CrazedDogs

And regarding Cruz, last I heard its not really known yet just how bad the injury was. Pretty wide range of expectations, 4-8 months recovery. If its the 4 month flavor, he'll be back at 100%. If its 8 months... we're going to need another receiver. Hopefully the team will know by the time free agency kicks off.

I don't like playing the would of, could of, should of game, but the above is not entirely wrong either. Its not like the cupboard is bare... a couple hits on offensive lineman, a healthy Cruz, and there you go, thats an offense that can go all the way. Same deal with the linebackers. That position definitely won't be a strength next season, but a couple hits between the draft and free agency and just a little bit of injury luck at that thin position, and the defense is a solid enough group to win with too. Fewell aside.

I don't care if it is douchey, its fucking hilarious.

Petitgout was pretty good until he hurt his back. After that he had so much anxiety about getting out of his stance that he became known for ridiculous false start penalties. I really don't know if he was any better at his best than Beatty is at his best though.

That is a tremendous amount of research, good work! However, the Dallas News study on injuries that Seph links to, by way of NFL.com, somewhat mitigates these results. Your draft picks will not see the field if they are not healthy, and aside from the player drafted with an existing injury, that isn't on the GM. For a point of reference on the impact of injuries, in 2006 the Giants were likewise dubiously positioned at the top of the league in starter games lost to injury, and made the playoffs despite this. The next two seasons they were closer to the league average, and were arguably the best team in the NFL over that two season span. Injuries, or the lack thereof, are the single biggest factor in NFL success. We're a notoriously negative bunch, but an unbiased, statistically inclined person could have predicted the 2007 Giants would be quite good merely by the law of averages. Its not Reese's fault that Wilson busted up his neck, that Steve Smith had spectacularly destructive knee injuries, or that Chad Jones' career ended in a single car accident. Avoiding injury, I believe, is very much a player skill, but there will always be an element of luck there, and I highly doubt many teams have suffered more fluky injuries over the last several seasons than the Giants. Also, by your methodology, you're actually PENALIZING Reese for finding good undrafted players, like Cruz, who happen to keep drafted players off the field.

LOL!!

Constant attention without the starry-eyed worship these guys receive in other cities. Roethlisberger got a pretty good deal in life, growing up then playing college ball in rural, football crazy Ohio, and then going to even more football crazy Pittsburgh. He should really probably be in prison somewhere.

Yeah, Pittsburgh was stacked. So was San Diego for a while, largely thanks to the Eli trade, and Rivers never did shit with it. I'm really not sure how anybody can see Eli and those other two from 2004 as being on the same level. Eli has done more with less.

neither Roethlisberger or Rivers could have handled New York. Especially Big Ben, what with his rapey tendencies and all that.

All of them were, but only because they all sucked hard at the end of their time with the Giants. Baas was on par with O'Hara when he was on the field, but injuries took their toll there. Last season, I would have guessed Pugh would have been an upgrade over McKenzie or Diehl, whichever you're using as comparison at right tackle, but that hasn't worked out in 2014. Richburg is a fairly high draft pick for an interior lineman, it would be a huge miss for him to not be a player but its too early to tell. Then there is Will Beatty, who depending on the season looks like either a fringe Pro Bowler or a league bottom feeder. I guess if I have a point, its not like the offensive line has been completely neglected. It hasn't been the focus I would have preferred, but the problem is that all the swings have been misses.

Definitely Eli with the good OL. Offensive line is the most important position on the offense. I'm curious what sort of numbers Eli would put up, we've never really seen him with both a good offensive line and good receivers at the same time.

And the offense was doing better than fine until they had to shuffle the offensive line. And the Jags have a good front four too, there was no way the offense was going to do a damn thing after Brewer.... James fucking BREWER... saw the field. And when he went down? At that point the Giants may as well have just taken a knee every time the offense got the ball.

Thats a wild exaggeration. Two above average players on the offensive line would be enough. Another wide receiver would be nice, but its not a deal breaker. It could still happen that Randle develops and Cruz comes back at 95%, and ODB is your featured #1 receiver regardless. And as for the 'Eli needs a great offensive line' comments, think back to 2011... that was a BAD offensive line. Not abysmal like this season's edition, but clearly a below average group. He doesn't need a great offensive line, he needs a good-enough offensive line.

I really don't think its all that bad. If Cruz comes back at 100%, the offense is just a couple offensive linemen away. One free agent filler, and a hit on a 2nd or 3rd round interior lineman, and it could be a good (enough) group. Same deal at linebacker. One decent free agent and one hit on a draft pick, and its a good (enough) group. 2014 Giants = Most Injured Team in the NFL. I'm not convinced they're much more than an average team when healthy, but the cupboard isn't so bare that its time to tear down the house and start over.

I find it very hard to believe that Moore is showing less in practice than Kiwi. I also note that Schwartz was an immediate and obvious upgrade to Pugh at right tackle. Remember Shaun O'Hara at the end of his career? Letting him play out the season when there was an obvious improvement on the bench killed that season. I admire a lot about Coughlin's loyal approach, but its a running joke that established players get to play themselves out of a job and then keep playing until the front office steps in. The man lives and dies with his opening day depth chart.

Why don't you like him at guard? He really looks more like a guard to me, and lord knows he's been terrible at tackle this season, Schwartz was an immediate upgrade on Sunday. I wonder what free agent receivers will be available next off season. The offense could really use an effective, tall receiver to compliment Beckham.

LOL, I stand corrected on Kiwi's play. I think I was living in 2011.

Truth.

No. Been paying extra attention to Kiwi lately... I think he shouldn't be on the field.

Parker was so open and Eli had a clear passing lane, its the only scenario I can think of that an NFL QB should be throwing to the player and not the spot... ...but look at replays of how Parker broke that route off, its almost like the dude has never run a slant before. With a good route and the same throw, that's an easy touchdown. That said... I don't know how Eli missed him. I don't know, maybe he released the ball before his break, but I don't think so....

That method of study reveals nothing. Teams that have drafted well will be at the top of this list, but so will teams with poor front offices that overvalue their own players.

I'll tell you who is long overdue to put a bunch of balls on the ground... LeSean McCoy.

agreed.

Except for two Lombardis....

well sure, the QB owns every ball that leaves his hand, but if you're doing serious analysis you still have to ask why a disproportionate amount of inaccurate passes go towards Randle. Look at the INT rate, its almost twice as high when going towards Randle. He's also about a 3-4 % point drag on the passing game's completion percentage. Its not like Eli has been an All Pro when going to the other receivers either, but when the stats are so lopsided towards one player, good or bad, that sure tells us something.