Why No Preseason Games Could Be a Giants Nightmare

For as long as I’ve been covering the NFL—over 20 seasons—every year, I’ve heard griping about the preseason games from just about everyone.

Players hate them because they pose unnecessary injury risks. Fans hate them because they are forced to buy the tickets to those games (at full price), or they have no interest in watching a bunch of players who, when announced as having signed with the team, leave them asking, "Who?".

Heck, even reporters hate them because it requires more work usually done on a shorter, nighttime deadline.

These are all valid reasons to want to see preseason games go away, maybe even for good. But for teams like the Giants who have a new coaching staff that has yet to see any of these guys on the field executing the new schemes, it’s a nightmare in more ways than one.

I’ve had colleagues whose opinions I trust tell me that preseason games are for the birds, that coaches usually already know who they want on the roster except for a small handful of guys. But therein lies the reason why having at least one preseason game has value.

Imagine if back in 2010, the Giants didn’t have preseason games. Does anyone think they would have discovered Super Bowl hero Victor Cruz? Probably not considering Cruz was one of those “no-names” that fans tend to have little interest in watching.

And what about Tony Romo, today perhaps the best NFL television analyst on the face of the planet but who was another undrafted rookie who went on to capture several Cowboys franchise passing records and have a relatively successful career? With no preseason games, then Romo’s 30-for-45, 349 passing yards with one touchdown game on August 31, 2006, would have never happened.

But let’s talk about the present day. As everyone knows, the Giants has a new coaching staff led by a first-time head coach. Don’t you think that Joe Judge wasn’t looking forward to having at least one if not two preseason games to test out months of planning regarding how game-day operations and communication between his two-dozen plus staff members would work?

You don’t think that maybe coordinators Thomas McGaughey (special teams), Jason Garrett (offense), and Patrick Graham (defense) wanted to have at least one dry run to determine the ideal way in which to deploy their assistants on game day?

You don’t think that Judge, who vowed to give everyone a clean slate, will be forced to cut some corners?

And speaking of game day, what about all those “no names” who dream of being the next Victor Cruz? With there being talk of potentially jettisoning ten guys from the 90-man training camp roster before they even have a chance to report, well, talk about adding insult to injury.

So everyone is clear, I am not a fan of preseason games, especially when the football tends to get sloppier and sloppier the further away coaches move from the starters and primary depth players.

I’d rather see a cluster of mistakes made in preseason games that mean absolutely nothing in the standings and which could lead to the discovery of a hidden talent than to roll into the regular season not knowing what could have been.

And what about injuries, you ask? It’s football—injuries can happen anytime and anywhere, and if you don’t believe me, go back and look at how the injury bug bit hard into the Giants wide receivers barely a week into camp.

The bottom line is the NFL, and the NFLPA need some preseason games.

They just don’t realize it yet.

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