More on Bulluck

Keith Bulluck is going to be a team leader.

I loved what I heard from Keith Bulluck.  On Monday, he said the following,

“The (Giants) have talent, and they brought in talent.” “They brought in Deon Grantand Antrelle Rolle, and they had Osi (Umenyiora), (Justin) Tuck and the guys up front. Michael Boley is a young and up and coming linebacker, and is poised on the outside. We all have to mesh. There are guys who were here last year that may not be happy with the season last year so they feel that they have something to prove. I know this team as a whole has something to prove.

“(But) for everyone to be talking about Dallas, Washington, and Philadelphia and not talking about Big Blue is absurd.”

His words got me excited.  As fans, we need to hear this. He also thinks the Giants have a championship team in place.  Bulluck appears to be a guy who will speak his mind.  I am sure he will be an integral part of the leadership council.  We have been writing about the lack of leadership on this team.  Now, the Giants have brought in three guys-Rolle, Grant, and Bulluck.  These three guys will provide much needed leadership.  Will this new found leadership translate into more wins?  We shall see.  It will be also interesting to see where Bulluck will play and what type of defense the Giants will use.  When Bulluck inked his deal, an initial ESPN report  stated Bulluck was going to play middle linebacker. On the contrary, ESPN’s AFC South blogger Paul Kuharsky  has a different point of view.  According to Kuharsky,  using a Tampa 2 defense, Bulluck may wind up playing outside linebacker.

It’s hard for a lot of Titans fans to come to terms with Tennessee letting Bulluck walk, but I think even before he tore up an ACL late in the season they had decided to move forward. They have a pretty good track record of letting guys go at the right time and not getting caught up in sentiment. … The early talk is that he will be in the middle of the Giants’ D which will now be a Tampa 2, meaning he will drop deep into coverage regularly. If he is healed up, I can see him playing well in that role, but won’t be surprised at all if he winds up outside.

Although Bulluck has never played middle linebacker, can he make the transition?  In 1983, Harry Carson was out with an injury.  Parcells inserted  Lawrence Taylor at inside linebacker. Superman had trouble playing inside.  From his book LT: Over the Edge, here is Taylor in his own words about playing inside linebacker. 

I hated it because I could no longer see the action coming to me. I couldn’t take advantage of my field of vision, which is my God-given ability-to see lots of things happening at once. Instead there was this mess of centers, guards, tackles, all big motherf******, running backs and the kitchen sink coming right at me. After games, I felt like I’d played ten years in the league.  

Speaking of playing ten years in the league, Bulluck has played valiantly for 10 years.  And  former Giants GM George Young’s thoughts about 10 year NFL veteran players , “In the pros, the name on the jersey may be the same for nine or 10 years but the athlete isn’t the same guy.”  Once camp begins, we are going to find out about Bulluck’s knee and how much gas he has left in his tank.