New York Giants Blue & A (Mailbag Part 2)
Usually, I do a Saturday video mailbag, "Blue & A exclusively for my Locked On Giants Subtext Community members. Alas, this week, due to a nasty head cold that has affected my voice, I'm using this platform to answer those questions submitted.
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And now on to the "Blue & A" questions.
(From John D.) I'm very disappointed in Dabol. Never the same receivers playing. Too much shuffling of the offensive line. Hawkins was the darling of the preseason now on the bench. Start Hyatt and Robinson and let them grow.
John, I get your frustration, but you need to understand the background behind the points you raised. First, the receivers who play change according to the game plan every week.
So one week Waller might be featured, the next week, Slayton, etc. The offensive line shuffling this season has been a result of INJURIES. Hawkins is a rookie who was bound to have some hiccups (and the fact that he was the "darling of the preseason" could also suggest that either the Giants receivers aren't as good as we thought or the coaches specified certain looks to see how the kid performed.
Hyatt? I don't have any proof of this, but I wonder if the Giants are deploying him differently than how he was deployed in Tennessee, and the young man is still adjusting. And not for nothing, but if he goes out and stinks up the place, you'll probably scream for him to be benched, right?
Robinson is coming off an ACL injury. He'll see his reps increase; we just have to be patient.
Do you want my reasons to be frustrated with Daboll and the staff? How about Daniel Jones's regression? He's making rookie mistakes out there and looks as skittish as ever, offensive line or no offensive line. How about Evan Neal's lack of progress? How about his conservative approach in the summer in holding guys out of the preseason games out of a suspected fear of them getting injured? Those are some reasons to be frustrated with Daboll and the coaches.
(From Corey H.) One of the major opportunities for this Giants team is to play matchup football, but so far, it doesn’t seem to be working well. Do you think there was something in the consistency of guys on the field last year that helped with the team's success?
Last week, I asked about being more flexible in the play calls, and again this week, Daboll was asked why Shep wasn’t getting on the field as much, and he said, we didn’t get to those plays”. Do they need to go with a more “best personal will play” mentality rather than “statistical matchups”? It seems like Isaiah Simmons is doing great when he’s on the field, but he isn’t getting a ton of reps. Why not keep putting him out there?
What's good, Corey? You're preaching to the coir here. In one breath, coaches tell us "next man up" when a guy is injured and can't play. But then, in the next one, it's matchup football? If you want us to believe players are interchangeable, why not play these other guys? Know why? Because they're not.
I've also been screaming about what I perceive as a rigidness to the playcalling. I'm unsure what Daboll means when he says, "We didn't get to those plays." Is it due to not having enough offensive snaps, perhaps? But as I've said countless times, plans are made to change, and if you have something you feel good about that can help you out, why "wait" to get to it?
(From Lyle W.) We're going to be 1-5 after playing Miami and Buffalo. And the season has taken our Giants to the edge of the cliff. Accordingly, Big BLUE seems to be on a lifeboat with too many holes to patch.
Even though this might be considered blasphemous, should our Giants' coaching staff attempt to strategize to try to lose most of their remaining games this season to obtain a top 3 pick in 2024?
Lyle, I will NEVER believe a team should tank for draft picks. That's a loser's mentality, and it grinds my gears when people suggest that.
Look, this team has had how many draft picks in the top 15 over the last few years? Where has it gotten them exactly? Other than Saquon Barkley and Andrew Thomas, do they have any impact players to come from the Top 15 draft picks they've had? So, no, tanking for picks is NOT the answer.
(From Randy) Most reporters had a positive outlook on the Giants training camp. How could the team look so promising in training camp just to stall in the regular season? They did look slower than the lions. Maybe that was the first clue?
Randy, as someone optimistic about this team, yes, when the Lions were a bit faster, I had some concerns, albeit ones I dismissed. What bothered me was not playing the starters in the preseason--again, whether that was due to concern for injury or some other reason, you're not going to convince me that it was the right decision for a team that had so many new pieces to add in on both sides of the ball--and I don't want to hear that they practiced because everyone knows you can't simulate game scenarios and speed in practice.
I also thought it was a huge mistake that they didn't settle on a starting offensive line sooner. I get that they wanted to give guys practice snaps at other positions, but at some point, you have to let the line jell, and I don't believe they ever did that.
These points, by the way, were the same criticisms I had of Joe Judge in his final season. Given its modest success the previous year, I thought the coaching staff got a little too full of itself and took their foot off the gas pedal.
(From Rueben M.) Do you think the Giants will finally stick to the run more to keep the Dolphins offense off the field?
Here's the thing, Rueben. This team has no running game without Saquon and Adnrew Thomas on the field. No disrespect to Matt Breida, Gary Brightwell, or Eric Gray, but who among those has the homerun speed of Saquon? Who among those is going to keep defensive coordinators up at night? The answer is nobody.
If the Giants want to keep the Dolphins offense off the field, the Giants offense must cut back on the penalties and the stupid mistakes sabotaging their drives. It's really that simple.
(From Shaq) How long are we going to be in the NFC East Basement? Where's the fight and the effort? Where's the team from last season that team fought?
Shaq, if I had the answers to those questions, I'd probably be a wealthy woman capable of foretelling the future. I know those are all rhetorical questions born out of frustration, but I'm not a soothsayer. I can only report what I see and hear, and right now, I think this team lacks some serious bite to its game.
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