New York Giants Scouting Report for 49ers Fans
Patricia Traina of Sports Illustrated's Giants Country graciously gave us 15 minutes of her time this week and provided an in-depth scouting report of the 49ers upcoming opponent, the New York Giants.
Here are snippets from the interview:
GC: "What is the biggest strength the Giants have?"
PT: "Probably it's their defensive front. They've got a lot of big bodies up front -- Dexter Lawrence, Dalvin Tomlinson, Leonard Williams. Two of those guys are first-round picks -- Lawrence and Williams. Those guys are space-eaters. They fill up gaps, move bodies around and allow the linebackers to play clean and shoot gaps. They're really effective and even help the pass rush because they keep guys occupied so the edge guys can get in there and disrupt things in the backfield."
GC: "What is the biggest weakness the Giants have?"
PT: "Right now, the secondary. And I'm going to put an asterisk on that, only because James Bradberry was outstanding last week. He played a solid game. He is their No. 1 cornerback. They currently don't have a set No. 2 cornerback. They've been working with a rotation. They've had Corey Ballentine, who was a sixth-round draft pick last year. He has been the starter. I don't think he'll be the starter much longer. I'd be surprised if he's the starter this week. They acquired Isaac Yiadom from Denver right after cut down day. He has been seeing an increase in snaps. And they've also been trying to bring up Logan Ryan, who they signed. They're trying to get him up to speed. That unit really hasn't been tested too deep yet, but we saw in training camp they had trouble holding coverages. That would be my biggest concern."
GC: "Is Giants quarterback Daniel Jones good?"
PT: "The problem with Daniel Jones is that his offensive line is still inconsistent. So I don't know if we've seen Jones at his best. With that said, he has a lot of qualities to like. He's gritty. He's not afraid to take a hit. He's not afraid to take a chance. There are still things that bother me, specifically he holds onto the ball a little too long sometimes. If you watch him on tape, you will see sometimes his receivers are making their breaks and waiting for the ball, and meanwhile the ball is thrown behind them or in front of them because the timing is off. So that's a problem with him. But he's an intelligent young guy. He's learning the offense and coming along well. He has to cut down on the turnovers -- he had another one last week. But every turnover tells its own story and he'll get that cleaned up. I have no doubt about it. There's a lot more good to his game than bad."
GC: "Pick a winner."
PT: "I'm going to go with a 27-24 Niners win. I know that's a little high, but I will say why. I'm putting a lot of stock in the Giants passing game. Evan Engram, the tight end, finally started to show in the second half of last week's game that he can be the productive guy we've been waiting for. And with Sterling Shepard out, they've been putting Engram in the slot a lot. So I think Engram will be featured. I'm not really sure what they're going to do at running back -- my guess is there will be a rotation. You'll see a little bit of Dion Lewis. You're going to see some Wayne Gallman. I'm sure you'll see some Devonta Freeman. Right now, they're going to do a committee just to keep things loose and prevent the 49ers from honing in on the passing game. But I think it's going to come down to a field goal."
Watch the full interview below.
And check out her interviewing me about the 49ers:
