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New York Giants Mailbag: The "How to Fix the Giants" Edition

This week's mailbag combines some leftover "Twitter Tuesday" questions into the mix.

If you'd like to submit a question for the mailbag, please send it to nygiantsmaven@gmail.com or post it in our new forum, (free registration required) under Reader Mailbag Questions. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity and conciseness.

Editor's Note: Some of these questions were left over from the LockedOn Giants podcast Twitter Tuesday mailbag, which you can view below. As I didn't want them to grow stale, I included them here with my responses.

This one is easy--and I know you're probably not going to like the answer, but I'm giving it to you straight. If you were part of a team that was stinking up the place left and right, would you want your boss coming out to the board of directors/shareholders and mentioning you by name? Probably not.

I think what Judge is doing--and I'm not defending this, so please understand that--is he's trying to find the silver lining in the cloud. The problem is there is no silver lining, and he ends up grasping at straws.

Would fire and anger solve the problem at the end of the day? Not really. What will solve the problem is taking more chances, opening up their minds to new things (does Nate Solder really have to play every week?), and abandoning this "stick to the process" line because the process ain't working.


I'm sure there were worse teams in the 1970s that would give this squad a run for its money. I'd have to go back and research that period again, but I can remember the days when the great Harry Carson was so disgusted with the franchise's direction that he sought a trade. But seriously, I think Ben McAdoo's last year was worse--he lost the locker room, and the players turned on each other. It became a weekly soap opera with football taking a back seat. It was THAT was bad.


Unless Judge loses the locker room, I am 99.9 percent certain he's back next year. I can't say the same thing about Dave Gettleman or every member of Judge's staff, but I do know that John Mara and Steve Tisch realize that you can't keep pulling the plug on a coaching staff every two years just because things aren't going right That said, if Judge doesn't turn things around next year, then I suspect his seat will be a lot hotter.


 

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Speaking strictly for myself, if the Giants and Dave Gettleman go their separate ways, I feel they should sweep everyone out and start from scratch. However, as I said above, I don't see that being the case. I see more patchwork coming, and I am concerned that might limit who finds the job appealing. 

Yes, the Giants have nine draft picks, but they have a mess on their hands salary cap-wise, and I'm not so sure that won't turn some potential general manager candidates off. I think the Giants can only live off the franchise's golden legacy for so long as a selling point to a general manager candidate. Quite honestly, given how the last decade has gone, I'm not even sure that is a selling point anymore, but you never know.

You start from scratch, plain and simple. I said it then and will repeat it. When the Giants swept out Tom Coughlin, they should have swept out Jerry Reese and Eli Manning and started from scratch. Loyalty is a wonderful trait, but in this case, blind loyalty has come back to bite them hard.

They have now created a patchwork cycle which hasn't worked yet. I'm not sure if it will work unless the Mara and Tisch families agree to go outside the organization (enough with this promoting from within because you're comfortable or because you know the candidates) and get someone with fresh ideas and who's more in tune with how the game has evolved.


From Jon S. - Do you agree that Joe Judge has failed as a teacher and a leader of teaching coaches?

Interesting question Jon, and one that's hard to answer because I'm not in the meetings or classroom sessions. Here's what I think, though.

Everyone learns differently and at different paces. I like to learn by just doing things by trial and error. My husband will sit and read every last line of instructions before attempting to do something.

Does that mean my husband is a slower learner than I am? No. Does that mean I'm more prone to making mistakes than he is? No. He wants to know the nitty-gritty of doing something, whereas I prefer to learn what I need to get up and running.

That said, it's up to the teachers to recognize if one of the receivers, for example, is struggling to grasp the playbook and figure out how to get that player on track.

Now here's the other part of the equation. It's up to the individual to want to learn and put in the time and the practice. I take time out of my day to practice guitar because I want to learn it better.

So has Joe Judge failed as a teacher? I don't think he has. Does every player take that approach, or do you have guys walking in thinking they know everything to where they don't put in the extra time to study and prepare for the classroom sessions? Who knows?


From Andrew G. - Peter King reported that there is a possibility that Pete Carroll and Seattle could part ways. Do you see the Giants firing Judge and going after Carroll? Also, as for the offensive line, how would you fix it via off-season given that it looks like Andrew Thomas is the only one that should return next year, and Nick Gates if he is healthy, which I'm sure we all hope he is.

Hi Andrew. Nope. As I said before, I am 99.9 percent certain Joe Judge gets another year unless he loses the locker room as Ben McAdoo did. As for the offensive line, I think you approach it via the draft and free agency.

For free agency, I have to look at the cap and figure out who I cut, who I restructure, if any, and then who I go after (right now, the free agency list is still taking shape). I'll be doing that exercise at some point shortly after the season. 


From Jim C. -Why is Matt Pert not playing? He can’t do worse than Nate Solder. 

Hi Jim. This article should answer your question.


From Joe G. - Do you think after the season, it is time for Judge to fire the WR, TE, OC, and perhaps more and hire some coaches with a new approach and philosophy to jump-start a stagnant offense that is going nowhere?

Hi Joe. I think some changes need to be made to the assistant coaching staff. I'd have to sit down and look through to see who didn't develop skill-wise versus who was slowed down due to injury or deployment to say for sure which position coaches I'd guess would be relieved of their duties.

I think the Giants should hire a new offensive coordinator, but I could also see them sticking with Kitchens and this system if they want to get another year's worth of evaluation on Daniel Jones. 


From Warren G. - How much game time has Kadarius Toney missed this season?

This weekend will mark his fourth game missed. 


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