Blue Notes | A Measuring Stick For Success, Fresh Leadership and More
About 360 miles west of the Meadowlands, the Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff, led by head coach Mike Tomlin is preparing to face Joe Judge's Giants.
However, the Steelers might be hard-pressed to learn much about this year's Giants by looking at last year's film.
With an entirely new coaching staff, there is no film that resembles what this year's Giants team will look like yet, mostly due to a lack of preseason this year.
But that won't stop the Steelers from figuring things out according to Judge.
"You can study enough tape of our coordinators and our systems, you can look into my history and get an idea of what it’s going to be like," Judge said. "I’d say the only advantage is going to be the team that comes out there and plays physically and sound on Monday night.
"No matter what you’ve done in the past, no matter what we’ve put together, it’s all going to come down to when that ball is kicked off, who the most physical team on the field is."
Will Logan Ryan be Ready For Week 1?
Veteran defensive back Logan Ryan only officially joined the Giants just this week and has been trying to cram the Giants playbook into his head.
While the defensive back told reporters the other day that he's been studying diligently, the question is whether he'll have absorbed enough to contribute much when the Giants meet the Steelers Monday night.
"Right now, there is still a lot of catching up that he has to do," Judge said. "Obviously, he just joined us. Whether it’s the alphabet in our terminology, he has to get on pace with. We still have to make sure that we are fair to him as far as acclimating him. He just got here, he hasn’t been in training camp with anybody else."
Ryan represents a critical presence on the Giants, and the team will need him to contribute sooner rather than later, even if it's not as soon as Monday.
"He’s a tremendous competitor, he’s a very smart player," Judge said. "He did a great job training himself getting in. As coaches, we have to put him in the right situations."
For the record, players who usually join a team well after the spring program and training camp typically focus on the weekly game plan, using whatever spare time they have to go back and learn the playbook's deeper intricacies later on.
A Measuring Stick For Success
The Giants' offensive line has been one of its most discussed position groups for several years now.
General manager Dave Gettleman has been on a mission to solve the offensive line since taking over at the end of 2017, and his efforts haven't yielded much improvement over the past two seasons.
In 2020, the Giants offensive line projects rookie Andrew Thomas at left tackle, Nick Gates at center, and Cameron Fleming at right tackle.
The Giants' latest projected offensive line rotation will be tested against one of the best defensive front sevens the NFL has to offer on Monday night.
The Steeler's multifaceted defensive front will force the Giants to be very efficient with their blocking schemes. With talent across the front, the Giants won't be able to overcommit to one side or direct too much attention to any one player.
"If you overplay T.J. Watt, you have Bud Dupree on the other edge and he’s just as fierce," Judge said. "We have to play smart as a team, we have to call it the right way as coaches, put them in the right position. This all ties into game planning and how we’re working together."
Judge sees the test as a means of measuring where the offensive line is from a chemistry and performance standpoint.
"This defensive line we’re going to see this week is obviously the measuring stick for talent and success," Judge said.
"They’ve done tremendous things on the field. You can’t talk about the top defenses in the league without talking about Pittsburgh year in and year out. Look, they have a ton of talent on that defensive front."
"They can play with scheme, but they don’t really need it except to get off on the ball and play to their physical strengths. They’re extremely talented and we have our work cut out for us this week."
Counting Captains
The Giants officially named their team captains on Tuesday, and quarterback Daniel Jones and defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson were among the six chosen.
Jones, in just his second NFL season, was an obvious choice for captain due to the natural leadership qualities associated with his position.
Jones has been there before, serving as a captain at Duke for his final two collegiate seasons in 2017-18. However, now he assumes that role at the NFL level, and it is not something he is taking for granted.
"Being voted by your teammates is a tremendous honor," Jones said. "It’s a serious job. It’s something that I don’t think you can take lightly. You have a responsibility to your teammates and to your team to represent them and do what you can to be their voice and lead."
On the flip side, Tomlinson has never been a captain at the professional or collegiate level. And while Tomlinson's role as defensive tackle might not be associated with leading the same way as the quarterback position, his leadership is evident through his actions.
"I always try to lead by example," Tomlinson said. "I feel like I can’t be a captain if I don’t go out there and give it my all each and every day. That’s one of the biggest things that I feel like every captain has to do."
Interpersonal Conversations
Judge is in the midst of maybe the biggest week of his life (so far).
With kickoff just days away, Judge will soon stand on the Giants' sideline for the first time as head coach. As much pressure as he might feel, he is still going out of his way to talk with his players to help them prepare for the moment.
Judge said that those conversations never stop taking place and serve a multitude of purposes.
"It goes on daily as you're watching tape with different players," Judge said. "It goes on when talking about the game plan at install meetings when they have certain questions. It happens on the practice field after an offensive or defensive series."
That communication isn't a one-way street either.
Just as Judge and his staff are relaying information to the players, getting that feedback from them is just as valuable to the team dynamics and ensuring that players feel comfortable within the roles that the coaches need them to fill.
"There has to be input with the players and the coaches, and it has to be conversation back and forth," Judge said.
"What you find with players is when you present them with the why and how you want it to look, a lot of times they find a better way for what they are supposed to do. You really learn a lot from the players."
Perhaps the most critical conversations between players and coaches involve the starting quarterback, especially when it's their first year in a new offensive system.
Second-year quarterback Daniel Jones will be making his first Week 1 start on Monday and first with Judge and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.
"The quarterback and the head coach have to be able to talk," Judge said. "Him being one of our captains obviously puts him in a position that we’re going to have a lot of conversations involving all aspects of the team.
"You have to see the game the way their lens is on the field. That only happens through a lot of conversations ... That’s how we have to be receptive as coaches. Make sure when we get that feedback, we’re smart about how we go ahead, and we allow the adjustments to favor the players."
