Expectations going into this season

[jranieli]

After the first time in so many years, I pretty much have no expectations of this team. I am not excited at all.

[Mr. P]

superbowl win.

[Zelmo]

After the first time in so many years, I pretty much have no expectations of this team. I am not excited at all.

 

Why? Putting aside the emotional impact of certain things that happened or didn't happen this offseason, do you think our roster doesn't have talent?

 

 

 

-Z

[jranieli]

Why? Putting aside the emotional impact of certain things that happened or didn't happen this offseason, do you think our roster doesn't have talent?

 

 

 

-Z

 

Talent, they do but have a lot of weak spots. They are strong on the d-line and secondary but their linebackers are up the air. Before the offseason, I thought this offense would be a force but not really much depth at WR and the TE's are a bunch of scrubs. Yes lets get excited for a bunch of undrafted free agents.

[Zelmo]

Talent, they do but have a lot of weak spots. They are strong on the d-line and secondary but their linebackers are up the air. Before the offseason, I thought this offense would be a force but not really much depth at WR and the TE's are a bunch of scrubs. Yes lets get excited for a bunch of undrafted free agents.

 

I hear ya there are definitely weak spots on the team. Specifically LB and TE like you mentioned. But there also happens to be a tremendous amount of talent. We have some some truly outstanding players at RB, WR, DE and in the secondary.

 

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, kills a team more than offensive line problems. The most unheralded move of this offseason may very well be the signing of David Baas. Everyone can get in a hissyfit about Boss and Smith and Burress and this and that, but at the end of the day if Jerry Reese and the Giants FO are right about Beatty's readiness at LT and managed to instantly give the OL a huge facelift in one year without significantly weakening it, he deserves a prize. Football is won at the lines, let everyone else have their flashy players. Football is won at the lines.

 

If the OL gels, and one or two young guys step up at LB or DT, we are a dangerous team.

 

I just wish we still had Spagnuolo designing the blitz packages.

 

 

 

-Z

[Storm]

Talent, they do but have a lot of weak spots. They are strong on the d-line and secondary but their linebackers are up the air. Before the offseason, I thought this offense would be a force but not really much depth at WR and the TE's are a bunch of scrubs. Yes lets get excited for a bunch of undrafted free agents.

 

Some of our BACKUP wide receivers are top 3 round picks.....Barden, Thomas, Clayton, Jernigan.......ALL have talent. They (looking at Clayton and Thomas) not panned out in other places but they are all talented enough to get the nod that early in the draft. Plus, we still have our stalwarts in Nicks and Manningham who are are real playmakers, anyway. I don't see the scare in the wide receiver area. We need a guy to step up and move the chains in that position, that's IT!

 

Tight end I see a huge problem with. Defensive line I see a huge problem with. Linebackers a big problem with. But wide receiver is not a position I'm worried about.

 

Steve Smith will BARELY see the field as an Eagle. Jeremy Maclin and Avant are essentially the SAME EXACT receiver.

[K3VIN]

Nothing to get excited over. We do not have a great stability at CB with the injury s to Bruce and Prince. LB is a crap shoot. DE and S are about the olny strong points.

[Nas]

Nothing to get excited over. We do not have a great stability at CB with the injury s to Bruce and Prince. LB is a crap shoot. DE and S are about the olny strong points.

 

That's a very pessimistic outlook...

 

Our ENTIRE defensive backfiled is as good as it gets... Web, TT, Ross, KP, Rolle, and Sash? Our DL is as good as it gets.. those two young DTs we have look like the real deal... our DEs without Osi are superb.. Yes.. our LB are not all that.. but that's about the only weak spot on our D... so no.. the sky isn't falling.. im just ticked off we lost Smith.. to the Eagles no less.

[Storm]

That's a very pessimistic outlook...

 

Our ENTIRE defensive backfiled is as good as it gets... Web, TT, Ross, KP, Rolle, and Sash? Our DL is as good as it gets.. those two young DTs we have look like the real deal... our DEs without Osi are superb.. Yes.. our LB are not all that.. but that's about the only weak spot on our D... so no.. the sky isn't falling.. im just ticked off we lost Smith.. to the Eagles no less.

 

I'm more pissed we let Cofield head to the Skins. Cofield was a much more integral player than Smith.

[Nas]

I'm more pissed we let Cofield head to the Skins. Cofield was a much more integral player than Smith.

 

Well the FO felt our two young DTs and Canty will do just fine.. and remember we had a cap situation.. Smith could have come on the cheap.. had the Giants moved sooner Philly wouldn't even get the chance to talk to him.. oh well.

[Storm]

Well the FO felt our two young DTs and Canty will do just fine.. and remember we had a cap situation.. Smith could have come on the cheap.. had the Giants moved sooner Philly wouldn't even get the chance to talk to him.. oh well.

 

Agreed.

 

I just think the backup situation at DT was quite a lot more dire than at WR....

 

But 1 year, 4 million dollars isn't THAT cheap....that's money that all counts against you this year....4 million was probably more than the Giants were willing to offer....

 

And you can't really try to lock up Smith long term because of his question marks....so 1 year 4 million is a good deal for philly, would have been a terrible deal for us THIS year, and was a great deal for SS.

[Nas]

Agreed.

 

I just think the backup situation at DT was quite a lot more dire than at WR....

 

But 1 year, 4 million dollars isn't THAT cheap....that's money that all counts against you this year....4 million was probably more than the Giants were willing to offer....

 

And you can't really try to lock up Smith long term because of his question marks....so 1 year 4 million is a good deal for philly, would have been a terrible deal for us THIS year, and was a great deal for SS.

 

I agree with most of you said here.. The thing about football contracts is the team can cut you anytime.. so it's all about guaranteed money... Smith did what's right for him and his family... It just breaks me to no end because I never ever pictured him in someone else's uniform... definitely not the Eagles. So maybe the Giants just couldn't keep him.. in a lot of ways I feel betrayed by him.. but I ain't walked in shoes either. Fuck I'm still upset

[Herc]

IMO they have enough talent to make some noise but having these new faces on the o-line might mean a (hopefully not too long) grace period before they gel together. they've also done almost nothing to improve themselves while teams with just as much or more talent (philly, jets, NE) were able to improve themselves because they managed their caps better.

 

still have playoff level expectations but between free agency and prince getting hurt it's been one of the tougher offseasons i can remember

[boohyah]

My expectations this year is to be a better team than last year, and I believe we can be, especially on D.

 

Our defensive line IMO is top 5 in the league, and that's with 3 unproven guys. JPP could be the next coming, you have 2 mammoth 2 round picks coming in this year.

 

Our 2 2nd round draft pick corners are now backed up by 2 1st rounders. that's not a bad situation to have.

 

we could have picked nas to replace Dodge as punter, but we got Weatherford. Automatic upgrade.

 

As sad as I was to see the 2 guys go, we could have made moves here to actually make our line better. I have always believed Beatty will come good and I think he's about to prove this this year.

 

I don't think we win the superbowl, or get close, that said, the talent on that team may not be better than it is on our team now. It's just teams like Philly, Orleans and the Pack have just raised the bar so friggin high.

[K3VIN]

I just don't see any improvement anywhere so its hard for me to say we can be any better then last year. A year we didnt make it in to the play offs.

[Nas]

I guess I'm not the only one

[JackStroud]

Agreed.

 

I just think the backup situation at DT was quite a lot more dire than at WR....

 

But 1 year, 4 million dollars isn't THAT cheap....that's money that all counts against you this year....4 million was probably more than the Giants were willing to offer....

 

And you can't really try to lock up Smith long term because of his question marks....so 1 year 4 million is a good deal for philly, would have been a terrible deal for us THIS year, and was a great deal for SS.

 

PS- Klinnsman is off to a sweet start.......we tied but in reality manhandled the Mexicans tonight........he brings an enthusiasm and confidence to the USA I have never seen before ....EVER

[Allstarjim]

The division is going to come down to who can stay healthy, I believe. At QB, we have the most durable QB in the NFC East, actually the entire NFC, and maybe NFL. I think we will sweep the Redskins, I think we have an excellent chance to sweep the Cowboys, and we split with the Eagles. I think the only thing that can stop us from starting the season 6-0 before the bye week is the Eagles in week 3. After the bye week it gets rough though. We have games @New England, @New Orleans (very tough to beat them in their house), Green Bay in the Meadowlands, Philly at home, @Dallas, and the Jets in week 15, and Dallas at home to finish the season. If we can get to the bye 6-0, we can go 12-4, with a little luck, 13-3. It's a murderous schedule after the break, but they only play them one at a time. The only games after the bye that I look at that should be easy wins (as if there are any in the NFL) are Miami and Washington at home, and the San Francisco game on the road. We could go 8-8 this year (I think that is the worst we'll do), or we could go 14-2 (height of optimism).

[JackStroud]

soft spots?

 

What team does not have soft spots??......would you trade the Eagles O-Line or D-Line for ours?

 

Would you give up Eli for Vick?

 

Would you trade our starting DB's for theirs?

 

Our RBs for theirs?

 

even the WR's........as a group ours are better

 

The Eagles are a formidable competitor but football is basically won in the trenches......I like our trenches over their trenches

[Allstarjim]

soft spots?

 

What team does not have soft spots??......would you trade the Eagles O-Line or D-Line for ours? NO

 

Would you give up Eli for Vick? NO, but this gave me pause... Vick's susceptibility to injury the deciding factor here.

Would you trade our starting DB's for theirs? At corner... yes, but it's a lot closer than most people think. Definitely NOT when safeties are factored in.

 

Our RBs for theirs? It's close. LeSean McCoy is a special player. They now have Ronnie Brown and a promising rookie in Graig Cooper that I like. But I still have to take Bradshaw and Jacobs, but this one is close.

 

even the WR's........as a group ours are better - Also close. This is not clear cut and if Steve Smith is performing at his normal level by the stretch run, the trio of Jackson, Maclin, and Smith is deeper than ours. I think Nicks is the best of the bunch but they have proven quality depth. Even Jason Avant is good.

 

The Eagles are a formidable competitor but football is basically won in the trenches......I like our trenches over their trenches - This is where we have the most clear advantage, and it's a big one.

[JackStroud]

thank you

[gmenroc]

This year reminds me of the pre-Jeremy Shockey years. We had decent receivers in Toomer and Hilliard on the outside. We had a decent running game with Tiki. Defense wasn't great, but wasn't horrible. Team as a whole was mediocre.

 

I see Nicks getting double teamed. I see Manningham doing okay against single coverage, but not great. The middle of the field could be left vacant by opposing defenses as we won't have anyone to go there. UNLESS, and thi't a HUGE gamble...this Jennigan kid we drafted seems to be a quality slot guy. Maybe he fills in for Steve Smith without issue. Still don't like it, but you never know.

[fishgutmartyr]

Agreed.

 

I just think the backup situation at DT was quite a lot more dire than at WR....

 

But 1 year, 4 million dollars isn't THAT cheap....that's money that all counts against you this year....4 million was probably more than the Giants were willing to offer....

 

And you can't really try to lock up Smith long term because of his question marks....so 1 year 4 million is a good deal for philly, would have been a terrible deal for us THIS year, and was a great deal for SS.

 

 

I just don't see any improvement anywhere so its hard for me to say we can be any better then last year. A year we didnt make it in to the play offs.

 

I think the one area we did improve was defense and probably special teams. I think the combo of Joseph/Austin is a better rotation than Cofield/Bernard; and the re-signing of Tollefson is bigger than some would believe. I love that guy as a backup. It would make me laugh if we cut Bernard twice this season. Seems only fitting...

 

Any linebacker combination that keeps Sintim on the bench makes me happy. Kiwi does pretty good there, so I'm not complaining. I'm still hoping more of the young guys break the starting lineup, but in the meantime all these eager youngsters should improve specials.

 

Philly might have the bigger names, but I don't see too many people passing their way to victory against our defensive backs, either. I liked Grant, but it's starting to sound like Sash is ultimately going to be an upgrade.

 

Add in that this is year two for Fewell, and we should see a better defense this season than we have in years. The question is: Will it compensate for some of the offensive power we've lost this year?

 

I'm hoping (praying) that either Brown or Scott makes it on this team over Ware. We drafted both of them for their receiving abilities, and Hynoski is supposedly good in that department as well. Hopefully, that might relieve some of the 3rd down nightmares I've had thanks to the events of this past week.

[BIGBLUE01]

No way, the feeling on this team is great. Im expecting BIG things this yr. Cant wait.

[BleedinBlue]

I expect good things as well from this team. I am a firm believer that games are won in the trenches and I like both our lines, especially our defensive line. I also like our defensive backfield and think the Giants excel when they focus on defense.

 

Everyone's worried because we lost some offensive weapons, but we still have the tandem of Bradshaw and Jacobs that combined for over 2000 yards and Nicks and Manningham combined for 2000 yards playing part time because of injuries.

 

High octane offenses don't usually go to the superbowl.....but the high octane defenses do. I'm quite satisfied with what Reese and TC have done to make this a defense first type of team.