Jordan Raanan "expects" Feliciano back at C, Gates at LG

I feel anxious just thinking about this.

Grades out better against Dallas last week than any game Feliciano played this year. I don’t get it. Aren’t you suppose to play the best player at each position? A lot of first guessing in this one like putting Jackson at punt returner. Sometimes you don’t have to overthink things. Smh.

In comment 15927766 GiantsRage2007 said:

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Grades out better against Dallas last week than any game Feliciano played this year. I don’t get it. Aren’t you suppose to play the best player at each position? A lot of first guessing in this one like putting Jackson at punt returner. Sometimes you don’t have to overthink things. Smh.

Or perhaps, Felciano and Gates on the field together are better than Gates and ???? or Feliciano is better at C than Bredesen is at LG. They have a reason.

I'd prefer Gates at center, but I think Johnson/Daboll have a better idea of the best combo.

Probably best to go in that direction. Bredeson is no bargain.

We need to remember that Bredeson is not currently on the active roster. Is he healthy / in-shape enough to play this weekend?

Ezeudu and Lemieux both did not practice yesterday.

Only other choice may be to move Phillips inside, which I doubt they want to do.

I think this debate is more relevant in a week or two when the inside OL are healthier

In comment 15927768 section125 said:

Quote:

In comment 15927766 GiantsRage2007 said: Quote: Grades out better against Dallas last week than any game Feliciano played this year. I don’t get it. Aren’t you suppose to play the best player at each position? A lot of first guessing in this one like putting Jackson at punt returner. Sometimes you don’t have to overthink things. Smh. Or perhaps, Felciano and Gates on the field together are better than Gates and ???? or Feliciano is better at C than Bredesen is at LG. They have a reason. I'd prefer Gates at center, but I think Johnson/Daboll have a better idea of the best combo.

I’ve seen enough of Feliciano getting pushed back into the pocket all year to know Gates is a better center. I like Daboll but I’m disagreeing with him on this one.

Bredeson just returned from a long layoff. The least disruptive 5 is what Jordan posted.

Thomas - ??? - Feliciano - Glowinski - Neal

That's been the starting 4+1 the majority of the year and coach's usually err towards continuity. The Giants had something going with the pin & pull plays when Neal was at RT and Feliciano was C.

he just should

In comment 15927806 GiantsRage2007 said:

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In comment 15927768 section125 said: Quote: In comment 15927766 GiantsRage2007 said: Quote: Grades out better against Dallas last week than any game Feliciano played this year. I don’t get it. Aren’t you suppose to play the best player at each position? A lot of first guessing in this one like putting Jackson at punt returner. Sometimes you don’t have to overthink things. Smh. Or perhaps, Felciano and Gates on the field together are better than Gates and ???? or Feliciano is better at C than Bredesen is at LG. They have a reason. I'd prefer Gates at center, but I think Johnson/Daboll have a better idea of the best combo. I’ve seen enough of Feliciano getting pushed back into the pocket all year to know Gates is a better center. I like Daboll but I’m disagreeing with him on this one.

Then who is left guard if Gates is center? Feliciano? I agree that Gates is better at C - he also better at guard..they have to put someone on the field at both positions.

Both are better than Anderson.

with Peart back I wonder if Phillips at OG may make sense? Dude is huge.

Raanan is hearing Bredeson needs more time for his MCL to heal:

“Not quite as much optimism for LG Ben Bredeson (knee). May need more time.”
Raanan Twitter - ( New Window )

In comment 15927811 mittenedman said:

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Bredeson just returned from a long layoff. The least disruptive 5 is what Jordan posted. Thomas - ??? - Feliciano - Glowinski - Neal That's been the starting 4+1 the majority of the year and coach's usually err towards continuity. The Giants had something going with the pin & pull plays when Neal was at RT and Feliciano was C.

Daboll said Bredeson wasn't or doesn't seem likely to be ready this week.

In comment 15927784 MrX said:

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We need to remember that Bredeson is not currently on the active roster. Is he healthy / in-shape enough to play this weekend? Ezeudu and Lemieux both did not practice yesterday. Only other choice may be to move Phillips inside, which I doubt they want to do. I think this debate is more relevant in a week or two when the inside OL are healthier

Nope.

since Ezeudu, Bredeson, and Lemieux will be out this week. It's either Gates at LG or Anderson again which would be a nightmare.

Phillips has played well at right tackle.

This combination makes us most stout in the middle and gives us a big line.

We need to win now. Long term Neal to right tackle and Phillips to right guard. That would give us a huge right side of the line.

Next year. Thomas-EZ-Gates-Phillips-Thomas. I would really like to see how that combination works.

Thomas is really good, but he will struggle playing both tackle positions simultaneously. :-)

Thomas-EZ-Gates-draft pick or FA-Neal is more likely.

he is a great player there. We should have learned our lesson that you when you take the versatile player and change his position who has had success at the other role it never works out as well. You went from having one problemn, LG, to now possibly have two problems LG and C. The coaching staff obvoiusly knows much more than I about this, but I have not seen this work in the past very well.

Before this year that was the position he played most I believe

at LG but chose not to. I guess they think don't trust Feliciano much at guard, and Gates must look ok there (it is his natural position).

Fue to injuries, if its a choice of Gates/Feliciano at LG vs Anderson, I pick Gates/Fel. The only variable in my mind is who plays C and who plays LG.

In comment 15927823 section125 said:

Quote:

In comment 15927806 GiantsRage2007 said: Quote: In comment 15927768 section125 said: Quote: In comment 15927766 GiantsRage2007 said: Quote: Grades out better against Dallas last week than any game Feliciano played this year. I don’t get it. Aren’t you suppose to play the best player at each position? A lot of first guessing in this one like putting Jackson at punt returner. Sometimes you don’t have to overthink things. Smh. Or perhaps, Felciano and Gates on the field together are better than Gates and ???? or Feliciano is better at C than Bredesen is at LG. They have a reason. I'd prefer Gates at center, but I think Johnson/Daboll have a better idea of the best combo. I’ve seen enough of Feliciano getting pushed back into the pocket all year to know Gates is a better center. I like Daboll but I’m disagreeing with him on this one. Then who is left guard if Gates is center? Feliciano? I agree that Gates is better at C - he also better at guard..they have to put someone on the field at both positions. Both are better than Anderson.

That’s for sure :-)

I didn’t realize Ezeudu was out again.

I like Gates long term at C. But yea, I get it. Gotta start 5 guys this week.

Assuming Bredeson and Ezeudu are out of the picture for one reason or another, the "best five" is probably some configuration of Thomas, Neal, Glowinski (ugh), Feliciano (ugh) and Gates. This staff knows Feliciano's limitations, and apparently feels they are less damaging at center than guard. It may simply come down to Gates being far more effective pulling than Feliciano. Also, against DTs as good as Payne and Allen, the staff may feel the matchups are a bit less daunting with Gates at LG.

hopefully it finally solidifies the OL to take a big leap forward. All across there should finally be no big weak links. It's a good opponent so this should be a good test.

We may not like the alignment, and we may not like the results against one of the better DL rotations in the League; but the Giants are progressing toward finally having their best combination on the field (even if it still kind of sucks).

In comment 15927903 Big Blue Blogger said:

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We may not like the alignment, and we may not like the results against one of the better DL rotations in the League; but the Giants are progressing toward finally having their best combination on the field (even if it still kind of sucks).

if it sucks it will be really disappointing, specifically for the OL coach and FO. they spent good money on Feliciano + Glowinski and there are a lot of guys who got similar money in March having really good years for their new teams at those spots (connor williams, james daniels, morgan moses, bradley bozeman before he got hurt). IOL should be one of the easier things to shop for and so far both have been disappointing.

obviously it will be disappointing for neal and ezeudu too because they were high picks but they are rookies dealing with injuries. and gates obviously coming back from a significant injury.

if that whole assortment of players they invested in cant outperform scrap heap guys from BAL like bredeson and tyree phillips this deep into the season after some time off to get healthy (and with Thomas playing like an all pro on an island at LT to make everyone else's job easier) that's a pretty disappointing outcome.

here are PFF grades and 2022 cap hits for some of the other UFA IOL who changed teams in March:

Corbett = 12th best G out of 84, '22 cap hit 3.1m
Daniels = 22nd best G out of 84, '22 cap hit 4.1m

Glowinski is 41st with a 3.3m cap hit so he has moved into middle of the pack but he's actually rated lower than Hernandez (#34).

among centers:
connor Williams = 5th best C out of 39, 5.6m cap hit
Ben Jones (didn't change teams) = 7th best C out of 39, 3.4m cap hit
Bozeman = 11th best C out of 39, 2.8m cap hit

Feliciano is 30th with a 2.9m cap hit

but hopefully a good stretch run changes the entire narrative. it may be that the weaknesses at LG have held the whole thing. back.

He's barely played that position before. He was exclusively an OT at Nebraska and an OC before 2021.

Guard is a completely different position, with different positioning and awareness of where your linemates are.

Has been on issue now for the last 3 seasons. Gates would be the fifth guy that has started next to Thomas now (Bredeson, Ezeudu, Lemieux, Anderson, and now Gates). I’m just hoping that one of these guys can take hold of that spot and just stick there.

so he's basically played every position on the OL other than the one he played in college and he's mostly played all of them well.

i think him and feliciano at lg/c are simply a coaches decision that they are entirely responsible for getting right. both players have played across all 4 non-LT positions. those are exactly the decisions coaches are paid to get right if they want to be considered good at their jobs.

In comment 15927943 sb from NYT Forum said:

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He's barely played that position before. He was exclusively an OT at Nebraska and an OC before 2021. Guard is a completely different position, with different positioning and awareness of where your linemates are.

Yes he was, with Price at center for the first Washington game.

it is what got his leg broke last time
freak play maybe, but it is not his position

In comment 15928010 Dave said:

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it is what got his leg broke last time freak play maybe, but it is not his position

Yeah. , I am traumatized by this because last time we put him at OG vs Washington
But seriously, dude probably doesn’t care. He is thrilled playing. Maybe our oline moves some people off the ball this week and we get some run game going.

considers all angles. Gates is there for a reason. The Giants are going to run left and dominate all day long!

In comment 15927970 Angel Eyes said:

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In comment 15927943 sb from NYT Forum said: Quote: He's barely played that position before. He was exclusively an OT at Nebraska and an OC before 2021. Guard is a completely different position, with different positioning and awareness of where your linemates are. Yes he was, with Price at center for the first Washington game.

IIRC, they year before he played RG and RT.

If Gates and Feliciano are the two most healthy and ready options, let Feliciano stay where he's been all season and let Gates - whose versatility is unmatched in the OL room - be the one to switch.

The rest of the candidates don't seem quite healthy yet.

Fucking love Nick Gates.

IOL in the first half of the season.

Now that honor seems to clearly go to Gates, but I feel that Bredeson is one of the best 3 on the IOL.

They may not have high end guys, but this team at least has capable starters and depth on the IOL for the first time in 10 years. You can (and the Giants have) done a lot worse than Gates, Glowinski, Feliciano, Bredeson and Ezeudu.

First off, Gates is, by a WIDE margin, the best OC on the team and that's with him not even back to 100% in terms of strength and form. Second, Feliciano is not a natural OC anyway, so why not move him to LG?

In comment 15928240 Matt M. said:

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First off, Gates is, by a WIDE margin, the best OC on the team and that's with him not even back to 100% in terms of strength and form. Second, Feliciano is not a natural OC anyway, so why not move him to LG?

Because Daboll and Johnson know more than you? I just hope Neal is ready to play.

as a guard. Daboll and Johnson saw him “play” the position in Buffalo. He’s barely serviceable at C. Gates is a LOT better IOL, for this week, he should be at guard. When Brederson or Ezeudu are ready, Inhope he takes over at Center. Feliciano should be on the bench.

This Gates situation seems to struck a nerve, 'round here.

He has played well, has size,

It'll be the side to run for must-have yards, and in pass protection, although Gates may not be a gem, clearly the coaches prefer him to anyone else who's available. It'll give DJ a mini-wall on his left side, either for passing or rolling out either direction. You don't want someone catching him from behind.

Possible player combinations, but if the Giants practiced in full pads this week, then the decision probably has already been made.

it's who is healthy for LG: bredeson, Lemieux, Exeudu.
If none of them are healthy enough then it's a moot point.

If any are healthy enough, then do the Gmen like Feliciano at Center and Gates at LG better than Gates at Center and whoever is available at LG.

Personally, I would like to see Gates at Center. He will most likely take it over sometime.

and then his injury during regular season have really hurt what is going on at Left Guard. Particularly because Lemieux and Bredeson aren't really any good and clearly unreliable.

But the whole decision to have Feliciano hold down the fort as a re-invented starting Center was a self-inflicted wound.

Schoen hasn't made a lot of mistakes but this was one.