The mail’s here!
Vincent Moody asks: Is Travis Hunter really a “shut down corner”? I really want the Giants to draft their guy at QB, but if Ward and Sanders go 1-2, getting Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter would be pretty sweet. Your thoughts?
Ed says: Vincent, I don’t know if Travis Hunter will be a shut down cornerback in the NFL. I know scouts think that will be his best NFL position, and believe he will be very good. I know the Giants would value both the coverage and ball skills. I can see the attraction of Abdul Carter, as well. I just don’t know that the Giants, with Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns already, would go that way. I think they might go Hunter or even defensive tackle Mason Graham because those guys give them something they clearly don’t already have.
Mike Tizzano asks: There’s a lot about potential free agent and draft options at QB for the Giants this year. Schoen did mention trade as an avenue he’d consider. I’ve seen names like Cousins or McCarthy thrown around. Are there any other QBs that you’d consider kicking the tires on for a potential trade?
Ed says: Mike, it sure would be nice to stumble into a Brett Favre trade, a guy who becomes way more than his original team ever believed he would. I doubt there was one of those guys sitting on someone’s bench in 2024.
There are guys you could consider, if there current teams were willing to move on from them, but nobody I would give up more than a late-Day 3 pick for.
Joe Milton (Patriots), Hendon Hooker (Lions), Sam Howell (Seahawks), Davis Mills (Texans), Jake Browning (Bengals) might be among those guys.
If I’m Joe Schoen, though, I don’t look at any of those guys as the “answer,” and I would be hesitant to give up draft capital.
Raymond Dansereau asks: So, Brian Flores sued that Giants claiming his interview was a sham to fulfill the Rooney Rule and the Giants always wanted to hire Daboll. While I get Flores’s claim, we all know employers have preferred candidates all the time and there’s nothing wrong with that (I’ve been on the wrong side of those interviews more than once myself and I didn’t get to sue anyone). Second, the NFL seems to set up this situation with the Rooney Rule in the first place. That said, the Patriots interview process that hired Vrabel seemed far more predetermined than the Giants one ever was. I realize this may be a forbidden question, but is the Rooney Rule outdated? Are there better ways to get more racial minority coaches in the pipeline without setting teams up for potential lawsuits?
Ed says: Raymond, I don’t know what the answer is to fixing the Rooney Rule or the NFL’s hiring/interview process. It is apparent, though, that teams are often fulfilling their obligations with some of their interviews and nothing more.
The Patriots, for example, were always going to hire Mike Vrabel after they fired Jerod Mayo. Everybody knew that. There are situations like that every year, where the preferred candidate for a job is obvious.
What might bother me even more is the number of minority coaches who get the one-and-done treatment — Mayo, Antonio Pierce, Steve Wilks, David Culley come to mind.
Again, though, I don’t know how you tell a franchise owner that he can’t hire who he wants, and fire them, too.
Len Huber asks: I happened to revisit the video from preseason where Chatman chases a running back for 40 yards and catches him. Got me revisiting the idea of using him as a short yardage back. Do you think that idea was ever under consideration? Should it be?
Ed says: Len, I don’t believe that ever came up. At least not in any discussions we ever had with Brian Daboll or the assistant coaches. Playing fullback is something that is in Chatman’s skill set. I doubt we would see it, but never say never (as the great Ben McAdoo always used to say).
Robert Goodman asks: Do you think the Schoen/McCloud situation is a big deal, no deal or small deal and why.
Ed says: Robert, I don’t think cutting Nick McCloud made any different in terms of the Giants going 3-14. McCloud was/is a backup cornerback/special teamer, whether he was on/off the roster wasn’t going to change the direction of the season.
McCloud isn’t the first player and won’t be the last to get cut because he refused to take a pay cut. But, to me this does speak to a larger issue with Joe Schoen that concerns me.
Schoen did not want to negotiate with Saquon Barkley last offseason. If you remember ‘Hard Knocks’, part of his reasoning was how much having done so the year before took out of him. Sorry, that’s not a good enough reason. That’s part of the job.
I think Julian Love might still be a Giant if not for Schoen’s stubbornness. He could have matched the Seattle offer for Love, which was less than Schoen originally offered Love during the middle of the 2022 season, but didn’t. With Love and Barkley, he chose to take his ball and go home when the deals he offered weren’t accepted.
You can argue that he did the same thing at the 2024 trade deadline. He could have dealt Azeez Ojulari, and probably Darius Slayton. We know for certain that he had offers for Ojulari, they just weren’t the offers he wanted.
Now, because he wouldn’t move off his asking price, he got nothing. And will probably lose both players in free agency this offseason and get nothing in return.
I think Schoen is a smart guy. I just think sometimes he’s too stubborn for his own good. He needs to look in the mirror and remember that it’s not about him “winning” a negotiation, it’s about making the right choices for the franchise.
Mike Winterode asks: I know the Giants have more pressing needs than edge rusher, as they did in 1981, but it would be hard to pass on Abdul Carter. I’m still shaking my head at Gettleman for passing on Parsons, and this feels like justice. Can you envision the Giants drafting Carter and possibly trading Thibodeaux for another pick in this draft?
Ed says: Mike, I understand the allure of Carter. Yes, he gives me Micah Parsons flashbacks. Still, I doubt this is a move the Giants would make.
They already have Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns and, no, I don’t see Joe Schoen trading Thibodeaux. I might, but I don’t see Schoen doing it. As I said above, if the Giants don’t pick a quarterback and stay at No. 3, I think Travis Hunter or Mason Graham are more likely because the Giants have needs at those positions.
Doug Mollin asks: The Giants’ 2023 draft class is not looking good right now.
Yet, right after the 2023 draft, the Giants were universally praised for having a great draft: PFF gave the Giants an A+, Sporting News A, Yahoo Sports A, NFL.com A-, Mel Kiper A-, Fox Sports A-, AP A-.
How do you reconcile a GM having a killer draft by all measures and then the reality being so much different?
Not enough time to evaluate Banks, JMS, Hyatt and Gray? Too much dysfunction on the team for young players to develop? Random luck?
Oddly enough, the 2024 draft was also rated high right after the draft, but not nearly as high as the 2023 draft — yet Schoen went 6 for 6 with 5 starters. Random luck of the draft again?
Ed says: Doug, everybody LOVES grades, especially instant grades. The reality is they don’t mean a thing. They are opinions, and they are really just for discussion. Nothing matters until teams get players on the field and see what they are actually working with.
Scouting isn’t a science. Neither is drafting. You do the work to learn absolutely everything you possibly can about these kids, then you make what you think is the right choice based on the information you have. Sometimes you are right. Sometimes you are wrong.
Sometimes you get an Evan Neal, who almost everybody agreed was a top 10 pick and he doesn’t work out. Sometimes you get a Puka Nacua or a Brock Purdy, who become far more than anyone ever thought they might.
Larry Jamieson asks: The Giants traded up to get Deonte Banks, who was drafted to play mostly man-to-man coverage in Wink’s defense and did pretty well. But, he didn’t do too well last year playing zone in Bowen’s defense. This begs the question about what attributes are required in man-to-man and then in zone defense? How much can these guys be “coached-up” to succeed in the other scheme?
Ed says: I thought BBV’s Nick Falato was a better person to answer this question than I was, so I turned it over to him. Nick says:
“Generally speaking, man coverage is a simpler assignment from a mental perspective: “that’s your guy, cover him! Provided, of course, that it’s a MEG (man everywhere he goes) assignment.
“Elite athletic traits, reactive quickness, and the ability to judge/time one’s actions are crucial to success in man coverage.
“Zone is much more predicated on defensive trust, communication, and awareness of concepts/offensive intentions. However, Bowen’s system used 2-Read coverage and match that require the cornerback to read the release of the wide receiver and his assignment is determined once the routes are distributed, meaning the cornerback has to quickly perceive the routes and understand — based on the coverage call — which receiver to cover. This leads to misreads and mistakes, especially if there’s several coverage calls and the offense leans into an indecisive young player. Bowen’s system is “zone” but it’s essentially man 1.5 seconds or so into a play.
“Bowen also aligned his DBs in soft to off leverage, which isn’t the natural coverage for a player like Banks, who is better suited when smelling the breath of the wide receiver pre-snap. Offenses consistently attacked the off-leverage with quick two-three step timing patterns. Banks did not seem comfortable attacking downhill on the quick passing attack from depth.
“Leverage is vital for both man and zone coverage depending on down and distance, position on the field, and the relationship to adjacent coverages. With zone, understanding the position of one’s help allows the DB to align a certain way to influence the wide receiver toward said help (inside leverage, off, etc.). This is also true in man coverage (1-Hole or 2-Man- Under) with outside leverage, influencing the wide receivers inside. Trap coverages can be set in either man or zone based on leverage and offensive tendencies.
“Banks showed competency in zone coverage as a rookie; I don’t think he’s a terrible zone defender, per se; but his best utilization is a press-man cornerback. My main issue with Banks is keeping him focused and dialed in; he needs help with his timing from depth, for sure. Development with his zone ability from depth can occur, but the young man needs to get his head on straight. He has all the tools to be a good cornerback. Still, the fissures in his mental toughness must be stitched up, lest we’re doomed to another underwhelming first-round pick.”
Jason Robbins asks: Ed, in the days leading up to the announcement Mara/Tisch were retaining Daboll and Schoen, it seemed the belief was that the worst thing to do was fire Daboll but keep Schoen. I don’t understand why and, in fact, I believe that’s what they should have done. Do they both deserve another year? Maybe..maybe not. But, sometimes life in the NFL is not fair. Mara has said a reason for rolling with Jones last year was because they had done everything possible to screw him up, including forcing him to learn a second system his second year. Evidence supports that. The past three QBs the Bears have drafted has coincided with the last year of the HC. They hire a new HC, a second system. How did it work out for Trubinsky and Fields? If the Giants draft a QB and Daboll gets fired after next year, our new QB will have to start again, just like Jones.
Ed says: Jason, Daboll — or Daboll and Schoen — getting fired a year after drafting a quarterback is one of the dangers of the path the Giants have chosen. We talked about that a lot prior to the decision. It’s an obvious risk, and it would set that young quarterback on the difficult path Daniel Jones had, and that Bryce Young and Caleb Williams are having to endure.
As for keeping the coach and firing the GM, that is not how it should be done. The GM is the ultimate boss/decision-maker. You don’t hire the coach first and then the GM, or fire an existing GM and keep the coach, unless the coach has achieved a status in the game where he can choose the GM he wants to work with. Brian Daboll doesn’t have that clout.
John Foti asks: Any news about the Giant’s plan for Evan Neal? I’m sure that they will not exercise the fifth-year option but you would think that they would like to salvage some production from this draft pick. The Eagles moved Mehki Becton to guard and he won a starting job. The Cowboys moved Tyler Smith (2022 1st round pick) from left tackle to guard after one year and he made the Pro Bowl. Even Ereck Flowers has some success when he was moved to guard. I don’t see Neal as a tackle. His foot work in pass protection reminds me of Flowers foot work at left tackle.
Ed says: John, of course the Giants want to get some return on their investment in Neal. As far as news, there isn’t any. At his season-ending press conference, GM Joe Schoen said they had not yet had that conversation with Neal. He did not say they won’t. So, we’ll see where it goes. At this point, I agree they should try him at guard. Whether they will or not we will know in a few months.
Chris Trageser asks: This suggestion is in case the Giants do not find their “franchise” QB in this year’s draft. What about looking at Joe Milton III, the backup QB with the Patriots? He has size (6’5” 247), seems fast and was able to accurately place the ball on various throws including, on the run, in the game against the Bills. He was a 6th round pick last year, thus it may not cost too much to acquire him.
Ed says: Chris, I know Milton has a great arm. Don’t get too attached to a player off one game, though. There is a reason he was a sixth-round pick. If he has a real chance to be a useful quarterback, I doubt the Patriots will want to give him up. I’m certainly not giving up more than a conditional seventh-round pick, and I would acquire him as a project. Not as a guy I would be counting on in 2025.
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