We take a break from, what seems to be, a regularly scheduled depressing announcement about a season ending injury.
Mr. Super Bowl XXI M.V.P gives us some insight on what he sees in the Giants this coming season. We have heard both locally and nationally how the Giants could struggle given the fact that they must overcome the injuries and the imbalance of talent departed versus imported.
Phil appears to be “very impressed” with the offensive line thus far this preseason. There was a lot of concern about the offensive line coming into the shortened camp with the release of Seubert and O’Hara and “this rebuilt offensive line has been impressive thus far.”
Simms feels Ahmad Bradshaw “is arguably one of the most underrated players in the NFL” and someone “who makes it happens” when he touches the ball. When pressed by Francesa, Simms acknowledged that the Giants moved the ball on the Jets .
Francesa was very critical of their lack of talent and depth at the TE position. He added that the concern is “you cannot have the tight end give away what you’re going to do based on what his skills are. You cannot have a tight end who runs out there who can’t block and you know what they are going to do. You got to have a tight end that can give some versatility to the game.” This is an ignorant and arrogant statement rolled into one. Tell this to the Colts, who regularly utilize Dallas Clark into their passing game or even Antonio Gates. Are these guys known for their blocking skills? Perhaps we should coin this tunnel vision thinking the Gilbride syndrome. A regular visitor to the site, Merrick A. forwarded the following interview question to Beckum on versatility to an offense:
Q: Do you think the coaches will adjust to what you do best and move you around?
A: Yes, I think it plays right into my hands and I did a lot of that in college. A lot of times when you move a tight end, you can see what coverage it is and obviously if you have man pre-snap, it is a big clue. Hopefully I can cure that and make mismatches against the defense.
Simms response to Francesa’s points was “don’t over-analyze it as you just can’t be great at every position. The third wide receiver will catch those tight end passes or even the running backs so you change your play calling a little bit.” Or, as Merrick A. pointed out, Beckum could fill in as a slot receiver creating mismatches for a safety “who is too small to cover Beckum or even cover with a LBerwho is too slow to cover Beckum.” He likes what they have done over these last couple of years as “they had a great defensive line in the super bowl year in 2007 and they continue to add pieces to it.” But he adds the “linebacking corp you can ask some questions” but he expects big things from Aaron Ross this year.
But you interpret the response from Simms on the question posed by Francesa:
“So you think the Giants are going to be better than most people are advertising?” Simms response was “I think they could be a good football team, absolutely. When you are as solid as a team up front on both sides of the football.”
This is could be this biggest, and perhaps, the last challenge of Coughlin’s coaching career. They are coming off 3 seasons where they were 1 and done in the playoffs and shut out of the playoffs in the previous 2. Remember the last time he was shut out of the playoffs 3 years in a row. The locker room has lost some voices in O’Hara, Seubert and even a beloved by the players in Blackburn. Players have even openly observed not signing some of their most productive players in Smith, Boss and even Cofield. The early part of the schedule is manageable enough. Time to get the first snapshot this weekend for what this team is going to deliver this season.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
