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Let the Giants Adventures at LB Begin, 2016


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Gotta love Reese and his consistent ineptitude in being able to put together a capable Linebacking Corps. Here's how we're doing, as of Preseason game 1:

 

- Keenan Robinson - Injured, out for tonight

- JT Thomas - PUP

- Uani Unga - Injured Reserve

 

And we're left with the craptacular:

 

- Brinkley

- Casillas

- Shepperd

- Kennard

- Herzlich

- BJ Goodson (granted, the jury is out on him, but we can't relay on a 4th rounder with 1yr of college starting experience)

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I don't see the problem yet. Not going to judge them based on last year because it is a WHOLE NEW YEAR. I see this as a great opportunity for the players who can play to start showing they belong here. I'm excited to finally get back to football and the opportunity it represents for the organization, coaches and players. If the fans are really lucky, a reason to be excited about being a New York Giants fan.

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I think Casillas is a lot better than most give him credit for. Kennard has the potential to be a very good player, and Brinkley is the old-school thumper MLB type that a lot of you guys have been wanting for years.

Agreed. And Sheppard at least played a lot of mlb last year.

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Casillas is a backup at best, Brinkley is only ever had like one good year, and Kennard is overrated. None of these guys would start on most other teams, and defintely wouldn't start on any decent team.

I think Kennard would start on a decent amount of teams. He just won't stay healthy for more than half the year.

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Gotta love Reese and his consistent ineptitude in being able to put together a capable Linebacking Corps. Here's how we're doing, as of Preseason game 1:

 

- Keenan Robinson - Injured, out for tonight

- JT Thomas - PUP

- Uani Unga - Injured Reserve

 

And we're left with the craptacular:

 

- Brinkley

- Casillas

- Shepperd

- Kennard

- Herzlich

- BJ Goodson (granted, the jury is out on him, but we can't relay on a 4th rounder with 1yr of college starting experience)

 

You're really reaching here bro..

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You're really reaching here bro..

 

How so? JT Thomas was the guy Reese brought in here to start WLB, and Robinson at MLB. They're already injured.

 

The rest of the guys are the epitome of mediocrity.

 

It's worth noting Reese's inability to put a halfway decent LB corps on the field, year after year.

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Usually teams will over compensate if they discover a glaring weakness during the previous season. Bad running backs?, bring in a bunch (not Jarrod)- Bad pass defense?, invest in a free agent or 2

The Giants staunch resistance to fixing the LB crew, which has been an issue for most of this century is mind blowing. The only answer must be ego. Someone thinks that he's smarter than everyone else when it comes to player personnel. Wonder who that could be?

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Usually teams will over compensate if they discover a glaring weakness during the previous season. Bad running backs?, bring in a bunch (not Jarrod)- Bad pass defense?, invest in a free agent or 2

The Giants staunch resistance to fixing the LB crew, which has been an issue for most of this century is mind blowing. The only answer must be ego. Someone thinks that he's smarter than everyone else when it comes to player personnel. Wonder who that could be?

I totally agree... I'm just simply baffled! Especially with this organizations history of LB greats!

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Giants’ discount journeyman rising in fight for Jon Beason heir

 

 

One year ago nearly to the day, Jon Beason was on the field for 13 snaps in the preseason opener in Cincinnati and afterward declared: “I feel good. … I feel healthy.”

Beason never played in another regular-season game for the Giants. His body betrayed him, and he was forced into retirement. The search for a competent and more-than-capable middle linebacker is ongoing, and based on what has transpired this summer, it would not be a surprise if Kelvin Sheppard is the man in the middle when the Giants face the Cowboys on Sept. 11.

Who?

“It’s all about competition, and at the end, whether it’s the best man, whoever fits that role, whoever fits the mold of what they need at that spot is the guy I guess they will go with,” Sheppard said Monday after another sun-drenched training-camp practice in the intense heat.

Of all the big-name and high-priced additions the Giants imported on defense, Sheppard does not qualify. He arrived via a one-year contract worth $840,000 — a deal that includes a signing bonus of $80,000. Sheppard, 28, is entering his sixth NFL season and has 45 career starts: 24 with the Bills (2011 and 2012), seven with the Colts (2013) and 14 the past two seasons with the Dolphins, including 13 last year, when he had a career-high 105 tackles.

The Giants made a splash opening the coffers for Olivier Vernon, Janoris Jenkins and Damon “Snacks’’ Harrison, but are shopping the discount rack at middle linebacker. They also re-signed Jasper Brinkley, the 2015 starter, on a one-year, $1.8 million deal and added former Redskins linebacker Keenan Robinson (one year, $2.6 million). In time, the best of the bunch might turn out to be rookie B.J. Goodson of Clemson, taken in the fourth round of the NFL draft.

Robinson hurt his groin and, upon his return, is playing on the weak side. Brinkley sits atop the depth chart, but lately, Sheppard is getting as many, or more, snaps with the first-team defense. The lineup used most often Monday was Sheppard in the middle flanked by Devon Kennard and Jonathan Casillas.

“Kelvin is an instinctive guy that gets football,” coach Ben McAdoo said. “He’s been around, played a lot, veteran guy. We feel that he’s right there in the mix, has a chance to earn the job.”

Sheppard, at 6-foot-2, 249 pounds, looks the part, and his movement on the field is punctuated by his dreadlocks flowing from the back of his helmet. His immediate challenge was to pick up the new defense, but that has not posed much of a problem, thanks to his training. At LSU, Sheppard had two defensive coordinators, so there was a new system to learn. He had two different coordinators in his two years with the Bills, one coordinator with the Colts and two in his two seasons with the Dolphins.

“I mean, I take pride in being able to learn the schemes and pick up things pretty fast,” Sheppard said. “I hold myself accountable. I’m a student of the game. I take pride in what I do. Of course it’s difficult, but if you’re a pro, you should be able to handle it.”

What has been more difficult — or, more accurately, unusual — is the way the reps have been divvied up in practice. Brinkley takes a series, Sheppard often takes another. The first-team snaps have been divided and intertwined like a soft-serve swirl cone.

“That’s probably the only difference for me, is the in-and-out every series. I’m not used to that,” Sheppard said. “Previous years, I’ve been the guy. This is a unique situation that we have here, and whoever the best 11 is per that situation, we’re gonna try to get on the field. That’s what we’ve been doing.”

Sheppard has no problem making himself heard — a prerequisite for the player entrusted with making the defensive calls — which comes as no surprise to Dwayne Harris, the Giants’ special teams ace and Sheppard’s first cousin.

“I think he brings that vocal-ness as a linebacker you have to have,” Harris said. “Cuz is smart. He’s played a lot of football. He’s definitely a guy who can go out and make plays, especially with this linebacker corps we have right now. It’s crazy. He’s played linebacker all his life. I don’t think he ever played offense before. All he knows how to do is hit people. All his life, he’s been hitting people.”

He soon might be hitting them as the starting middle linebacker for the Giants.

 

http://nypost.com/2016/08/15/giants-discount-journeyman-rising-in-fight-for-jon-beason-heir/

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I totally agree... I'm just simply baffled! Especially with this organizations history of LB greats!

 

With all that money the Giants threw around you'd think they'd have some for a LB. Instead the Bears are signing Trevathan, Freeman and Acho in March while the Giants sign Robinson. I swear Reese filters on injuries in his FA Excel spreadsheet and that's how he chooses LBs. :doh:

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With all that money the Giants threw around you'd think they'd have some for a LB. Instead the Bears are signing Trevathan, Freeman and Acho in March while the Giants sign Robinson. I swear Reese filters on injuries in his FA Excel spreadsheet and that's how he chooses LBs. :doh:

 

Bears play a 3-4 where the emphasis is more on linebackers, while our system relies more on d-line and corners.

 

I'd love good linebackers too but if I had to choose where to put more money I'd go d-line every time.

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It will come down to health, but they have several good players at LB. I really like Goodson, he will be a very good player, and future stalwart at MLB. I am convinced. He has everything you want and it shows up on the field.

 

Casillas and Kennard are also good players. Just need to keep this group healthy.

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