New York Giants Mailbag: What Ifs

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If Daniel Jones has another bad season which route, do you think the Giants go to replace him, veteran QB, or trade up in the draft? -- @BleedBigBlue22

Thanks for the question. I think it’s far too soon to make that call for any number of reasons. First, we don’t know who will be available from a free agency perspective--and we won’t for several months yet).

From a draft perspective, we don’t know the draft order or who is planning to declare for next year’s draft.

Logic would indicate that the draft is the way to go, but it might also depend on whether Jones was solely the problem for the team not making the playoffs or if it's necessary to tear everything down and start from scratch.

With the offensive weapons, will Garrett open up the play bookmaking life miserable for defensive coordinators? Like wildcat and passing from that formation with Toney. -- @JohnSpielman

Thanks for the question, John. You’d like to think that will be the case, that offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, with many more options to choose from, will open up the offense.

I think it all comes down to how the offensive line looks—and I am optimistic that the unit will be much improved, allowing the quarterback to take more 5- and 7-step drops while the receivers work their way down the field.

Should we sign a Vet QB as a backup to Jones? If he gets injured, we’re in trouble. -- @Shrappy71

Come on, Scrappy, don’t you have any confidence in Mike Glennon, whom the Giants signed to be Jones’ backup? (You can read more about what he brings to the table in Nick Falato’s excellent film review.)

Everyone is scared that Garrett won’t get a lot out of Toney, but does Judge’s expertise with WR help in this case? Was it his influence that brought in this weapon? --@wordreeves

Thanks for the question. My understanding is that the Giants collaborate on decisions regarding who they bring in. Sure, every once in a while, a coach might suggest a specific player, but in the case of Toney, he was the best available on their board after they traded down.

As for Judge’s expertise with wide receivers helping, no, I don’t think that’s going to be as big of a factor as you think it might. I think for the offense—and remember the game plans are reportedly a collaborative effort of all the coaching staff members—the loudest voices in the room will probably be Jason Garrett and senior offensive consultant Freddie Kitchens.

Who will start at RG and LG?--@AbreuErvin

Thanks for the question. My guess is that Shane Lemieux will start at left guard and Will Hernandez at right guard, assuming there are no injuries or any setbacks or unexpected developments. Coach Judge will probably say that they have to hold a competition, but that would be my guess.

If quarterbacks today don’t take their teams to the playoffs in 2 to 3 years, then you start over. Most of the first-round future star quarterbacks are generally drafted by bad teams. How are they supposed to succeed? –Pat R.

Pat, with any player, you want to see progress from year to year. I don’t know if you remember, but for the first couple of years of Eli Manning’s career, there were grumblings by the naysayers who questioned whether he was the right man to lead this franchise.

The Giants, as I have said before, didn’t have an ideal setup in place for Jones when he came on board. The offensive line was in flux, and they had traded away a No. 1 receiver.

I’m not sure how management expected Jones to be successful given the circumstances, especially when that roster was more built to support Eli Manning than the rookie. I admire what Jones was able to accomplish despite having an uphill battle.

Several questions…

1. What do you think about drafting a running back (Saquon Barkley) so high?

2. With the Giants adding so many new players, I think it will take a while for all the players and coaches to get on the same page. Giants want to win now, but Gil Brandt said it might take until Thanksgiving. If they have an average season, then what?

3. Jerry Reese’s 1st draft in 2007 may be one of the best drafts in recent times. It set us for winning The SBs in 07 & 11s. Then something happened. Their drafts went south. What do you think happened? – PR

Thanks for the questions. I’ve said it before and will repeat it: you do not draft a running back to build around; instead, you add him to a team that’s about complete. To me, a premium running back is one of those “one player away from a championship run” additions.

That said, I think the Giants saw Saquon Barkley as a way to take some of the onus off Eli Manning, the quarterback at the time, who was getting up there in years and who was averaging over 600 pass attempts per season under Ben McAdoo. While I didn’t hate the pick, I thought they should have gone offensive line.

Usually, I’d defer to the “Godfather” (Gil Brandt), whose football knowledge exceeds mine any day (and no, I’m not ashamed to admit that). With that said, Brandt isn’t in the building every day, so how does he know how these guys are being taught?

And with all due respect, did anyone expect this team to not only win six games last year but be competitive all season long despite not having an off-season, despite having a brand new staff and several new players? I mean, can we give this coaching staff a little more credit before we write this team off?

You ask what happens if they have an average season. Define for me what you consider "average." Equivalent or greater number of wins than the league average for that year? One and done playoff appearance?

Look, this team probably isn’t ready to push for a Super Bowl berth right now, but I think it will be a lot better than it was last year, and I think if all things fall into place, they will make it to the playoffs.

As for your last question, the 2007 draft was the last one that Jerry Reese ran. In 2007, he held the dual role of general manager and the draft coordinator. After that draft, Marc Ross was hired to run the team’s drafts.

You can also make an argument that they won the 2007 Super Bowl because most of that team was from Ernie Accorsi’s regime (again, Reese ran those drafts, so he has to get credit for the success, as does Dave Gettleman, who handled the pro personnel side of things.

You can make that same argument for the 2011 team winning the Super Bowl as a good chunk of that team was still leftover from the Accorsi era.

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