New York Giants

The Top Player That Needs To Raise His Game For The Giants In 2018

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The New York Giants have several holes to fill throughout the offseason, but one position is still up for grabs in the secondary.
At the safety position the Giants only have undrafted free agent Andrew Adams and Boise State product Darian Thompson who’s going into his third year in the NFL. Both players have been average at best at their position, and have struggled to make the leap to starting caliber players.

Thompson had big expectations entering the league in 2016, but a season ending injury delayed his career until 2017. He played the entire season in the most recent campaign, recording 75 combined tackles, one interception, six passes defended and two stuffs. His latest season wasn’t all that impressive, as the middle of the field was often a liability in the passing game.
The Giants simply don’t have enough cap-space or draft picks to address the safety position with quality, making it likely that Thompson will be expected to make a serious developmental leap in his third-season with Big Blue.
With the overhaul of the front-office nobodies job is safe, and if Thompson puts the same effort as he did in the play above, he will be in for a long 2018.

Thompson did show some flashes of quality in his first full season. We can chalk up his overall performance to the degradation of the offense and defense due to injuries, but he still has a ways to go until he can hold down the safety position on a consistent basis.
Here’s one play where Thompson breaks up a pass from Phillip Rivers to keep points off the board:

The Absolute Worst Signing From Jerry Reese’s Reign In New York

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Four years, $62 million, $40 million total guaranteed.
That’s the contract former New York Giants’ general manager Jerry Reese made for veteran defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul.
After a season  (2016) where JPP recorded seven sacks and only played in 12 games, Reese decided that giving him a monster contract was not only deserved, but expected.
The Giants’ edge-rusher played in all 16 games last season, amassing eight sacks and 48 tackles.
Let’s compare JPP’s number to a player that has a similar contract — Calais Campbell.
Campbell signed a four-year, $60 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars last season with only $30 million total guaranteed compared to Pierre-Paul’s $40 million.
Here’s where things get interesting:
Campbell finished the 2017 campaign with 14.5 total sacks and 47 tackles — let’s not forget that Campbell hasn’t missed a game in three years. So, with these stats in mind, can we officially say Jerry Reese was taking drugs?
The Jaguars and dare I say Tom Coughlin inked Campbell to a stellar deal, and the edge rusher produced his worth. The Giants on the other hand paid top-dollar for a man with less than an adequate number of fingers who was coming off a sports hernia and has seen his career plagued with injuries…
In 2018, JPP will cost the Giants $17.5 million towards the cap-space, allocating nearly as much money as Eli Manning makes. To make things even worse, the potential out on his contract is in 2020, which would cost the Giants $49.5 million with an additional $5 million in dead cap.
Well, I think we can all agree Reese was out to destroy the organization once and for all… Luckily we caught him just in time to draft a punter in the first-round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Stats collected from Spotrac.com.

 

What Should The Giants Do With Left Tackle Ereck Flowers?

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For the New York Giants, figuring out to do with left tackle Ereck Flowers should be at the top of the priorities list going into the offseason.
The 2015 first-round pick was selected in the top 10, making him a tough cut if the Giants decided to part ways with the below average tackle. But, there are several things Big Blue can do with the  No. 10 overall pick that don’t involve sending him to the wolves.

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1.) Move him to right tackle
The consensus since Flowers was drafted was that he was never a good fit at left tackle, and his traditional position at right tackle seconds that assumption. It’s a tough sell for Dave Gettleman to let Flowers walk, so they might as well keep him for one more season. The 2018 campaign will be Flowers’ last on his rookie deal, and he will be making a mere $4.5 million for his less than adequate services.
Giving him a shot at his former position might be the best move for the Giants, since letting him protect Eli Manning’s blind-side is not advisable. If Flowers succeeds at right tackle, it opens up the door for him to be resigned for a fraction of the cost of a potential free agent, and it allows the Giants to draft a left tackle.
2.) Make him a depth player at left tackle
I would assume it’s in everybody’s best interest to keep Flowers away from the left tackle position, and making him a depth player could be more along the lines of his current stature with the team. Every team needs a reserve left tackle, and Flowers could be the guy for the job in case the worst possible situation comes to reality.
3.) Keep him starting at left tackle
Flowers was the only player on the offensive line to not miss a snap for injury related reasons in 2017. Unfortunately, that didn’t help the Giants offense succeed any more than if he were injured… In fact, when he was de-activated in the season finale for “checking out,” they won.
To put this into perspective, if Flowers remains the starter at left tackle in 2018, we made a serious mistake with Dave Gettleman at general manager.

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