Official New York Giants Forum Thread

[Lumpkin]

Bucs just signed Derrick Ward so he's gone

no big, Bradshaw should be more than capable of providing a change of pace. I might even say he's alittle more explosive than Ward.

 

[Juggernaut]

I liked ward but he was expendable as long as we have jacobs. we just need a better wr core, so if we get plax back then we'll be ready.

 

[G-men]

well burress is gone and were probably not gonna be drafting britt but i think we might be able to land nicks from UNC

 

[Champ]

Hakeem Nicks

Clint Sintom

William Beatty

Ramses Barden

Travis Beckum

Andre Brown


Im happy as hell with our draft.

 

[Lumpkin]

Nicks signed, all our picks will be in camp

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp09/news/story?id=4371103

 

[Anthony]

Five things to watch in tonight's opener

The preseason begins tonight and as excited as everyone is, it’s important to remember how meaningless the exercise really is. Yes, it gives the regulars a chance to get used to contact and game speed again. And yes, it gives those at the bottom of the roster a chance to fight for their NFL lives.

But those are the games within the game. As for the game itself … well, last year the Giants opened up the preseason by losing to the Detroit Lions, 13-10.

Need I say more?

So ignore the scoreboard tonight when the Giants take on the Carolina Panthers, and keep your eyes on these five interesting subplots:

1. Can Sinorice Moss do it in a game?

The spring sensation has been having a pretty good summer, right up until a hamstring injury knocked him out for a couple of days. But the only way the 5-8 former second-rounder becomes a staple of the Giants’ offense is if he shows some consistency during games. He’ll start tonight with WR Steve Smith out, and he should see plenty of action, at least in the first half. He’s got speed and he’ll flash it, but he needs to prove he can get open and hold onto the ball. The coaching staff is more than willing to give him an opportunity. Is he willing to take it? If not, Mario Manningham and rookie Ramses Barden have been flashing skills right behind him on the depth chart, and they seem more than willing to step up.

2. Are the shackles really off Kenny Phillips?

A year ago we were all overflowing with excitement of how the 2008 first-rounder seemed to be in on every play and approached receivers like a heat-seeking missle. Visions of Brian Dawkins danced in our heads … until the regular season when Phillips disappeared. Now, he says, the coaching staff has unchained him and we’ll see the real Kenny Phillips, attacking the ball and pounding receivers. The secondary will need that help tonight, since both starting corners (Corey Webster, Aaron Ross) are out with injuries. It will be very interesting to see how aggressive Phillips plays and how effective he is.

3. Can Bryan Kehl open more distance between himself and Gerris Wilkinson?

This battle for the weakside linebacker job (until Michael Boley returns) has been one-sided in camp. Kehl makes play after play and is all over the field whenever he’s out there with the first- or second-team. Wilkinson, meanwhile, has been mostly invisible. Add in the fact that the coaches have grown frustrated with Wilkinson and his injuries over the years, while they were dazzled by Kehl’s potential last season, and you can pretty much see which way this one is going. The only real question is whether Chase Blackburn - - who took some first-team reps at WLB last week - - gets into the mix at all. A good performance by Kehl tonight and the coaches might just stop the first-team rotation and declare this competition over. Then the only mystery will be whether Wilkinson can make the final roster.

4. Should we really not read anything into Clint Sintim getting first-team reps ahead of Danny Clark?

That’s what Tom Coughlin told us after he was asked about Sintim, the rookie out of Virginia (second round), getting some first-team time at strong-side linebacker last week. Coughlin explained that at this stage of camp the coaches are just trying different things. Fine, but what if they work? Clark is a solid player, but the Giants believe Sintim’s ceiling is higher. They also think he can be a dangerous pass rusher, which is why they expected him to be a specialist in that role this season, and little more than that. But the transition from his college 3-4 to the Giants’ 4-3 defense hasn’t seemed to bother Sintim as much as expected. Sure, coaches tinker with different things, but they don’t usually tinker with the lineup without a purpose in mind. Maybe Sintim won’t get Clark’s job, but a few big preseason plays could earn him a lot more time on the field.

5. Can David Tyree defy the odds and salvage his Giants career?

Come on now, admit it: You’re rooting for Tyree. How could you not after what he did in Super Bowl XLII? A nice guy (and I’m not just saying that because he went to Syracuse) and a clutch player, he’s fighting a bad numbers game. He’s eighth on a depth chart that will likely eventually carry only six or seven receivers. He’s not having a particularly good training camp either, and his primary competition for the last spot - - Derek Hagan - - is having a terrific summer. But they don’t call Tyree a “gamer” for nothing. He’s a bad practice player who performs when the lights go on. Now he’s going to have to. He has Coughlin in his corner, but the coach is a pragmatist. If Tyree can’t perform, it will be a tough cut for Coughlin to make, but he will cut him. Tyree needs a big performance in these preseason games. Chances are the coaches will make sure he gets plenty of opportunities. It’s a good bet he’ll get a huge cheer from the Giants Stadium crowd every time he makes a catch.

 

[Juggernaut]

Less than a hour to go

I want to see Sintim do some amazing things, i really like him and would love to see him become the starter this year

 

[Anthony]

Less than a hour to go

I want to see Sintim do some amazing things, i really like him and would love to see him become the starter this year

I'm really high on Barden, we both know how much Eli loves throwing to trees. No one on this squad can replace Plax; but if Barden can do amazing things with that 6'6" frame i'll be a happy, happy man.

And i'm also eager to see this defensive juggernaut on the field, even with Boley & a few key guys out. Osi & Tuck make my peen happy.

 

[Lumpkin]

You write that Anthony? either way good stuff. Really excited to see how the receivers do tonight. Particulary Manningham, Moss and Barden. I've heard good things about Andre Woodson to so it will be interesting to see how he plays.

 

[Anthony]

You write that Anthony? either way good stuff. Really excited to see how the receivers do tonight. Particulary Manningham, Moss and Barden. I've heard good things about Andre Woodson to so it will be interesting to see how he plays.

I wish I could take credit for it, but no.

I thought the writer was right on the money with it, So I figured i'd share it with my fellow Giants fans.

 

[Anthony]

If you guys are in need of a great stream to this game, PM me & i'll provide you with one.

Let's Go Big Blue!

 

[CrimsonGhost56]

jay alford carted off the field :smh:

apparently its a sprained knee. hope its nothing worse. alford is a big part of that D-line.

 

[Anthony]

jay alford carted off the field :smh:

apparently its a sprained knee. hope its nothing worse. alford is a big part of that D-line.

Yea that sucked, The good thing is we're not lacking depth in the D-Line.

 

[Rayman]

Chris Canty has a torn Hamstring

Jay Alford torn MCL and slighty torn ACL

I'm actually sad to hear that. The guy I spoke to yesterday actually said that the Giants thought he'd be out only a week, even with the tear.

And no, I don't relish seeing other players get hurt...even though Canty's done a fabulous job of running his mouth since he joined the Giants (looks like he fits right in lol).

If he misses significant time, that affects our compensatory pick. Oh well.

So much for that deep D-Line I keep hearing about.

 

[CrimsonGhost56]

So much for that deep D-Line I keep hearing about.

yeah that was one of the main goals of the off-season, d-line depth and now its pretty much all up in smoke. the d-line ran out of gas last year due to lack of depth and it was very easy to tell they werent the same dominant group that they were towards the beginning of the year, and i think thats the biggest reason the team sputtered out last year. even more-so than Plaxico being suspended. from all reports Alford really busted his ass in the offseason working with Osi and was one of the most highly touted players during training camp and was primed to have a breakout year. i was very much looking forward to seeing Alford this year, you knew watching him last year he was a very talented player right on the verge of being a dominant force. shame to see him go down like that, same with Canty.

 

[EmpireWF]

Coughlin said Nicks will be in play when they go over the starting WRs because he made a play or two yesterday.

These wideouts have GOT to make some plays this year if they want to go anywhere. All of Eli's TD passes cannot be to just Jacobs, Bradshaw and Boss.

 

[strahanfan92]

-Big Surprise, Tyree Cut

-Eli emotional about Tyree Cut

-Alford out for the season with ACL tear

-Rookie OT William Beatty impresses Giants' coaches

 

[CrimsonGhost56]

-Big Surprise, Tyree Cut

-Eli emotional about Tyree Cut

meh. tyree was a good special teams player nothing more. no way was he ever getting in the WR rotation

 

[strahanfan92]

cosign, but back in the day like 3-4 years ago... dominant special teams player.. i swear to god this was the best punt coverage player i have ever seen, every feagles punt would be downed by tyree..

i agree though, no shot hes good enough for our WR core

 

[Anthony]

Maybe this all changes with the Yankees in October, and even into November, and Joe Girardi pays off on the No. 27 he wears on his back and the Yankees finally win it all. You know if it happens like that there will be the perception in New York - but only in New York - that order has finally been restored to the universe.

But for now the only one of our coaches or managers to have won a championship in football or baseball or basketball is Tom Coughlin, coach of the Giants, who are still as big a game as we have around here, as big as the Yankees or anything else.

Since the last time the Yankees won the World Series, in 2000, that Subway Series over the Mets, the only local team (outside of hockey) to have won it all is Coughlin's. And Giant fans will always believe that if Plaxico Burress hadn't gone out on the town with an unlicensed gun in his possession last November, the Giants would have been the first New York/New Jersey football team to ever win two NFL championships in a row.

The Giants don't have the championships that the Yankees do. No one does. There is still a history and romance to the Giants, from the Polo Grounds to Yankee Stadium to Giants Stadium - and the move they will make across the parking lot next season - that is both rich and deep. The Giants have also won three Super Bowls since Phil Simms was 22-for-25 in Pasadena in January of 1987. No pro football team in that time has won more.

So for now, with the Giants as much of a favorite as anyone to make it back to another Super Bowl, in Miami, Coughlin is the guy all the other coaches and managers in town want to be. He has the title, he has the stature. He hasn't won the four World Series that Joe Torre won before he left for Los Angeles, and he will never be as good with the media as Torre was, because no New York coach or manager ever has been or ever will be.

But Coughlin, the last Giants coach Mr. Wellington Mara had a say in hiring, is different from Torre in this way: The tough times for him came BEFORE he won it all, same as they did with Bill Parcells. That means before Coughlin gave Giants fans as great a championship - and as great a championship run - as any of our teams has ever had in any sport, he got banged around all the time.

In that way, he is an even better model than Torre was for all those who have jobs like this, in New York or in Jersey: He took it all and survived and finally triumphed, 17-14, over the 18-0 Patriots in Glendale, Ariz., in the best Super Bowl of them all.

Mr. Mara and John Mara and Ernie Accorsi hired him. They all wanted him to be the guy. But when he came in for his interview, and it was like all the research he'd done on the Giants spilled out of him as soon as he got asked a question.

Accorsi would say later, "I told him afterward that he double-bogeyed the first hole. But then he came back."

And then the Giants couldn't win a game in the playoffs. And the only reason Tom Coughlin was still around to win that Super Bowl was because John Mara stood his ground, stayed with him, wouldn't let him go into the last year of his first Giants contract as a lame-duck coach, and gave him an extension. So much was made that year of how much Coughlin changed. What never changed was that he was a great football man.

"One of the best coaches I've ever worked with," Parcells said, and that was before the Giants beat the Patriots in Glendale.

The Yankees are covered like the company in a company town. Giants fans, and that includes young Giants fans, are just as passionate about their team. The Internet traffic about the Giants, in season and out, is a consistent wonder to those who monitor these things, on our Web site at the Daily News and everywhere else.

Now Coughlin's Giants try to do it again, without Burress, with the big young receivers general manager Jerry Reese has brought in to try to replace him. Only the season will tell if what Burress brought to Lambeau Field and University of Phoenix Stadium can ever be replaced.

"We will see," Coughlin said the other day. "Moving forward we will see."

He used to get it on the back page all the time. And on the radio. The coach of the Giants is always on the line, the way the quarterback of the Giants is, and you can ask Simms or Eli about that. He is on the line as much as the manager of the Yankees is. Girardi doesn't need to be Torre. Just Coughlin. Sometimes the surviving tells you more about these guys than the winning does.