NFL-Giants: NY Giants football news

The Giants starting wide receivers Amani Toomer and Ike Hilliard combined for 100 catches and zero touchdowns this year according to Don King. So just how high a priority is finding a wideout in free agency or the draft?

Clark Judge from Sportsline notes that the Eagles are the winningest team over the past 5 years and says that them and the Patriots have followed the same model: draft well, lcok up the good ones long term and cheap, let the old expensive ones move on, fill in holes with free agents.

Can the Giants do that? Clearly they weren’t drafting too well in the late nineties, but the last two years have been encouraging with good players taken in later rounds (think David Diehl and Gibril Wilson, both fifth rounders – if you can fill your roster with good players who come nice and cheap like a 5th round pick, you’re doing pretty well.

Only 7 players remain on the Giants from the ’96 thru ’01 drafts. They are:

Amani Toomer (Let’s hope he comes back stronger next year when he’s healthy), Ike Hilliard (I’m not sure he needs to come back next year), Tiki Barber (nice one!), Shaun Williams (should have taken Faneca instead and shouldn’t have overpaid to keep Williams around), Luke Petitgout (decent left tackle so decent #19 pick – may be slightly overpaid now but left tackles don’t come cheap), Ron Dayne, the Wills (not so crazy about Will Allen but the Wills are good), and Jesse Palmer.

If anyone wants some homework, find out who the Eagles drafted during the same years and how many of them are still with the team. Or the Patriots.

The good news is that since our more recent drafts seem to have been better, we should improve moving forward. But there are problems looking forward. Shockey should be entering his prime, but who’s are next running back? Our next wide receiver tandem?

Mark Maske and Thomas Heath have written an interesting article about money in the NFL.

One argument is that revenue sharing makes small market teams more competitive, which in turn makes the NFL more interesting, which leads to greater profits. Indianapolis thinks along these lines:

Yesterday I asked What do the Giants need to do in order to put a scary explosive offense on the field? One commenter answered better pass protection.

What does Luke Petigout the highly paid left tackle say about all the sacks Warner took? “The sacks went down when Eli came in because he had more of a sense to get rid of the ball,” says left tackle Luke Petitgout. “You can’t hold the ball forever. You can’t do that.”

Warner took 39 sacks, including 24 in his final four games. Manning was only sacked 12 times in the final seven games according to the Daily News. So how much help do the Giants really need on the offensive line? Reminds me of the controversial post: How bad is the Giants offensive line?

Peter King handed AJ Smith the GM season award. Mostly for putting together a playoff team even if they did lose to the Jets, but also for getting Nate kaeding, Phillip Rivers, 2005 #12 and the Giants 5th rounder for Manning.

GM: A.J. Smith, San Diego. Early in 2004, in the months after his first season as GM ended, Smith heard the drumbeats. Clean out the Chargers offices, from Smith and coach Marty Schottenheimer on down. Start over. Fire everyone. “Marty’s gone, I’m in over my head, we’ve got no players, and we’re going after a bunch of nobodies in free-agency,” Smith said. “I heard it all. And I thought: How unfair. Judge us after three, four, five years, not one.” Those nobodies have been terrific. Outside linebacker Steve Foley — maybe the biggest weakside OLB I’ve ever seen at 262 — has tormented protection schemes all year. And Smith handled the Eli Manning soap opera perfectly. The third-round pick he got as the first piece of the Manning/Philip Rivers deal turned into a very good young kicker, Nate Kaeding. Smith’s patience will be further rewarded in April, when the Chargers take the 12th overall pick from the Giants, plus New York’s fifth, to finish off the trade. Look for the Chargers to re-sign Brees short-term and hang onto Rivers long-term.

Time will tell who got the better deal, but I’m encouraged by all those who talk about the lack of top first round talent in this year’s draft. And for those who remember me talking about how the Giants should draft Kaeding in April 2004, I’ll stick by that even though he missed a big one against the Jets…

As I watched Green Bay and Minnesota play today, I got to thinking that both are teams the Giants beat earlier in the season before the meltdown. What caused these teams that the Giants beat to make the playoffs?

Their offenses clearly since neither defense is as good as the Giants. Except for one thing. The Vikings had four interceptions. Some bad throws and poorly run routes, but the key was Minnesota taking advantage.

How many interceptions did the Giants have this year? What do the Giants need to do in order to put a scary explosive offense on the field?

Hi everyone. I’m in Boston for New Year’s but I’m the only one awake so I figured I’d blog a bit about the Giants. Specifically about what I’m going to wtch for when the Giants play Dallas.

1. Nick Greisen – He can play MLB and WLB, probably can play on the strong side too making him at least a very valuable backup. His contract is up and the giants ahve to decide how much he’s worth.

2. Lance Legree – Another versatile guy who can play DT or DE. Another Giant who will become a free agent and should be resigned. Should be at least a versatile backup, and will make training camp more competitive even if he is unlikely to be a starter.

3. Amani Toomer – He says his hamstring is slowing him down. Can we expect him to be our #1 receiver next year or do we have to find one in free agency? Never mind just read that Shockey and Toomer won’t play.

4. Jim Finn – He has had some great blocks, but a fullback has to have some of those. Is Finn our answer at fulback?