So far so good… NFL teams priorities for the first pre-season game of the year - in fact for just about every pre-season game - are to a) avoid injuries and b) have the starters and top reserves outplay their respective counterparts. In fact, the Giants came out of the game with only the usual bumps and bruises, after dominating the Panthers, one of the top contenders in the NFC through the first half. Indeed, the Giants led 14-2 at the break in a scoreline that flattered Carolina as the Panthers were held to just 5 first downs and 91 total yards in the first half as they never came close to scoring any offensive points. It didn’t hurt, though, that the Giants ultimately won out on the game’s final play when undrafted rookie free agent DE Tommie Hill picked off a deflected ball - DT Leger Douzable made the hit - and raced into the Panthers’ end zone to break a 17-17 tie and give the Giants a somewhat improbable pre-season ’W’.
Anyone for seconds… Perhaps the only good thing about the NFL’s way too lengthy pre-season schedule is the fact it allows a lot of younger players get their only extended playing time of the year. One guy who got a lot of snaps for the Giants against Carolina, for example, was rookie LT William Beatty, the team’s second second round pick at the 2009 draft. Unfortunately, though, the results were decidedly mixed. Somewhat surprisingly, Beatty, who came to the Giants with a reputation of being an athletic pass protector, but not a particularly physical run blocker, was actually solid enough drive blocking. On running plays, Beatty came off the snap with authority, made good initial contact, kept his pads low and his arms extended and generally did an excellent job sealing off the pursuit angles of his target. Beatty was also effective pulling and made several solid blocks in space; Beatty, a converted TE who does run very well for an offensive lineman, also stayed with the play and on more that one occasion ended up making blocks far downfield. On other hand, Beatty had his problems in pass protection. For an athletic player, Beatty isn’t at all smooth backpedaling as he tends to lift his feet too far off the ground; and while he has very long arms he didn’t get much of an initial punch or arm extension and allowed Carolina DEs to get into his pads. Beatty also did a poor job absorbing the initial contact as he played way too high and was consistently knocked off balance on that initial contact. As a result, Beatty had a particular problem dealing with cut-back moves as he struggled to change direction. At the same time, though, Beatty did a decent job cutting off the edge, although he did allow Carolina rookie DE Everette Brown, another second rounder this year, to power around the corner for a sack on one occasion. Based on his outing against Carolina, it is hard to imagine that the Giants are going to feel all that comfortable about considering Beatty as their first option off the bench at OT anytime soon.
While Beatty had his problems in his pro debut against the Panthers, LB/DE Clint Sintim, the Giants’ other second round pick this year, was one of the real stars of the win over Carolina. Sintim had a sack and a forced fumble and also drew a holding penalty as he showed good power and intensity coming off the edge. Interestingly, though, Sintim actually only played a few snaps on third downs as a down DE; in fact, he played mostly at SSLB where he appeared to be far smoother and agile than we were expecting. As a SSLB, Sintim did a nice job holding the point of attack also looked surprisingly fluid moving in reverse. He also delivered a couple of nice pops. Sintim, though, struggled at times to get off blocks and didn’t always find the ball when engaged. It is also probably a good idea not to get overly excited over his pass rush potential, at least for the moment. During snaps as a down DE, Sintim did show a decent first step and got good power and leverage when he dipped his shoulder and drove around the edge; he‘s also relentless in pursuit of the ball. We still need to be convinced, though, that Sintim has the package of speed and power to be able to consistently beat quality NFL OTs when matched up one-on-one. Indeed, his sack came while being blocked by a second-team TE, while the holding call was drawn against an undrafted rookie free agent. In particular, Sintim didn’t appear to be real explosive off the snap and was slow to get back to speed after changing directions. In the end, Sintim’s real value as a pass rusher may come through the Giants finding ways to get him freed up by moving him around before the snap, through stunts and by looking for mismatches against TEs and RBs.
Position-by-position comments and roster thoughts:
Quarterbacks: Nice outing by Eli Manning who seems to have at least for the moment put last January’s dreadful playoff performance against the Eagles behind him. Manning looked very sharp completing 3 of 4 passes (although one was called back because of a phantom alignment call against OT Kareem McKenzie). And while it is still early, Eli looked especially good sliding around the pocket to avoid the rush and find passing lanes, something he hasn’t always looked that comfortable doing in the past. Meanwhile, back-up David Carr was solid enough, although he holds on to the ball too long too often for someone with his experience. At the same time, its hard to see how either of Andre’ Woodson or rookie Rhett Bomar did anywhere enough for the Giants to start considering carrying a 3rd QB this fall, especially with so many good players at other positions. Woodson can get the ball downfield when given time, but his decision-making and release are way too slow, while Bomar did throw a couple of darts, but neither was particularly accurate.
Running backs: Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw looked to be in mid-season form as both ran with power and authority. Both also caught the ball surprisingly well. Indeed, the fact that the backs were so productive catching the football was one of the major positives for the Giants in the Carolina game which included a well-executed screen play that resulted in a Danny Ware TD late in the first half. In fact, the most intriguing question at RB is who is going to be the 3rd down back. The Giants reportedly would like to see Ware, a solid blocker with decent hands - although he did box one possible catch in the flat - earn the job, but they may also be tempted just to use Jacobs, an even better blocker who is a true load in the open field in the role, while giving more snaps to Bradshaw on earlier downs. Meanwhile, Allen Patrick showed a nice burst on a couple of runs and would appear to be the only one in the running for the #4 back, although it is not out of the question that the Giants opt to keep only three and use the roster spot on someone who might actually play.
Receivers: All the WRs of note, save for projected starter Steve Smith who didn’t play, got their feet wet with at least one reception. In the end, though, nothing much got settled at the position, although it seems pretty clear that barring injurires Smith and Domenik Hixon, will be the starters against Washington on September 13th, while Mario Manningham and Sinorice Moss will be the #3 and #3a receivers. Manningham, in particular, could be a real key this season. He’s arguably the most physically gifted receiver on the roster, but is still trying to figure out where he’s supposed to be on a lot of plays. Meanwhile, there is more than one Giants’ fan out there who would like to see the end of Moss, who has never shown the kind of speed and explosion the team thought they would be getting when they moved up to take him in the second round of the 2006 draft, however, Moss likely isn’t going anywhere anytime soon as he is the only experienced true receiver on the roster should one of the other three top guys get dinged.
Meanwhile, rookie WRs Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden also made their first career catches, but the fact that neither played a snap with either the first or second units in the first half against the Panthers probably indicates that both have a lot to learn before they are ready to make a real contribution. That could open a final roster spot for veteran David Tyree to make the team as a 7th WR and actually suit up as the #5 WR and special teamer on game day while the young guys learn the ropes, although he has really struggled to hang onto the ball so far this August. Tyree‘s chances could be helped even more if the Giants opt to go with only two QBs and/or 3 Rbs, although the Carolina game also wasn’t exactly one of his best outings ever from a special team’s stand point. On the other hand, Derek Hagen did not help his chances when he was outfought for the ball on a couple of plays by closing DBs.
On the other hand, the TEs were largely invisible against Carolina. Kevin Boss, for example, never saw the ball, while Darcy Johnson and rookie Travis Beckum each had a catch. Interesting to note that Beckum was used exclusively as a slot receiver against the Panthers and never actually lined up as an in-line TE, although he did have one solid block on a running play. And while it may have had more to do with the routes he was running, we didn’t see much explosion from Beckum coming off the line of scrimmage, although he may actually have been running a lot of drag routes into areas cleared out by other receivers.
Offensive line: Despite the fact that neither of starting OGs Chris Snee or Rich Seubert suited up this week, the Giants’ offensive line was still able to blow some gaping holes in the usually solid Carolina defensive front. Indeed, other than RB Ahmad Bradshaw, a pretty good case can be made that the most outstanding Giant against the Panthers was G/C Tuten Reyes, who was more than solid filling in at RG for Seubert on the first unit, and then did a nice job working at C in the second half, although he clearly isn‘t as quick as either starter Shaun O‘Hara or back-up C Adam Koets. Indeed, Koets may be feeling a little extra heat this week as Reyes versatility could make Koets even more vulnerable than the 2008 6th rounder was coming into camp.
The big issue for the Giants up front, though, appears to be the depth at OT, especially LT. OG Kevin Boothe, who also played well against the Panthers while filling in for Chris Snee, as well as Reyes can play RT, but as noted above William Beatty doesn’t look anywhere near ready to play extended minutes on the other side meaning the Giants could be forced to keep Guy Whimper around another year as insurance in case anything happens to David Diehl. Whimper, in fact, has been playing behind Beatty in camp and played RT with the second unit against Carolina, but was far more comfortable pass blocking than Beatty. Whimper also did a decent job sealing off people run blocking, but still doesn’t get much real push off the line of scrimmage.
Defensive line: Nice to see DT Jay Alford, who combined with Osi Umenyiora on a sack and forced fumble and was beating his man inside all night against Carolina, make some plays on Monday night. Of course, it was even nicer to see Umenyiora blowing around Carolina Pro Bowl OT Jordan Gross for a sack after missing the entire 2008 season. It was also nice to see the Giants defensive front continuing to apply the pressure even without Fred Robbins, Chris Canty and Rocky Bernard, all of whom were held out because of injury concerns. If there was a concern on the defensive line, though, it was that Justin Tuck just didn’t look right as he has been battlling a nagging foot injury in camp. Indeed, he was held out of practices later in the week and if it was up to us the Giants would shut him down until the start of the season.
The one downside to the impressive depth on the defensive line is that the Giants may be forced to make some painful cuts early in September. Undrafted rookie free agent DE Maurice Evans, who is very much on the bubble with the Giants, for example, had a solid game against the Panthers as he forced a fumble and was buzzing around the Carolina QB throughout the second half, although to be honest we didn‘t see quite the second-gear explosion off the snap from Evans that an undersized DE needs to consistently beat NFL OTs. Plus for Evans, as well as the other young defensive linemen trying to make the roster, the numbers just don’t add up very well. Barring injury, the Giants are likely going to keep 8 defensive linemen - DEs Umenyiora, Tuck and Kiwanuka and DTs Robbins, Cofield, Bernard, Canty and Alford - and with Canty able to play both DT and DE and LB Clint Sintim likely to get snaps at DE in pass-rush situations, there really isn’t much room or need for another DL who isn’t going to play a whole lot this fall.
Linebacker: There also appears to be a real battle at LB for roster spots, although unlike the defensive line this one involves real veterans as the Giants have 9 quality players at the position battling for what is likely to be no more than 7 roster spots. And the competition is complicated by the fact that both Clint Sintim, who will likely make most of his money this fall as a 3rd down pass rushing DE, along with LS and special teams ace Zak DeOssie count against LB total. Also figure that Antonio Pierce, Michael Boley and Chase Blackburn are locks to make the roster and that Bryan Kehl likely isn’t going anywhere and the numbers’ game boil down to Gerris Wilkinson, Danny Clark and Jonathan Goff in a dogfight for the final spot.
Of note in the Carolina game, Kehl was all over the field, but did miss a couple of open-field tackles continuing a somewhat disturbing trend from his rookie campaign last fall. Meanwhile, the enigmatic Wilkinson showed the best range of all the Giants’ LBs, but still seemed to get there a half step late more often than not. Wilkinson, though, did play well on special teams. So did MLB Goff who held up reasonably in his first extended action in a long time; he showed excellent lateral range to get into the flats to break up a pass and was physical enough forcing the run between the tackles, but did tend to wander a step or two too deep into the secondary when avoiding the traffic. On the other hand, the veteran Clark barely registered a blip on either the regular downs or on specials.
Secondary: The Giants played the Carolina game without either of starting corners Corey Webster and Aaron Ross, but it hardly seemed to matter as both Kevin Dockery and Terrell Thomas stepped up nicely. Dockery, in particular, was all over the play on the few occasions he was actually tested. Meanwhile, the Panthers did test Thomas, but he did a nice job keeping everything in front of him. Thomas, though, did flash on a couple of tackles. In fact, the entire Giants’ secondary was guilty of some very poor tackling versus the Panthers. The worst offender was 2009 6th rounder 6th rounder DeAndre Wright who was victimized for two big gainers on the Panthers last minute game-tying drive, including the TD reception, when he missed tackles on what should have been nothing more than short dump-off completions. Fellow rookie CB Bruce Johnson wasn’t much better; the undrafted free agent from Miami did have a nice pass break-up when he was able to turn and run with a Carolina receiver, but looked like he wanted no part of the action when he didn’t do much more than wave at a couple of Carolina runners as they went by. CB Stoney Woodson, this year’s 7th round pick, also missed a tackle, but had a pick on a deflected pass, and was generally pretty tight in coverage.
The safeties also weren’t immune from the tackling woes as both of starters Kenny Phillips and Michael Johnson also missed tackles. On the other hand, newcomer C.C. Brown delivered a couple of real pops; unfortunately, though, both came at the end of good Carolina gains. And while there could be a 4th safety roster spot up for grabs, none of the younger players really stepped big time. Undrafted rookie free agent SS Sha’reff Rashad, for example, had an interception in his hands but boxed it, while FS Vince Anderson, another undrafted rookie, had a chance to make a tackle on the Panthers’ late game-tying TD, but all he could do was wave at the receiver as he took a bad angle and overran the play.
Special teams: There was very little special about the unit’s play against the Panthers. The kick and punt coverage was very good, but P Jeff Feagles had a punt blocked and then put the subsequent free kick out of bounds which gave Carolina great field position. Feagles, though, did make a great play to bat the blocked kick through the end zone for a safety rather than give up a TD. And the block was hardly his fault as the Giants were caught with just 10 men on the field on the punt. Hard to tell who the guilty party was, but Mathias Kiwanuka lined up in that wing spot on other punts with that coverage unit. One also figures that either of veterans Feagles or David Tyree, who lined up as the deep protector on the play, should have noticed the Giants were down a man and aborted the play. Meanwhile, PK Lawrence Tynes missed a relatively short FG and then barely squeaked a second try inside the post on a second attempt.
This and that: For those that haven’t heard, Plaxcio Burress will not be playing football this year for anybody except perhaps the Sing Sing intramural team after he plead guilty to reduced gun charges on Thursday in exchange for a 2-year prison sentence… Next up for the Giants is a match-up with the Chicago Bears and new QB on Saturday night at 8 PM ET. The NFL Network has the replay at 7 PM ET on Sunday. MLB Antonio Pierce (foot), FS Kenny Phillips (knee), OGs Rich Seubert (shoulder) and Chris Snee (knee), DT Chris Canty (hamstring) and CB Aaron Ross (hamstring) are all definitely out of the game with the Bears while CB Corey Webster (strained hip flexor), DE Justin Tuck (foot) and DT Rocky Bernard (hamstring) likely won’t play much if at all… One has to wonder if rookie DE Tommie Hill might be worth a look as a TE if he ends up on the Giants practice squad. The angular 6-6, 245-pounder certainly looked the part running back that pick to end the Carolina game.
No comments:
Post a Comment