NFL-Giants: NY Giants football news

Ernie Palladino writes an interesting article about how Ferri used to be and wants to be a running back. Of course his chance to make the team is at safety and on special teams, but it’s nice to have players who can play both ways as Ferri did for Syracuse against the Eagles. If a guy can back up your running backs, safeties, and punt returners, he’s worth keeping around even if he’s not good enough to start.

Newsday tells us how the Giants signed a new QB. I’d be surprised if the depth chart going into the preseason doesn’t read Manning, Palmer, Tim Hasselbeck who was claimed off waivers from the Redskins.

Mike Garafolo writes that Corey Webster, the Giants second round pick will likely be the Giants third corner this season, meaning he’ll outperform Deloatch and Walker. I still wonder why Deloatch was covering Chad Brown last December, not that Will Allen played a great game against Brown. Since Webster is being marked as Allen’s eventual replacement, let’s hope he can do better. There is hope:

But the Giants are hoping his experience at receiver will immediately improve upon the paltry six interceptions they got from their corners last year.

“I think it helps you, especially when the ball is in the air,” Webster said. “When the ball is in the air, I think it’s just as much mine as it is (the receiver’s).”

Paul Schwartz writes that James Butler from Georgia Tech has a good chance to make the team and that the Giants would have drafted him in the 7th round if they had had a pick. He also mentions a few other players.

Here’s a video of some action from the rookie camp and some interviews with Coughlin from Giants.com. You can see Jacobs’ speed and Lorenzen’s arm strength. There are videos of Tuck and Webster as well. It’s interesting to see some of the drills they do.

Paul Schwartz writes that J-Load wasn’t overly impressive and is still a longshot to make the Giants even though they have only two healthy quarterbacks (Manning and Palmer). The New York Times offers a more objective look at J-Load, Brandon Jacobs and some other large Giants.

Tom Coughlin doesn’t have much to say about the firs day of Giants rookies in camp right now, but you can read the transcript if you like. His comments on day 2 were a bit more interesting. It may be unlikely, but it seems there’s a chance our QB depth chart could be Manning, Palmer, Lorenzo. LoVeccio is also getting looked at, but I didn’t get the impresion that he has a real shot. I could easily be wrong, however, as Coughlin is being careful not to reveal any judgements to the media.

Obviously this is a big help. The Giants projected starters were Petigout, Diehl, O’Hara, Snee, McKenzie. Of those 5 Petigout would be considered the most likely to miss time because of his back. Left tackle was also the position where the Giants had least quality depth. And of course left tackle is a position where you need someone in there playing well. Coughlin is also happy:

“He’s a guy who has played left tackle in this league for a long time,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “He’s very smart, very athletic. He’s a guy that will give us absolute veteran experience in a backup role. I think he’ll be a big help to our offensive linemen because of his vast experience.”

Coughlin said that Whitfield is big (6-foot-5 and 310 pounds), strong and can still handle speed rushers on the defensive line.

“He thinks the game, he talks the game, he likes that aspect of the strategy,” Coughlin said. “He’ll be an excellent addition to our football team.”

He also played on special teams last year so should be able to contribute to our blocking packages. And since he signed for the vet minimum (actually this is unconfirmed), we’re not talking about a big cap hit. There’s no downside for the Giants with this signing.

Although I didn’t expect to hear Shawn Springs called a borderline starting cornerback, Stephen Nover (who is a handicapper with Covers Experts) does have an interesting list from USA Today:

Going by production last season, these were the players who returned the least value compared with base salary and cap value, according to research compiled by USA Today:

Quarterback: Brunell

Running backs: Eddie George and Ron Dayne.

Wide Receivers: Toomer and Peerless Price.

Tight end: Jay Riemersma.

Center: Cory Withrow.

Guards: Larry Allen and Ron Stone.

Tackles: L.J. Shelton and Luke Petigout.

Kicker: Martin Gramatica.

Defensive ends: Brown and Marcellus Wiley.

Defensive tackles: Warren and Sullivan.

Linebackers: Anthony Simmons, Derrick Rodgers and Nate Wayne.

Safeties: Robert Griffith and Tebucky Jones.

Cornerback: Duane Starks and Charles Woodson.

I have to wonder why Shaun Williams isn’t on that list. Maybe players who go on IR don’t count? I was surprised to see Luke petigout on the list because starting left tackles don’t come all that cheap. And despite the penalties Petigout is an average or better left tackle.

This article about referees has a bit of information about the Giants/Niners playoff debacle a few years back:

After a poor snap, holder Matt Allen threw a pass downfield for guard Rich Seubert, who was tackled by a 49er as the ball fell incomplete.

Two penalty flags were thrown on the play, but when the official who threw the flag for pass interference heard the other flag-thrower say illegal man downfield, he assumed it was on Seubert and that a man illegally down field couldn’t be interfered with. As it turned out, the first flag was for another Giant linemen being downfield illegally.

So, instead of a lone penalty on the Giants, there should have been penalties on both teams, which would have canceled each other out and given the Giants another shot at the field goal and advancing.

“If it had been any other play but the last play of the game, they would have talked about it,” Cashion said.

If being on the wrong end of all the invective that Giants’ fans can muster is one of the pitfalls of the job, there are some perks.

A rookie NFL official, who must have at least 10 years of college experience, will make $2,200 per game this season, in addition to airfare, meals and a couple nights at plush hotels. A 20-year veteran will earn nearly $8,000 per game in the regular season and about double that for the playoffs.

It’s also interesting that the get around 16,000 for officiating a playoff game. But when you think about the guys who screwed the Giants getting that kind of money you can’t help but feel a bit angry…