

I don’t give two shits anymore I’m just loving this. DG has rebuilt the D and OL and we’re a few adds away from fielding something with serious staying power. Judge is huge. So what. DG helped.



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