The challenge in watching training camp and preseason games has always been sorting through the information to find what’s real and what’s hype. After Week 1, 16 out of 32 teams will have a loss and even many of those who win will have worts. So we have to take the machete and slash our way through the thicket of hype to figure out what’s real.
Since XLVI, it’s been mostly hype for the Gmen. As a reminder, the Giants were tied for the worst record in the NFL from 2017-2021. If we looked back on all the beat reporting and fan comments from those 5 preseasons, it would be a showcase in clickbait + delusion.
Last year, in handicapping the Giants 2022 season, we cited the continued question marks of the OL and threadbare roster, but also said there was one factor we simply couldn’t account for as a positive ‘known unknown’…. coaching. It turned out to be THE defining item, as Daboll and his staff killed it. He won Coach of the Year as a rookie head coach, an incredible feat. Now, in 2023, it’s a known known. We mention this because it’s a great segue into our discussion.
Rob Gronkowski made news the other day when he said that there was one head coach that would make him think hard about coming out of retirement. His answer- Brian Daboll. It doesn’t surprise Giants fans. This is the inside secret that is creating massive divergence between perception and reality. The perception is tough schedule. The reality is a better roster leveraged by excellent coaches. Gronk drooled at the thought of the Kafka/Daboll staff + Waller + him in 12 personnel killing opposing defenses. “I always believe that having two tight ends makes the defense have the most difficult times,” said Gronkowski. “If you have two tight ends, that can make an offense unstoppable.”
Well, the newsflash is that the Giants already have two tight ends! Their names are Waller and Bellinger. This is why I keep saying that the two keys are Waller’s health (how else do you pay a R3 pick for this guy?!) and Neal holding down the right edge. Schmitz’s “early returns” are showing us exactly what we wanted- he’s already playing with the first team and he flashed in the first preseason game on a play I just LOVE: after blocking a Defensive Lineman at the snap, a linebacker (it may as well have been a delayed stunt) comes around and Schmitz moves swiftly to pick up the blitzer and stymie the rush. The awareness was something we spent 4 years waiting for from Hernandez. It never came. Yet this rookie did it in preseason Game 1. These are the things you look for in August.
Neal went from concussion protocol to an ankle injury. It was not clear what that was. The question mark there remains. If Schmitz takes care of interior OL/communication in his rookie year while Thomas and Neal hold down the edge, it opens up the Offense to literally destroy defenses. Yes. I chose the word destroy. Gronk knows. The Giants have locked down practice from the public because they are planning an assault with 12 personnel that is going to nuke the NFL. Gronk continues: “When I had another Tight End with me, it just makes the offense prolific. Unstoppable. It just gives you so many more options in the run game and the pass game and play action.”
If Neal contains the edge and Waller is healthy, the Giants are there RIGHT NOW. That’s how good Bellinger is. That’s how good Jones is. That’s how good it is to have that (albeit overpaid) excellent RB. You won’t see this in preseason because I believe the Giants are going to unleash this can of whoop-ass on Dallas in Week 1. That Dallas game in Week 1 is so critical to how the schedule falls out. Daboll knows this. The only thing better than an unstoppable offense is some added surprise for our divisional foe.
Some Giants fans are still not on the Daniel Jones train. The stats from training camp are stark. Beat writers are actually using quantification of comps from last year’s preseason training camp to this year’s. The numbers are gaudy for Jones. “Daniel Jones was 36-for-69 (52.2%) with three interceptions in 11-on-11 drills during the first week of the 2022 camp, but he’s 33-of-42 (78.6%) with no interceptions this year. “- Dan Duggan, The Athletic. OR, Art Stapleton: “I haven’t seen sloppy yet. A first for me in 13 camps this early.” These are actually objective comparisons.
Another tidbit? Azeez Ojulari has been embracing yoga + stretching in the offseason. Could it be that all that potential is unleashed for a full 17 game season opposite Thibs?! A healthy Ojulari puts octane into that formidable Defensive Line.
It’s time to get very bullish if just a couple of things click.