Watching this team for a number of years and then hearing this new members of front office, coaching staff speak (Schoen, Daboll etc.) they seem to be fairly aligned with some of the ways the organization has looked at the premium rounds.
This is more or less my take on how I see the way they have treated the premium rounds. The premium rounds are considered by most NFL teams to be the top 3 rounds. These are the rounds most NFL teams expect if you have scouted and drafted well to come up with 3 starters. Maybe not all by year one but definitely by year 2 or 3.
Round 1 - Instant starter or at minimum highly utilized rotational guy year 1 then high quality or better starter by year 2. They stress positional value here and rarely deviate from that especially early in round 1. For better or worse, they are very slow to give up on a player drafted round 1 and sometimes even move them from one position to another i.e Erik Flowers as a prime example.
Round 2- Possible to likely starter year one or at minimum rotational guy. Barring something unexpected, definitely a year 2 starter and at minumum a solid player or better player.
Round 3- Possible starter ,rotational guy or player being groomed for a starting spot year 2. By year 2 usually is expected to be a starter. Expectation is he is an adequate or better player at his position by year 2 or latest year 3. He will also be given not a super long leash but a fairly long leash to prove he belongs as a starter even if there is some growing pains provided he is showing progress and/or potential.
In regards to our much maligned OL of recent years, the Giants just last year under this new regime invested a very high 1st round (pick 7) , high 3 and then a 5 towards this unit.
Starting with Neal, the expectation very likely is he is going to get every opportunity as a tackle next year even if he struggles early on to be our RT. Hopefully if he clearly doesn't look like he can handle the position, they slide him in to OG a whole lot sooner than they did with Flowers. That was ridiculous how long they tried to force Flowers at LT when it was clear to almost everyone else in the world that he simply didn't have enough ability to be a good one.
Now on to Ezeudu. Ezeudu as a high third round pick, I believe they believe he will be a starter this year in year 2 and likely is their favorite for the RG spot next to Neal. Giants central recently put out a video from O'Hara and Schmeelk spotlighting this guy and how they feel he has great traits to be a starting OG for us in the future.
Apart from the draft, Bredeson has been low key impressive whenever he has been pressed into duty. He has taken live snaps at OC in games, he projects well to the position, and they let Gates and Feliciano go with little fight. I personally think Bredeson is the guy they are expecting to be their OC next year and with that the case the will wait for round 3 highest to address the position depending on just how long term they want him there.
So where does this leave us overall draft wise? When combining positional impact vs. our many needs at other higher impact positions, to be honest I don't think they take any OL until round 3 earliest. The only way I see it sooner is if they have legitimate concern for Neal as a Tackle and already feel the risk is high enough that they would need to slide him inside this year. In that case, then maybe they could take a guy that projects to Tackle but could also play OG as well prior to round 3. However, I highly doubt they are thinking this way as technically they have Phillips who wasn't terrible when pressed into duty at RT and even Ezeudu has some potential RT versatility in his game as well.
It takes at least a year, sometimes two, for these guys to acclimate to the NFL.
What does that mean? You really don't know what you have until a couple years down the road. I think it's smart to hedge your bets and draft olinemen every year to keep the pipeline well stocked.
It takes at least a year, sometimes two, for these guys to acclimate to the NFL.
What does that mean? You really don't know what you have until a couple years down the road. I think it's smart to hedge your bets and draft olinemen every year to keep the pipeline well stocked.
The game has changed. Running was more prevalent easier for a rookie to settle in, as they are attacking more dictating more. With a pass heavy offense you are countering and thinking, anticipating more.
If you want pro ready GMs and HCs have to lean on schools running pro offenses and a system similar to their own. Issue with that is narrows down your draft pool a great deal.
It takes at least a year, sometimes two, for these guys to acclimate to the NFL.
What does that mean? You really don't know what you have until a couple years down the road. I think it's smart to hedge your bets and draft olinemen every year to keep the pipeline well stocked.
Unfortunately it seems like the problem with Neal (his really bad whiffing in pass blocking) that was a concern even in college is evident in the NFL, doesn't look like he improved and is starting to look unfixable.
I guess the lesson learned is not to pick someone with such a potential low floor with such a high pick.
Some of the players to watch and study are Torrence, Avila, Tippmann and Mauch.I really like the versatility of Avila and Mauch who can play either guard or center.
I don’t care what type of offense you run you need to have a good OL. We were not good last year.
Right now my guess is Bredeson but this is certainly something that could happen too.
But it doesn't appear that there will be.
But it doesn't appear that there will be.
O'Cyrus is that guy but just don't think Giants are going there at 25 even if he is elite.
Quote:
I think the new reality for Oline is they just don't come Pro ready anymore - our own LT is evidence of that.
It takes at least a year, sometimes two, for these guys to acclimate to the NFL.
What does that mean? You really don't know what you have until a couple years down the road. I think it's smart to hedge your bets and draft olinemen every year to keep the pipeline well stocked.
Unfortunately it seems like the problem with Neal (his really bad whiffing in pass blocking) that was a concern even in college is evident in the NFL, doesn't look like he improved and is starting to look unfixable.
I guess the lesson learned is not to pick someone with such a potential low floor with such a high pick.
Wow, you really are quick to give up on a guy. The Erick Flowers experience really jaded you. We know he had been playing with an injury so this will be the key year for him. And if I am not mistaken, Neal did not have a low floor.
Daboll is very familiar with what he’s got. He rotated lots of players in at all positions so he has the tape, and input from Bobby Johnson on the development, work habits and intelligence of all the pieces carried forward from last year.
They may add a player or two to the mix but I doubt anyone will get a free pass to the front of the line on this unit.
Quote:
I think the new reality for Oline is they just don't come Pro ready anymore - our own LT is evidence of that.
It takes at least a year, sometimes two, for these guys to acclimate to the NFL.
What does that mean? You really don't know what you have until a couple years down the road. I think it's smart to hedge your bets and draft olinemen every year to keep the pipeline well stocked.
Unfortunately it seems like the problem with Neal (his really bad whiffing in pass blocking) that was a concern even in college is evident in the NFL, doesn't look like he improved and is starting to look unfixable.
I guess the lesson learned is not to pick someone with such a potential low floor with such a high pick.
You know jack about how fixable Neal is. What an absolute crock.
Check the weights of the starting centers in the NFL. I think you will find that, although most have added weight since college, Ezeudu isn’t greatly undersized. And we really don’t know what Ezeudu’s weight is today.
Daboll is very familiar with what he’s got. He rotated lots of players in at all positions so he has the tape, and input from Bobby Johnson on the development, work habits and intelligence of all the pieces carried forward from last year.
They may add a player or two to the mix but I doubt anyone will get a free pass to the front of the line on this unit.
Back to the OP premise. Neal is a 1st round pick in the top 10 , he is likely a lock to get ample opportunity at RT. If its clear he isn't hopefully they switch quickly early enough in the season. The new RT if Neal has to be moved to OG ? My guess is Ezeudu. He is a high third and they from all the reports like what they saw in limited action and have high hopes for him. One of his strengths is versatility . He has very good feet and I think could play at an adequate level at RT if pressed into duty. Neal in theory would be a beast at OG.
Bredeson has exceeded expectations and has been solid wherever we have played him. At minimum he should be better than Feliciano at OC. I strongly believe we will add an IOL with OC ability in the draft but I doubt it will be before round 3.
There is something very incongrueous about the sentence "underweight" at 310 lbs.