By Shaun Morash - InReeseWeTrust.com 1/20/10
The days of the Giants being built from the linebackers on out are long gone. Giants fans over the past decade have longed for the days of Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson, Carl Banks, and even Jesse Armstead. Year after year it seems the linebackers are becoming more and more of a disappointment. This year however, General Manager Jerry Reese needs to improve this group and get a starter to play on the other side of Michael Boley and Jonathon Goff.
With the aging Keith Bullock appearing as if he is a one-hit wonder as a Giant, and Clint Sintim (whom lost his starting job in 2010 training camp) recovering from an ACL injury that ended his season the Giants need a player, preferably an impact player to solidify the defense at that position. Finding one impact linebacker has been hard enough for the Giants, let alone three, therefore the Giants may have to live with both Jonathon Goff and Michael Boley as starters at their positions for the 2011 season. Boley is under contract, and although many Giants fans have been unhappy with his performance, including a glaring miss position on a Michael Vick TD run in the first Eagles game this year, Boley will stick next season. He is a leader whether we may think it or not. As for Goff, Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell called him the defensive MVP for this past season. Goff wasn’t expected to start after the Giants had signed Bulluck, but Goff impressed the coaches and would start the entire year at MLB. Although not flashy, Goff is a young player who is solid in every aspect of the game at that position. He is most certainly worth another year of growth there. Jerry Reese must take what they have in Boley and Goff and find an impact player on the other side to replace Bullock and perhaps Sintim.
Which route the General Manger takes in fulfilling this priority is up in the air. Do the Giants try and add a player via free agency? The Giants have had decent success in recent memory at adding free agents at Linebacker. Bulluck was solid off an injury this year, and Michael Barrow and Antonio Pierce ended up being big time additions to teams that went to Super Bowls. There are also the failures at Free Agency, Carlos Emmons and Barret Green fall into that category. Free Agency can be just as big a crap shoot as the draft can be. With the uncertainty of the new Collective Bargaining agreement up in the air, the Free Agents at this position for the most part are unknown. This past season was played without a salary cap, and there is no telling if and what the salary cap will be in 2011, and what decisions teams will need to make regarding cuts. As it stands the Giants will need to take care of several key free agents of their own, which may take up a lot of their free agency dollars. However, one name that appears headed for the market is Vikings Linebacker Chad Greenway. Greenway, a sure tackler, would fit the perfect need for the Giants.
Then there is the draft route for Big Blue. The Giants seemed to have wasted several mid round picks on linebackers that have simply not panned out. Whether it was Wesley Mallard, Nick Greisen, Brandon Short, Gerris Wilkinson, Bryan Kehl, or most recently 2nd rounder Clint Sintim, it seems as if the Giants have failed in finding an impact player at linebacker when not taken in the first round. But that is the key, the first round.
The Giants have had solid success as far as first rounder’s go in recent years. Jason Pierre-Paul appears as if he will be a stud and Hakeem Nicks, if he can stay healthy, may become one of the games best wide outs. Kenny Phillips, Aaron Ross, and Eli Manning remain key contributers on this team, all first rounders. So why doesn’t Jerry Reese take the success Big Blue has had in the first round and try and turn it into an impact linebacker this team hasn’t seen in nearly a decade. On the early draft boards the top 5 outside linebackers seem to be headed by Texas A&M’s Von Miller. Many boards have Miller going at the 9th pick to the Tennessee Titans. If he is 9th pick eligible why doesn’t Reese see if he can gamble and trade up to get him.
Many of these same boards have the Giants drafting offensive line in the first round which is a mistake. Offensive linemen, like running backs, are a unique position where you can find many impact players in later rounds, without having to spend first round money. The Giants offensive line is aging and there is a need there no question, but worthy of a first round pick? No way, not before linebacker at least. If a trade for Miller isn’t feasible the Giants could be interested in North Carolina’s Bruce Carter, UCLA’s junior Akeem Ayers, Boston College’s Mark Herzlich, and Nevada’s Moch Dontay. Any of the other available outside linebackers in this year’s draft don’t seem to have first round immediate impact player written on them. However, it is still January and as many football fans know, the scouting combine changes many experts and coaches views on players.
The GMen and Jerry Reese should seriously look themselves in the mirror and realize that with Michael Vick, Tony Romo, and maybe even Cam Newton in the NFC East, to go with the gluttony of back breaking running backs we as fans have seen break our hearts, that an impact linebacker is indeed priority number one. We as a fan base cannot kid ourselves into thinking this team doesn’t have other holes and needs, including along the offensive line, but Reese should absolutely be thinking OLB in round number ONE.
This is exaxtly what the Giants need to be worried about going into the off-season. We need strength at the LB position more importantly at the heart of the D. We are a team whose LBs people used to run away from; we need to get back to that sentiment.
ReplyDeleteAmen
ReplyDelete