He was in the conversation for the Giants for the 2022 draft. Neal has had his struggles, but Ekwonu was really poor today also. It's a reminder how tough it is to play tackle in the NFL, and it can take time for these guys to play well.
I wanted Neal despite the worry about Bama OL. Coming into the draft, I saw a player who played nasty and physical but lacked technique and making adjustments. There’s a belief Carolina may slide him to G soon.
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
I actually think Ezeudu has played well given his limited
I wanted Neal despite the worry about Bama OL. Coming into the draft, I saw a player who played nasty and physical but lacked technique and making adjustments. There’s a belief Carolina may slide him to G soon.
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
That makes no sense to me. Cross was strictly a LEFT tackle. We are kinda covered there. This is why I wanted them somehow to end up with the guy from Washington State at some point in the draft, who, from what I was able to gather, was one of the best RIGHT tackles in that draft. I will never understand why, when you need a right tackle, you take a guy who plays left tackle, or is versatile. I dont think the transition is always as easy as some make it out to be. SHould be simple...need a RT, take the best RT you can get!
If the Giants took Cross over Neal and Ekwonu they would have been mocked by fans and the media but Cross has been the best of the three so far. With the benefit of hindsight I would have selected Cross and Garrett Wilson.
But I thought Ekwonu played ok besides the penalties which were bad mental errors. This season he is much more highly rated than Neal, not even close, as he was last season as well. So far Ekwonu is a much better player than Neal.
I wanted Neal despite the worry about Bama OL. Coming into the draft, I saw a player who played nasty and physical but lacked technique and making adjustments. There’s a belief Carolina may slide him to G soon.
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
That makes no sense to me. Cross was strictly a LEFT tackle. We are kinda covered there. This is why I wanted them somehow to end up with the guy from Washington State at some point in the draft, who, from what I was able to gather, was one of the best RIGHT tackles in that draft. I will never understand why, when you need a right tackle, you take a guy who plays left tackle, or is versatile. I dont think the transition is always as easy as some make it out to be. SHould be simple...need a RT, take the best RT you can get!
Huh? It appears to me that you didn’t watch Cross play at all in college. He’s capable of playing both T spots and it’s one of the reason he rose so quickly in draft as teams scouted and did work on him. He really was the safest floor of all the T picks.
I wanted Neal despite the worry about Bama OL. Coming into the draft, I saw a player who played nasty and physical but lacked technique and making adjustments. There’s a belief Carolina may slide him to G soon.
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
That makes no sense to me. Cross was strictly a LEFT tackle. We are kinda covered there. This is why I wanted them somehow to end up with the guy from Washington State at some point in the draft, who, from what I was able to gather, was one of the best RIGHT tackles in that draft. I will never understand why, when you need a right tackle, you take a guy who plays left tackle, or is versatile. I dont think the transition is always as easy as some make it out to be. SHould be simple...need a RT, take the best RT you can get!
Huh? It appears to me that you didn’t watch Cross play at all in college. He’s capable of playing both T spots and it’s one of the reason he rose so quickly in draft as teams scouted and did work on him. He really was the safest floor of all the T picks.
First off....this is the first sentence of the draft preview for Charles Cross...": A two-year starter at Mississippi State, Cross lined up exclusively at left tackle in head coach Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense"
So theres that. Might want to go back and review your film.
Secondly, I dont want someone CAPABLE of playing RT. Neal is capable of playing RT. I want someone who SPECIALIZES in playing RT!
I wanted Neal despite the worry about Bama OL. Coming into the draft, I saw a player who played nasty and physical but lacked technique and making adjustments. There’s a belief Carolina may slide him to G soon.
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
That makes no sense to me. Cross was strictly a LEFT tackle. We are kinda covered there. This is why I wanted them somehow to end up with the guy from Washington State at some point in the draft, who, from what I was able to gather, was one of the best RIGHT tackles in that draft. I will never understand why, when you need a right tackle, you take a guy who plays left tackle, or is versatile. I dont think the transition is always as easy as some make it out to be. SHould be simple...need a RT, take the best RT you can get!
Huh? It appears to me that you didn’t watch Cross play at all in college. He’s capable of playing both T spots and it’s one of the reason he rose so quickly in draft as teams scouted and did work on him. He really was the safest floor of all the T picks.
First off....this is the first sentence of the draft preview for Charles Cross...": A two-year starter at Mississippi State, Cross lined up exclusively at left tackle in head coach Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense"
So theres that. Might want to go back and review your film.
Secondly, I dont want someone CAPABLE of playing RT. Neal is capable of playing RT. I want someone who SPECIALIZES in playing RT!
Cross can play both T positions and this was noted by every college football analyst and draft guide. WTF are you talking about?
it was a given that the Giants had to take an OT in the first round? If no one was good enough, just look to the bpa.
Well they were bpa at a position of need according to most. For instance, sy'56 had Ekwonu and Neal both rated at 87. Thibs was the questionable one for bpa as there were many players rated higher like Garrett Wilson for instance.
Cross can play both T positions and this was noted by every college football analyst and draft guide. WTF are you talking about?
I have the PFF, Athletic (Brugler), and Athlon Draft Previews from 2022 and I dont see a single word mentioning anything about Cross playing anything other than LT. I posted a quote from the Brugler preview which you seem to have ignored for some reason. The guy was, and is a LT. In his college career he played FOUR SNAPS at RT. Im not saying he isnt good...he is...and who knows, he may be a good RT. But when it comes to the draft, I just didnt think we needed another LT and I liked what I saw of Lucas and thought we could have nabbed him later in the draft.
publicly question on BBI before the draft that drafting a RT at #5 or #7 might not be the best route to go.
Like when Gettlelman signed Solder, the mass response was, "We have no choice, we must acquire a tackle!"
What did Schoen say about shopping hungry?
Except Solder was considered a decent but not great RT and just the best available. The tackles in that draft were the strength of the damn draft if I remember correctly.
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
Huh? Schoen said they selected Thibodeaux before OL because he was the last of their highly graded passrushers and Neal and Ekwonu were equally graded. I think his exact words were "side by side" on their draft board (but don't quote me on that even though I'm quoting Schoen on it!).
p.s.--Ekwonu was my favorite prospect in the draft.
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
Huh? Schoen said they selected Thibodeaux before OL because he was the last of their highly graded passrushers and Neal and Ekwonu were equally graded. I think his exact words were "side by side" on their draft board (but don't quote me on that even though I'm quoting Schoen on it!).
p.s.--Ekwonu was my favorite prospect in the draft.
I remember this as well, wish they didn't feel like they needed to pigeonhole themselves into a pass rusher and I don't like the idea of equal grade. Go with ur gut and take one don't leave it up to equal grades. That's just me tho. I also wanted Ekwonu at 5 and Wilson at 7.
I wanted Neal despite the worry about Bama OL. Coming into the draft, I saw a player who played nasty and physical but lacked technique and making adjustments. There’s a belief Carolina may slide him to G soon.
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
All of that is totally fabricated, you have nothing to backup any of those statements besides ur opinions.
Q. Joe, what was it like sitting at five, three tackles, you obviously love Kayvon, how much decision-making, not just the players but the order?
JOE SCHOEN: We have been through these scenarios a million times. We had seven or eight cards, and we just kept switching them back and forth based on different scenarios, and this is a scenario we went over. And if there were tackles on board and the pass rusher, we were going pass rusher knowing we could get a tackle at 7. We were ecstatic when that scenario came up.JOE SCHOEN: What he's talking about, us sitting in an office and watching multiple players, multiple times. And I think if you asked around the league how everybody saw those tackles, you'd get a bunch of different opinions.
We did a lot of work on those guys, but after the pass rusher, after Thibodeaux, there was quite a drop. We like the tackles very similarly, so we thought it was best to let it play out and get the pass rusher first.
Q. Joe, would you say even though the tackles were very close, would you say Neal was your No. 1 tackle?
JOE SCHOEN: They were very close, yeah. We had them side-by-side.
Q. Joe, what was it like sitting at five, three tackles, you obviously love Kayvon, how much decision-making, not just the players but the order?
JOE SCHOEN: We have been through these scenarios a million times. We had seven or eight cards, and we just kept switching them back and forth based on different scenarios, and this is a scenario we went over. And if there were tackles on board and the pass rusher, we were going pass rusher knowing we could get a tackle at 7. We were ecstatic when that scenario came up.JOE SCHOEN: What he's talking about, us sitting in an office and watching multiple players, multiple times. And I think if you asked around the league how everybody saw those tackles, you'd get a bunch of different opinions.
We did a lot of work on those guys, but after the pass rusher, after Thibodeaux, there was quite a drop. We like the tackles very similarly, so we thought it was best to let it play out and get the pass rusher first.
Q. Joe, would you say even though the tackles were very close, would you say Neal was your No. 1 tackle?
JOE SCHOEN: They were very close, yeah. We had them side-by-side.
Q. So why did you pick him?
JOE SCHOEN: Because Ickey was gone at six.
Boom, but dam I wish he was more decisive and took ickey then went bpa at 7 which should have been Garrett Wilson.
That makes no sense to me. Cross was strictly a LEFT tackle. We are kinda covered there. This is why I wanted them somehow to end up with the guy from Washington State
Abraham Lucas. I started a thread about him and other possible RT prospects before the draft. The Giants didn't take any of the names mentioned and overspent for Neal instead.
I wanted Neal despite the worry about Bama OL. Coming into the draft, I saw a player who played nasty and physical but lacked technique and making adjustments. There’s a belief Carolina may slide him to G soon.
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
All of that is totally fabricated, you have nothing to backup any of those statements besides ur opinions.
So far my opinions are looking pretty damn right on all accounts.
Curious how you overspend on Neal when throughout his draft year he was among the names mentioned as the 1st overall pick. As was Thibodeaux as well
There were plenty of discussions here with people who thought Cross was too light to be a successful LT
If you actually watch the games vs just read the grades you will see Ekwonu has struggled every bit as much as Neal has over the start of their careers
Neal has the ability as evidenced when he can look really good. This issue is he can look really bad still. His peaks and valleys are still huge
Curious how you overspend on Neal when throughout his draft year he was among the names mentioned as the 1st overall pick. As was Thibodeaux as well
There were plenty of discussions here with people who thought Cross was too light to be a successful LT
If you actually watch the games vs just read the grades you will see Ekwonu has struggled every bit as much as Neal has over the start of their careers
Neal has the ability as evidenced when he can look really good. This issue is he can look really bad still. His peaks and valleys are still huge
Sometimes there’s truth to the tales of catching a falling knife.
Plays the harder LT side and has been twice the player that Neal has been since entering the NFL. Maybe he had a bad game recently, but he has been a decent LT so far. Neal has been a turnstile at RT so far, complete garbage.
publicly question on BBI before the draft that drafting a RT at #5 or #7 might not be the best route to go.
Like when Gettlelman signed Solder, the mass response was, "We have no choice, we must acquire a tackle!"
What did Schoen say about shopping hungry?
Neal was considered one of the top 5 players in the draft by many. Hell, I seen some mocks having him go first overall. That is NOT shopping hungry. Ereck Flowers and Justin Pugh were shopping hungry.
This team needed everything. No matter what position they picked they could be accused of shopping hungry if the player doesn’t work out.
publicly question on BBI before the draft that drafting a RT at #5 or #7 might not be the best route to go.
Like when Gettlelman signed Solder, the mass response was, "We have no choice, we must acquire a tackle!"
What did Schoen say about shopping hungry?
Neal was considered one of the top 5 players in the draft by many. Hell, I seen some mocks having him go first overall. That is NOT shopping hungry. Ereck Flowers and Justin Pugh were shopping hungry.
This team needed everything. No matter what position they picked they could be accused of shopping hungry if the player doesn’t work out.
Excellent point.
He's going to be one of the best guards in the NFL
publicly question on BBI before the draft that drafting a RT at #5 or #7 might not be the best route to go.
Like when Gettlelman signed Solder, the mass response was, "We have no choice, we must acquire a tackle!"
What did Schoen say about shopping hungry?
While that's true, I truly think that he wasn't as much of a need/reach pick, but more of a blue chip type of player they thought could come in right away and play at a high level. And I don't think it was just the Giants brass, most of us here thought that too.
In 2020 Thomas is a bust.
BBI comments circa spring 2021.
Let it play out and let's look at it when the 5th year option comes around.
I look at the comments on Thibs and Neal. Give the kids a chance to work it out, the NFL is a big jump from college not everyone develops the same way.
RE: Coughlin's Giants made it through two Super Bowl runs
with David Diehl at left tackle. I think a fifth round draft choice who made the pro bowl once.
I think you can get by without a very large and athletic person if they are smart and have played together with the others for a pretty long time.
They had to deal with a fierce Niner pass rush in the Conference championship. They got by. Back then they didn't rate every lineman individually.
They "got by" but they almost got Eli killed. He took a terrific beating but kept getting up and kept making throws. The game is a testament to Eli Manning. Any other QB would not have won that game behind that line.
I think Neal gets there- eventually. He still seems to be thinking about technique too much, gets flustered and has it fall apart too often. It exacerbates his balance issues, he DOES play too too heavy.
HOWEVER, his work ethic, desire and his athletic gifts will have him figure it out. My gut tells me he will be noticeably better by season’s end than now. He may not be a good player until NEXT year.
If that’s the case and JMS comes along, then you would have 3 of 5 really good players and they can focus on guard to finally have a strong line. There are areas of this team that I don’t see a path to it being a strength, but OL I do.
I know it's hard to wait and play has been frustrating. But we won't know who the hest of the tackles is until after next season. There is still time and hope. Neal seemed to play well last game and did play hurt last year. I suspect and hope the team will look different this Sunday. Looking around the NFL yesterday, there was a lot of bad play and some very poor run defense. Dallas looked unstoppable against us but could not defend yesterday.
Things change quickly. And much of this is revisionist history. Neal was BPA on many boards at that spot. Thibodaux I am less optimistic about. But thinking back to last year he was much better and more relentless. Many of us are forgetting g how many uncalled holds there were. It was every play sometimes. There is more there than we are seeing.
Last year, how did Thibs play when Ojulari was playing compared to
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
He also appears bigger this year than last year. I was down on him for not winning a starting position at guard, but maybe i was too hasty.
If he could develop as an above average starter that would really help to solidify the line.
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
That makes no sense to me. Cross was strictly a LEFT tackle. We are kinda covered there. This is why I wanted them somehow to end up with the guy from Washington State at some point in the draft, who, from what I was able to gather, was one of the best RIGHT tackles in that draft. I will never understand why, when you need a right tackle, you take a guy who plays left tackle, or is versatile. I dont think the transition is always as easy as some make it out to be. SHould be simple...need a RT, take the best RT you can get!
Yup
But when you have twp
Top 7 picks you want your OT to be an elite pass blocker and run blocker
There’s still time
I think you can get by without a very large and athletic person if they are smart and have played together with the others for a pretty long time.
They had to deal with a fierce Niner pass rush in the Conference championship. They got by. Back then they didn't rate every lineman individually.
I could be wrong but my understanding is he played left guard in college but scouts thought he could kick outside in the NFL.
Similar to what Branden Albert did when drafted by the Chiefs in 2010
Quote:
Not sure he’s a left tackle.
I could be wrong but my understanding is he played left guard in college but scouts thought he could kick outside in the NFL.
Similar to what Branden Albert did when drafted by the Chiefs in 2010
He played tackle and guard then junior year in 2021 he played every game at left tackle.
Quote:
I wanted Neal despite the worry about Bama OL. Coming into the draft, I saw a player who played nasty and physical but lacked technique and making adjustments. There’s a belief Carolina may slide him to G soon.
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
That makes no sense to me. Cross was strictly a LEFT tackle. We are kinda covered there. This is why I wanted them somehow to end up with the guy from Washington State at some point in the draft, who, from what I was able to gather, was one of the best RIGHT tackles in that draft. I will never understand why, when you need a right tackle, you take a guy who plays left tackle, or is versatile. I dont think the transition is always as easy as some make it out to be. SHould be simple...need a RT, take the best RT you can get!
Huh? It appears to me that you didn’t watch Cross play at all in college. He’s capable of playing both T spots and it’s one of the reason he rose so quickly in draft as teams scouted and did work on him. He really was the safest floor of all the T picks.
Quote:
In comment 16220363 Sammo85 said:
Quote:
I wanted Neal despite the worry about Bama OL. Coming into the draft, I saw a player who played nasty and physical but lacked technique and making adjustments. There’s a belief Carolina may slide him to G soon.
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
That makes no sense to me. Cross was strictly a LEFT tackle. We are kinda covered there. This is why I wanted them somehow to end up with the guy from Washington State at some point in the draft, who, from what I was able to gather, was one of the best RIGHT tackles in that draft. I will never understand why, when you need a right tackle, you take a guy who plays left tackle, or is versatile. I dont think the transition is always as easy as some make it out to be. SHould be simple...need a RT, take the best RT you can get!
Huh? It appears to me that you didn’t watch Cross play at all in college. He’s capable of playing both T spots and it’s one of the reason he rose so quickly in draft as teams scouted and did work on him. He really was the safest floor of all the T picks.
First off....this is the first sentence of the draft preview for Charles Cross...": A two-year starter at Mississippi State, Cross lined up exclusively at left tackle in head coach Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense"
So theres that. Might want to go back and review your film.
Secondly, I dont want someone CAPABLE of playing RT. Neal is capable of playing RT. I want someone who SPECIALIZES in playing RT!
Quote:
In comment 16220384 John In CO said:
Quote:
In comment 16220363 Sammo85 said:
Quote:
I wanted Neal despite the worry about Bama OL. Coming into the draft, I saw a player who played nasty and physical but lacked technique and making adjustments. There’s a belief Carolina may slide him to G soon.
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
That makes no sense to me. Cross was strictly a LEFT tackle. We are kinda covered there. This is why I wanted them somehow to end up with the guy from Washington State at some point in the draft, who, from what I was able to gather, was one of the best RIGHT tackles in that draft. I will never understand why, when you need a right tackle, you take a guy who plays left tackle, or is versatile. I dont think the transition is always as easy as some make it out to be. SHould be simple...need a RT, take the best RT you can get!
Huh? It appears to me that you didn’t watch Cross play at all in college. He’s capable of playing both T spots and it’s one of the reason he rose so quickly in draft as teams scouted and did work on him. He really was the safest floor of all the T picks.
First off....this is the first sentence of the draft preview for Charles Cross...": A two-year starter at Mississippi State, Cross lined up exclusively at left tackle in head coach Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense"
So theres that. Might want to go back and review your film.
Secondly, I dont want someone CAPABLE of playing RT. Neal is capable of playing RT. I want someone who SPECIALIZES in playing RT!
Cross can play both T positions and this was noted by every college football analyst and draft guide. WTF are you talking about?
Well they were bpa at a position of need according to most. For instance, sy'56 had Ekwonu and Neal both rated at 87. Thibs was the questionable one for bpa as there were many players rated higher like Garrett Wilson for instance.
Like when Gettlelman signed Solder, the mass response was, "We have no choice, we must acquire a tackle!"
What did Schoen say about shopping hungry?
Quote:
In comment 16220442
Cross can play both T positions and this was noted by every college football analyst and draft guide. WTF are you talking about?
I have the PFF, Athletic (Brugler), and Athlon Draft Previews from 2022 and I dont see a single word mentioning anything about Cross playing anything other than LT. I posted a quote from the Brugler preview which you seem to have ignored for some reason. The guy was, and is a LT. In his college career he played FOUR SNAPS at RT. Im not saying he isnt good...he is...and who knows, he may be a good RT. But when it comes to the draft, I just didnt think we needed another LT and I liked what I saw of Lucas and thought we could have nabbed him later in the draft.
I was hoping for Sauce and Cross in that draft.
Like when Gettlelman signed Solder, the mass response was, "We have no choice, we must acquire a tackle!"
What did Schoen say about shopping hungry?
Except Solder was considered a decent but not great RT and just the best available. The tackles in that draft were the strength of the damn draft if I remember correctly.
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
p.s.--Ekwonu was my favorite prospect in the draft.
Quote:
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
Huh? Schoen said they selected Thibodeaux before OL because he was the last of their highly graded passrushers and Neal and Ekwonu were equally graded. I think his exact words were "side by side" on their draft board (but don't quote me on that even though I'm quoting Schoen on it!).
p.s.--Ekwonu was my favorite prospect in the draft.
I remember this as well, wish they didn't feel like they needed to pigeonhole themselves into a pass rusher and I don't like the idea of equal grade. Go with ur gut and take one don't leave it up to equal grades. That's just me tho. I also wanted Ekwonu at 5 and Wilson at 7.
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
All of that is totally fabricated, you have nothing to backup any of those statements besides ur opinions.
JOE SCHOEN: We have been through these scenarios a million times. We had seven or eight cards, and we just kept switching them back and forth based on different scenarios, and this is a scenario we went over. And if there were tackles on board and the pass rusher, we were going pass rusher knowing we could get a tackle at 7. We were ecstatic when that scenario came up.JOE SCHOEN: What he's talking about, us sitting in an office and watching multiple players, multiple times. And I think if you asked around the league how everybody saw those tackles, you'd get a bunch of different opinions.
We did a lot of work on those guys, but after the pass rusher, after Thibodeaux, there was quite a drop. We like the tackles very similarly, so we thought it was best to let it play out and get the pass rusher first.
Q. Joe, would you say even though the tackles were very close, would you say Neal was your No. 1 tackle?
JOE SCHOEN: They were very close, yeah. We had them side-by-side.
Q. So why did you pick him?
JOE SCHOEN: Because Ickey was gone at six.
Quote:
Q. Joe, what was it like sitting at five, three tackles, you obviously love Kayvon, how much decision-making, not just the players but the order?
JOE SCHOEN: We have been through these scenarios a million times. We had seven or eight cards, and we just kept switching them back and forth based on different scenarios, and this is a scenario we went over. And if there were tackles on board and the pass rusher, we were going pass rusher knowing we could get a tackle at 7. We were ecstatic when that scenario came up.JOE SCHOEN: What he's talking about, us sitting in an office and watching multiple players, multiple times. And I think if you asked around the league how everybody saw those tackles, you'd get a bunch of different opinions.
We did a lot of work on those guys, but after the pass rusher, after Thibodeaux, there was quite a drop. We like the tackles very similarly, so we thought it was best to let it play out and get the pass rusher first.
Q. Joe, would you say even though the tackles were very close, would you say Neal was your No. 1 tackle?
JOE SCHOEN: They were very close, yeah. We had them side-by-side.
Q. So why did you pick him?
JOE SCHOEN: Because Ickey was gone at six.
Boom, but dam I wish he was more decisive and took ickey then went bpa at 7 which should have been Garrett Wilson.
Quote:
That makes no sense to me. Cross was strictly a LEFT tackle. We are kinda covered there. This is why I wanted them somehow to end up with the guy from Washington State
Abraham Lucas. I started a thread about him and other possible RT prospects before the draft. The Giants didn't take any of the names mentioned and overspent for Neal instead.
Quote:
I wanted Neal despite the worry about Bama OL. Coming into the draft, I saw a player who played nasty and physical but lacked technique and making adjustments. There’s a belief Carolina may slide him to G soon.
Giants supposedly would have taken Cross well before Ekwonu.
All of that is totally fabricated, you have nothing to backup any of those statements besides ur opinions.
So far my opinions are looking pretty damn right on all accounts.
There were plenty of discussions here with people who thought Cross was too light to be a successful LT
If you actually watch the games vs just read the grades you will see Ekwonu has struggled every bit as much as Neal has over the start of their careers
Neal has the ability as evidenced when he can look really good. This issue is he can look really bad still. His peaks and valleys are still huge
Like when Gettlelman signed Solder, the mass response was, "We have no choice, we must acquire a tackle!"
What did Schoen say about shopping hungry?
Can’t it just be the got it wrong (if Neal were to not pan out)? A lot of times the simple answer is the correct one.
There were plenty of discussions here with people who thought Cross was too light to be a successful LT
If you actually watch the games vs just read the grades you will see Ekwonu has struggled every bit as much as Neal has over the start of their careers
Neal has the ability as evidenced when he can look really good. This issue is he can look really bad still. His peaks and valleys are still huge
Sometimes there’s truth to the tales of catching a falling knife.
Like when Gettlelman signed Solder, the mass response was, "We have no choice, we must acquire a tackle!"
What did Schoen say about shopping hungry?
Neal was considered one of the top 5 players in the draft by many. Hell, I seen some mocks having him go first overall. That is NOT shopping hungry. Ereck Flowers and Justin Pugh were shopping hungry.
This team needed everything. No matter what position they picked they could be accused of shopping hungry if the player doesn’t work out.
Stop that. We're not here for reasonable well thought out responses and you know it, Mister.
Quote:
publicly question on BBI before the draft that drafting a RT at #5 or #7 might not be the best route to go.
Like when Gettlelman signed Solder, the mass response was, "We have no choice, we must acquire a tackle!"
What did Schoen say about shopping hungry?
Neal was considered one of the top 5 players in the draft by many. Hell, I seen some mocks having him go first overall. That is NOT shopping hungry. Ereck Flowers and Justin Pugh were shopping hungry.
This team needed everything. No matter what position they picked they could be accused of shopping hungry if the player doesn’t work out.
Excellent point.
That’s preposterous. Yeah, let’s end RT before he plays a full season of games and replace him with who again?
No
Like when Gettlelman signed Solder, the mass response was, "We have no choice, we must acquire a tackle!"
What did Schoen say about shopping hungry?
While that's true, I truly think that he wasn't as much of a need/reach pick, but more of a blue chip type of player they thought could come in right away and play at a high level. And I don't think it was just the Giants brass, most of us here thought that too.
BBI comments circa spring 2021.
Let it play out and let's look at it when the 5th year option comes around.
I look at the comments on Thibs and Neal. Give the kids a chance to work it out, the NFL is a big jump from college not everyone develops the same way.
I think you can get by without a very large and athletic person if they are smart and have played together with the others for a pretty long time.
They had to deal with a fierce Niner pass rush in the Conference championship. They got by. Back then they didn't rate every lineman individually.
They "got by" but they almost got Eli killed. He took a terrific beating but kept getting up and kept making throws. The game is a testament to Eli Manning. Any other QB would not have won that game behind that line.
HOWEVER, his work ethic, desire and his athletic gifts will have him figure it out. My gut tells me he will be noticeably better by season’s end than now. He may not be a good player until NEXT year.
If that’s the case and JMS comes along, then you would have 3 of 5 really good players and they can focus on guard to finally have a strong line. There are areas of this team that I don’t see a path to it being a strength, but OL I do.
Things change quickly. And much of this is revisionist history. Neal was BPA on many boards at that spot. Thibodaux I am less optimistic about. But thinking back to last year he was much better and more relentless. Many of us are forgetting g how many uncalled holds there were. It was every play sometimes. There is more there than we are seeing.
I don’t know. Just asking what could be important.