Yet another Giants starter, linebacker Jonathon Goff, is out for the season with a torn ACL. He banged knees with another player in practice on Monday and yesterday the MRI was positive. Kawika Mitchell may be added as a stopgap. It has been raining and hurricaning all summer on New Jersey and the NY Giants. Is there any hope that the sun can finally come out and stop this deluge?
According to one former Giants Linebacker, yes, there is hope. The former Pro Bowl linebacker, Carl Banks, says that hope comes in the form of Greg Jones, Jacquian Williams and Mark Herzlich. This blog was fortunate enough to catch up with the two time Super Bowl champion last evening at Macy’s in the Garden State Plaza Mall, where Mr. Banks was showing off his new line of clothing, G-III THE COLLECTION.
UltimateNYG: It’s been 27 years since the Giants have taken (you!) a linebacker in the draft in the first round. Why has it been so long?
Banks: Well, it’s probably been that long since they’ve played a 3-4 defense. In a 3-4 defense, your linebacker is your strength but in a 4-3, you got to have four really good defensive linemen. I think that is why they move more toward taking talented defensive tackles and defensive ends and they try to supplement those guys with linebackers.
UltimateNYG: Don’t you feel that the Giants are missing that three down linebacker, the guy that can come in and stay in all three downs and chase running backs (out of the backfield)?
Banks: Well, you’re not going to miss it for long. I mean, this rookie class, I really love. I love Jones. I like Jacquian Williams and I also like Mark Herzlich. Those guys have a lot of promise. I think they’re going to get into the pipeline relatively quick because each guy has a different talent, a skill set. It’s something when you look at these guys, you can tell, boy, these guys all have bright futures.
UltimateNYG: I want to thank you for your time, but I want to give you an opportunity to talk about your product.
Banks: I’m launching the G-III sports collection here at Macy’s exclusively. We are really happy. It is a collection of great fashion, men’s fashion sports. It’s not your basic gray hoodie and gray sweatpants. We put a lot of thought and a lot of different applications into it. It’s really fashion relevant but very comfortable clothing.
Later on, we had a chance to ask Antrel Rolle a question about the Giant Secondary’s schemes:
UltimateNYG: Perry Fewell has been playing a lot of soft cover-2, a lot off the line coverage, not as much press coverage. What do you think about giving a little more aggressiveness?
Rolle: To be honest with you, the corners have their own freedom to play whatever kind of coverage they want, whether it is an off man coverage or a press coverage. It has more to do with what their comfort level is. Perry Fewell, all he does is call the defense and it is up to us to go out there and execute it. I agree with you though. I definitely agree. I think we should definitely be in the receiver’s face more and punish him a little more and disrupt him more at the line. Give them a harder target to throw.
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