New York Giants Reader Mailbag: Week 1

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From P. Zach -- No matter what happens this year, I think Gettleman is gone. Dave's poor picks and signings in 2018 and 2019, his failure to load up the offensive and defensive lines in drafts, and selecting Pat Shurmur for coach should have him moving on. What do you think are the odds of him staying after this year? By the way, I think Judge would still be here even if Dave goes.

What's good, Zach? I know Dave has said he'll keep at this for as long as he can, but as I see it if this team underachieves again, he's probably out. Likewise, if Daniel Jones proves Gettleman to be a genius, I could see a scenario where Dave retires and watches the games from Cape Cod moving forward. So yes, I could see it going either way, and it wouldn't surprise me if Dave isn't here next year.

From Pat R. -- Do you think the Giants will put Jim Fassel in the Ring of Honor. He was a coach who the players respected and loved playing for. During 9/11, he helped the Giants and fans deal with the tragic events of 9/11.

Hi Pat. This is a tough one for me to answer. You can make a case that Fassel deserves to be in the Ring of Honor, but when I think about how his tenure here came to an end, let's just say I think if it were going to happen, it would have happened by now.

From Robert H. -- Every time Thomas explains his problem, he talks about hand position, sliding, hip movement, etc. Do you think Thomas is still thinking mechanics in games?

What's good, Robert? I think the problem with Andrew Thomas is he's been taught to do things differently, and it's a comfort level for him. To give you an example, I've always approached typing rather unconventionally. I never put my fingers on the keyboard correctly, but yet I can get done what I need to get done and quickly at that.

When I was in school and took a typing class, I didn't get high grades because I just couldn't get comfortable typing the way the teacher wanted it done. So even though at the time I was among the fastest and most accurate in the class, I still struggled to earn anything higher than a C in the class because my technique wasn't correct.

From Nicholas G. - If Andrew Thomas has so many problems with technique, why was he considered one of the four most NFL- ready tackles in the 2020 draft? Are these flaws in technique not noticeable at the college level? Can NFL teams workout linemen before the draft by putting them against some of their DE? This maybe could help identify major flaws?

What's up, Nicholas? Just a wild guess here, but I suspect Thomas's technique was changed when he came out of school, and those changes weren't natural to him. I don't think his collage technique was as flawed as some people think was the case.

My understanding is NFL teams cannot work out draft prospects against their players, so no. It's up to the coaches and scouts to scour the tape to find any issues and develop a plan to attack them.

From Tommy C. - Week 1 is here. Is the o-line still your biggest concern?

Tommy, my man, how is it going? Am I concerned about the offensive line? Yes. But you know what? The problem isn't unique to the Giants. I've grown a bit more concerned with Daniel Jones. I thought in the preseason game against the Patriots, there were a few "what the heck?" decisions he made that cost them.

I think that a decent quarterback can help out his offensive line, and I'm not ready to write Daniel Jones off yet. But these stupid decisions he makes, along with the slow post-snap processing time, have got to get corrected.

From Mark E. - Congratulations on the podcast and YouTube channel. I love them both. This doesn't have to do with football, but I hope you'll answer it anyway. If you weren't covering sports, would you still be in the media, and if so, what would you be covering?

Mark, thanks for the kind words. I always loved writing, so if I wasn't writing about sports, I'd be writing about something. What would I be covering? I'd love to be covering music, specifically classic rock bands. I'm a huge music fan, especially of the stuff that came out in the 1970s. So I would enjoy covering the music scene if I wasn't covering sports.

From John K. - Are you at all surprised that Joe Judge said that if Saquon Barkley plays, he won't be on a pitch count?

What's up, John? Yes, I am, especially considering how slowly the Giants brought him along all summer. I get what Judge is saying about how if a player is cleared to go, you have to take the bubble wrap off and let him go, but I also believe you have to be smart and believing a player can go from zero to 100 MPH leave s much to be desired. We'll just have to hope for the best.

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