Sam Beal

New York Giants: A loss to to the Miami Dolphins could spell the end for Pat Shurmur

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New York Giants, Pat Shurmur

In another version of the toilet bowl, the New York Giants (2-11) will face off against the Miami Dolphins (3-10) in week 15 of the regular season. Aside from a fight for the top pick in the NFL Draft, the Giants don’t have much to compete for. They will focus on their youth development, featuring DeAndre Baker and Sam Beal in starting roles as outside cornerbacks while veteran Janoris Jenkins handles the interior in the slot.

However, this game might mean the most for head coach Pat Shurmur, who has already blown leads against the New York Jets, wide receiver-less Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, and Detroit Lions. One common theme with the majority of these teams is that they have losing records.

Falling to the Dolphins would only give owner John Mara more ammo to use against Shurmur in a potential firing situation. As I stated via Twitter, the Giants won’t fire GM Dave Gettleman this offseason, primarily due to the general time-frame for a rebuild.

The New York Giants need to give Dave Gettleman one more season:

Giving Gettleman only two years to overhaul an entire roster in a time where quality offensive lineman are hard to come by is a tough task, to begin with. Three years is the acceptable amount for a rebuild, or to at least see significant positive growth, and the Giants will be evaluating the roster Gettleman has pieced together.

So far, in 2019, the rookies have seen an enormous amount of playing time, especially in the secondary. Baker has played in every game this season, Beal has featured since his return from injury, and Julian Love is quickly becoming a regular starter. On the defensive line, Dexter Lawrence and Oshane Ximines have both been active in the trenches. Linebacker Ryan Connelly would have been a prominent part of the defense if not for his torn Achilles in week four against the Washington Redskins.

Factor in Darius Slayton, Daniel Jones, and Kaden Smith on offense, and Big Blue is currently starting six rookies, a majority being on defense, which has been the Giants’ Achilles heal.

This reality would have saved Shurmur’s job if not for his blatant inability to manage the clock and utilize star running back, Saquon Barkley. Consider his poor personnel decisions and lack of creativity on offense, and you could make the case he deserves to be fired before the Giants play one the worst teams in the league. If they do fall to the Dolphins, Mara could act quickly to find a replacement for the “quarterback whisperer.”

New York Giants: Janoris Jenkins has talked his way off the team

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New York Giants, Janoris Jenkins

As the trade deadline approached this season, the New York Giants elected to keep veteran cornerback Janoris Jenkins. They believed he would be a vital piece to the puzzle moving forward. He still has one-year remaining on his contract, worth $14.75 million in 2020. Jenkins would only count $3.5 million in dead-cap, though, which could make him a casualty in that respect. However, his latest antics could have sealed his fate.

General manager Dave Gettleman needs to begin cracking down on players making poor decisions via social media or lacking effort during games. Jenkins has been reprimanded for both, as he failed to attempt a tackle on a touchdown in week 10 against the Cowboys and then attacked a fan via Twitter during live-practice on Wednesday.

https://twitter.com/BigBlueUnited/status/1204790800942555136

Generally, using a demeaning word towards people with mental illnesses in an attempt to strike back at a fan isn’t the best use of practice time. From my perspective, this was a cry for help from Jenkins, who’s trying to force his way off the team one week after starting in the slot against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Just last week, the cornerback complained due to his lack of work against opposing top wide receivers. The Giants have favored their youth players — DeAndre Baker and Sam Beal. This theory is that matching them up against talented pass-catchers will give them more film to study and a standard of play they must reach.

However, it might have cost them their best corner, considering Jenkins’ backlash and lack of respect for the organization.

This gives the New York Giants three options moving forward:

1.) They retain him at $14.75 MM in 2020

2.) They cut him and pay $3.5 MM in dead cap

3.) They attempt to trade him after a decrease in value

This scenario is exactly why GM Dave Gettleman should be on the hot seat. A team looking to contend for the playoffs with a need in the secondary could have benefitted from Jenkins’ value. The Giants could have gained a 3/4th rounder as compensation, precisely what they are preparing to lose in the Leonard Williams trade.

New York Giants: Janoris Jenkins gets away with harsh yet reasonable comments

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New York Giants, Janoris Jenkins

There’s nothing that tests a player’s resiliency more than losing at the highest of rates. The New York Giants have been the epitome of disaster for three consecutive seasons, and cornerback Janoris Jenkins has been through it all, featuring on one of the worst defenses in the league as the organization fights to regain its respect in the NFL.

JIt’s hard to blame Jenkins for his lack of effort at times on the field, considering the lack of reinforcement management has provided him with. He has been a consistent corner for the Giants, but his latest comments screamed frustration and demise.

“First of all, you’ve got to use your weapons,” Jenkins said last Sunday. “It’s common sense. Football is football. I’m the only one in the league that don’t travel no more. I don’t understand why. But I was traveling the other years. I don’t understand.”

Jackrabbit has a point — defensive coordinator James Bettcher has failed to utilize him most efficiently. Jenkins hasn’t followed the opposing team’s top receiver, but the reasoning seems to revolve around the Giants’ youth-movement. GM Dave Gettleman has made it a priority to develop the younger players on the team to understand their scheme and long-term plan.

The New York Giants have a plan, but it’s hard to watch:

Ultimately, providing rookies DeAndre Baker, Julian Love, Corey Ballentine, and Supplemental draft pick Sam Beal with ample experience is essential. Bettcher has been tasked with matching them up against top pass-catchers and playmakers, forcing them to adapt and understand the nature of competing against some of the NFL’s top players. There’s no better way to understand what’s required of you if you have no standard for competition, and that’s the reality for the Giants at 2-10 on the season.

However, Jenkins’ frustration is justified, as he desires to be on a winning team that isn’t playing around his strengths to prioritize youth development. Bettcher responded to Janoris’ comments, ensuring that their relationship has not faltered:

“Since I’ve been here and had an opportunity to work with him, he has competed on a daily basis for me and for his teammates,” Bettcher said. “You’ll see him grabbing our young corners and leading them around and making points to them of what he’s looking at, of what he recognizes. He and I have a really good relationship.”

Life on a losing team is a tough one, especially when an individual player is being underutilized. Despite the downward trend of the franchise, Jenkins has been a leader through it all, suffering amongst the remaining veterans that have experienced the downfall of one of the most valuable teams in any sport.

He has still managed to become a lowkey leader in the locker room for the rookies, which is all the Giants can ask of him aside from locking down No. 1 wideouts. Jenkins wasn’t punished for his comments towards his usage. He will play in a regular fashion against the Eagles on Monday night.

New York Giants: Pat Shurmur fires back with more ridiculous comments

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New York Giants, Pat Shurmur

It’s difficult to imagine any head coach can muster up excuses after losing eight consecutive games, one of which coming against a team that just lost to the winless Cincinnati Bengals. New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur has used every excuse in the book heading into week 14 at 2-10.

After Sunday’s blowout loss in the snow to the Green Bay Packers, Shurmur resorted to his go-to post-loss comments.

“This is a historically young team that’s going out there and competing against some really good football teams,” he said. “We’ve got to do what we have to do to win games and I understand that. They also are developing.

He’s not wrong in one respect — the Giants are focusing on developing their youth and matching them up with top wide receivers and opposing players to help them progress and gain essential film to work off of. Cornerbacks DeAndre Baker and Sam Beal have been thrown into the mix against top dogs like Chris Godwin, DeVante Adams, Allen Robinson, Amari Cooper, Larry Fitzgerald, Adam Theilen, Stefon Diggs, Marvin Jones, Kenny Golladay, etc.

For the most part, Baker and Beal haven’t been terrible in every aspect.

Correctly, Baker has shown development in recent weeks, as the Giants forced him into off-ball coverage, a red-flag before the NFL Draft. Developing that part of his game was essential, and Shurmur has made that a focus for the first-round draft choice.

However, after losing to the Packers, New York Giants HC Shurmur made another interesting statement:

“I’m well aware of it,” Shurmur said, via SNY. “People will change what they think of us and me when we win games.”

Shurmur is aware that his seat is getting warmer with every passing loss, even if it ends up landing them Chase Young in the 2020 NFL Draft. Losing at this rate is unsustainable for any head coach, and when fans are barely showing up to a game in week 13, you know you’re in danger of losing trust. The reality is, the Giants must walk away with a wholly upgraded team next offseason, and with plenty of cap space and a guaranteed high-pick to work with, they could turn everything around quickly.

Ultimately, it requires GM Dave Gettleman to make the right choices. So far, he’s been 50/50 in his judgment.

New York Giants week 13: 3 players up and 3 players down

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New York Giants, Antoine Bethea

Most didn’t predict the New York Giants would overcome the Green Bay Packers on Sunday in a Week 13 matchup littered by snowflakes and rain. Not even Michael Strahan could find the confidence within to pick his former team to walk away with a win, and he was spot on, as most analysts were before the start of the contest.

The Giants fell 31-13, as rookie passer Daniel Jones threw three interceptions during the blowout. The first half saw the Giants creeping up on Green Bay before the inevitably pulled away with ease.

Let’s take a look at three players that were up and down for the New York Giants:

1.) Kaden Smith – UP

The 22-year-old rookie earned his inception into the NFL last week, coming down with his first score. Against the Packers, he didn’t pepper the stats with incredible numbers, but he did display great balance in the passing game, logging six receptions for 70-yards.

Smith has quietly worked his way up the depth chart and has filled in valiantly for the injured Evan Engram and Rhett Ellison. He’s in line to receive more playing time due to his reliable performance.

2.) Antoine Bethea – DOWN

It’s no surprise that Bethea was burned in coverage once again, but to be man-handled by Allen Lazard on a deep touchdown pass was the icing on the cake. Lazar simply changed directions, turning Bethea all the way around, putting him in no position to make a play.

He has shown quality near the line of scrimmage, but he has been a liability in the defensive backfield all season long.

3.) Julian Love – UP

For the second straight week, rookie safety, Julian Love, looked solid in coverage and even came up to make several excellent stops near the line of scrimmage.

This was an excellent sign for the Giants defense, considering their lack of quality across the field, Love has been a breath of fresh air heading into the dead-portion of the season. The Giants are officially eliminated from playoff contention, so any positives from their young players are essential to the team’s growth.

4.) Sam Beal – DOWN

Beal was lined up across from Packers No. 1 receiver DeVante Adams far too often on Sunday. This only indicates that Big Blue is more concerned with logging film on their rookie than winning the football game. Beal struggled heavily in coverage, allowing an easy touchdown to Adams in the fourth quarter.

While Beal has missed the majority of the season, the Giants didn’t allow him to gain confidence as they matched him up with one of the league’s best receivers.

5.) Darius Slayton – UP

If there’s any takeaway from this season that’s positive for Big Blue, it’s that they have something special in wide receiver, Darius Slayton. The former Auburn standout has seen his hands become glue, and his clutchness evolve throughout the season.

His trust with Daniel Jones has progressed nicely, and Slayton’s ability to come up on third downs has shined through. Without Golden Tate on the field on Sunday, Slayton picked up the slack, managing six receptions for 44 yards. Those numbers aren’t noteworthy, but his presence has undoubtedly been felt on offense.

6.) Markus Golden – DOWN

Golden didn’t have the worst game of the season, but he was almost non-existent in the pass-rush. He recorded just one QB-hit but managed to log eight total tackles.

Golden has been the Giants’ best pass-rusher this season, but a ghost-performance on Sunday helped officially eliminate the Giants from playoff contention. He’s looking to cash in on a productive season, but games like this hurt his value.

What are the priorities for the New York Giants heading into December?

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New York Giants, Dexter Lawrence

With the New York Giants sitting at 2-9 on the season and having lost their last nine games, December doesn’t mean much in terms of a playoff push or competitive finish. As players continue to pick up injuries and miss games, Big Blue will be forced to utilize the remainder of the season to develop their young players, similar to what they’ve been doing since the beginning of the 2019 campaign.

Head coach Pat Shurmur needs to focus on his youthful players that are progressing into potential starters. Making the shift from Antoine Bethea at free safety to Julian Love was the beginning of that transition. Love enjoyed a positive first game with the Giants, finishing with an overall grade of 80.1, per PFF. He recorded an interception and zero coverage receptions in the defensive backfield, far better than Bethea has shown this season.

The veteran free safety has been a liability in coverage but solid against the run. When defensive coordinator James Bettcher features Bethea in a strong-safety style, closer to the line of scrimmage, he has been effective. The secondary for the Giants will be a priority moving forward in December, with a focus on cornerback and free safety.

Corners DeAndre Baker and Sam Beal are two players who Shurmur will want to gain more film on. Baker has had an up-and-down season, showing promise at times but vulnerability at others. Last week against the Chicago Bears, Baker played 46 snaps compared to Beal’s 27. The latter has worked his way back from numerous injuries, the latest being a hamstring that kept him sidelined for a majority of the season.

When asked about his style compared to Beal’s, Baker stated (NY Post):

“Beal’s style is different than mine, and we’ve got two different skill sets,” Baker said. “You always stay prepared for when your number is called. I was watching everything as if I was in the game, still making the calls.”

The Giants will continue to rotate Baker and Beal in coverage, with the eventual idea to split reps 50/50. This will give Shurmur plenty of tape on Beal, who the Giants will need to factor into their plans next offseason.

The New York Giants must also iron out the defensive line:

One of the most significant moves for the Giants this season was the trade for Leonard Williams. The former Jet has the physical traits to be a great interior lineman, but his lack of consistency has plagued his career up to this point. Williams logged just one combined tackle in week 12, highlighting a disappointing performance for the former first-round pick.

GM Dave Gettleman giving up ample draft capital for the defender is looking like a wrong move and considering he’s a free agent after this season, the Giants have minimal leverage in contract talks. I estimate he will earn somewhere in the $12-14 million range.

Dexter Lawrence is another defender that will be prioritized in December. Allowing him to mesh with Williams and develop a chemistry with the former Jet is essential. Lawrence, who is ranked as one of the best interior defenders this season, has shown significant growth in his rookie campaign.

PFF wrote …

Lawrence once again put forth a very commendable performance from the middle of the Giants’ defensive front, and he ended the game with the seventh 70.0-plus overall game grade of his young career. His best work came in the run game, where he didn’t manage to record a run stop on the day, but he was a constant menace at the point of attack. He also added a hit and hurry from his 36 snaps as a pass-rusher. Through 12 weeks of action, Lawrence ranks 11th among 128 qualifying interior defensive linemen in overall grade, while his 88.8 run-defense grade ranks fifth among that same group of players.

The Giants have a great building block in Lawrence, who’s quickly becoming a dominant force in the trenches. Another solid contributor has been Oshane Ximines. The third-round selection has logged two sacks, and four QB hits in his rookie year, so far. While those numbers don’t jump off the screen, he has been a rotational piece behind Markus Golden. He has averaged less than 50% of defensive snaps this season, but he has been more prominent on special teams.

 

Cornerback far from settled for the New York Giants

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New York Giants, DeAndre Baker

The New York Giants have attacked the cornerback position in the draft the past several seasons but have no clearer a picture of what their secondary will look like in the coming seasons.

With veteran Janoris Jenkins retained this season as a mentor to the many young players they’ve brought in, the Giants’ secondary has been one of the NFL’s worst, allowing wide receivers and tight ends huge chunks of yardage. They have given up 45 passing plays of over 20 yard and a league-leading 13 plays over 40 yards.

The plan going into the season was the Giants would anchor their secondary with Jenkins, 35 year-old safety Antoine Bethea and former first round pick Jabrill Peppers, who they got in the Odell Beckham, Jr. trade with Cleveland.

The Giants were going to let Sam Beal – who they selected in the 2018 NFL Supplemental Draft – and one their three first round picks in this year’s draft, Georgia’s DeAndre Baker battle it out for the other starting corner clot.

The thinking was that they could get away with several options at slot corner. Grant Haley had a promising rookie season in 2018 and the Giants were also bringing two other rookies (Julian Love and Corey Ballentine) to compete for roster spots.

But as fate would have it, Beal would get injured for the second consecutive year and spent the first half off this season on injured reserve with a hamstring. Baker got off to a slow start due to a knee injury. That left the Giants with a tender of Ballentine and veteran Antonio Hamilton on the outside. Baker returned to become a starter but his performance has been extremely disappointing.

Unfortunately, Jenkins has not played up to snuff, either which has compounded the Giants’ issues. Beal has retuned and Baker’s performance has evened out but teams are still picking the Giants apart.

Bethea has liked every bit of 35 as the season has wore on and Peppers fractured a bone in his lower back ad could be out for the rest of the year. The Giants will play the remainder of the season with a combination of Love and veteran Michael Thomas in his place.

But slot corner is still unsettled. Haley has not played as well as hoped. The Giants are trying several players in the role to no avail. Ballentine is not a slot corner by trade was picked on exclusively at the position in the Giants’ loss to the Chicago Bears last week.

Several mock drafts I’ve seen are not sold on the Giants’ secondary and have them taking a corner very early in next year’s NFL Draft. The position general manager Dave Gettleman thought he was set at for years apparently is still in need of an influx of talent.

Coaching has been partly to blame for the poor performance in the secondary. Baker, Beal and Ballentine are are press corners and have been positioned 8-10 yards off the line of scrimmage on most plays, not giving them much of chance against speed receivers.

New York Giants Defensive Coordinator Not Concerned By DeAndre Baker

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New York Giants, DeAndre Baker

There’s been a lot of bad press about DeAndre Baker recently, with the most recent story being that Baker was called out in front of the team for putting in an unacceptable effort on one specific play, but things aren’t all bad – it looks like Baker isn’t going to lose his job too soon, because the staff are still willing to work with him rather than sending him to the bench for his poor coverage for most of this season.

Defensive coordinator James Bettcher notably believes that Baker hasn’t given him a reason to worry yet, which seems to contradict the impression that someone might get after hearing about Baker’s recent calling out.

“I want some snaps back for him and he wants them back, too. The thing that Bake has shown me is that he is willing to come to work. I would worry if we were sitting in the meeting room and he didn’t own a mistake, that’s when I would worry… I don’t worry because he owns whatever the correction needs to be,” said Bettcher.

Baker has had a hard time making corrections when actually on the field, however, as shown in games such as the nationally televised loss to Dallas where he found himself one of the most frequent targets for Dak Prescott.

Sam Beal appeared in 15% of the Giants’ defensive snaps against the New York Jets, which is the only game that he’s played in up to this point – Baker, on the other hand, appeared in every snap. It’s clear that right now the Giants are keeping Baker firmly in the top part of the rotation, but if his play doesn’t pick up against the Bears, who knows how long that will last?

James Bettcher is showing confidence in DeAndre Baker now, but the Giants were also adamant before the season that Eli Manning would be the starter, and that there were no plans to start Daniel Jones. That changed after two games and two losses. If Baker’s Dallas performance is repeated against the Bears, don’t be surprised if he doesn’t necessarily play on every snap and more playing time instead goes to other rivals.

New York Giants: Shurmur Gives Neutral Answers, Speaks On Secondary

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New York Giants, Pat Shurmur, James Bettcher

Pat Shurmur is under more pressure than anyone else in the New York Giants organization going into week ten’s game with the New York Jets, and Shurmur’s interactions with the media may just be one of the deciding factors in whether or not the team makes an uncharacteristic move and removes Shurmur in the middle of the season – it wouldn’t be an unprecedented move, however, as Ben McAdoo had similar results to Shurmur and met a similar fate before Shurmur was hired.

Shurmur recently spoke to the team’s website in a question and answer session during the buildup to the Jets game, and his answers may or may not inspire confidence in fans going into week ten’s matchup, depending on your perspective.

One of the most notable facts is that despite the dire straits the Giants are in, Shurmur claims the team isn’t looking at the game with a newfound sense of urgency.

“We’ve had the urgency, and the sense of purpose has been high all year. We’ve practiced hard. We just need to take what we do in practice and put it on the field. We’ve had stretches of really good play. We’ve just fallen victim to game-changing plays that have hurt us in close games,” Shurmur said.

But if the Giants have been urgent all season, they sure haven’t been urgent enough – the team only has two wins at this point, with one of them requiring luck down to the end as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers missed a field goal that would have given them a victory.

The Giants didn’t seem like a team playing urgently against Dallas, at least not beyond the early part of the game when they had the lead. And the blown lead at the end of the first half was more than just one game-changing play.

Saying that the Giants’ performances over the past weeks during their losing streak is just because of game-changing plays hurting them in close games is a massive oversimplification, and if this is how the Giants staff is looking at the matter, they may not put in the required effort to improve and turn things around.

After all, it’s hard to fix a problem while understating how big of a problem something is in the first place.

But we’ll be seeing some different things from the team on Sunday at least, with at least one of those changes being the addition of Sam Beal to the lineup of defensive backs – after missing his first season entirely with injury and ending up on the injured reserve list this year until only days ago, Beal is set to make his debut against the Jets and provide competition for struggling rookie cornerback DeAndre Baker.

“We’re going to get him out there, get him going. We’ve seen him practice. He’s a very talented young man that has been held back by injury. We’ll get him in the game and see where he can have an impact,” Shurmur said about Beal.

It also looks like Corey Ballentine will hold down the slot corner position long term, as Ballentine has received praise from Shurmur on his qualities at the position.

“There’s more happening when you’re on the inside. You have to have good instincts. He had been held back by injuries, so we haven’t been able to practice him as much as we would have liked to in there. But we feel like he’s one of our better corners, and so when you go to nickel, we’re going to put him on the field.”

The Giants will definitely need changes not just in the secondary but in multiple areas if they want to come out of the Jets game with a win – and after the team showed with McAdoo that they aren’t afraid to fire a coach in the middle of the season, there’s a very real chance that this is Pat Shurmur’s last game as the head coach if those improvements don’t happen.

Somehow, though, it feels like that point has reached everyone but Shurmur.

New York Giants news, 11/6 – Sam Beal to replace DeAndre Baker? Pat Shurmur, more

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New York Giants, DeAndre Baker

Good Morning, New York Giants Fans!

The New York Giants falling to the Dallas Cowboys for the sixth consecutive time tells only a portion of the ever-lasting story regarding the demise of Big Blue. Head coach Pat Shurmur is at the forefront of the negative press, and he rightfully should be considering his lack of drive and consistent mental mistakes.

However, there’s one player that has been abysmal since his inception in the NFL just nine weeks ago. Cornerback DeAndre Baker, who was drafted in the first round by general manager Dave Gettleman, has proven to be nothing short of terrible in his rookie season. Gettleman moved up several spots in the draft to grab Baker, and my justification for his lack of ability is seemingly dissipating with every passing week.

Initially, I figured the New York Giants were putting Baker in disadvantageous situations to help him grow. Specifically, in off-ball coverage, where Baker struggled at the collegiate level. Refining that side of his game was a priority going into the season, but the learning curve has been excessive. Even in press-coverage, Baker has struggled against better wideouts. His struggles have forced the Giants to re-evaluate the secondary, and it was a primary reason then held onto Janoris Jenkins at the trade deadline.

The Giants gain back a corner:

Sam Beal, who was selected in the Supplemental Draft in 2018, is finally returning from a spell on injured reserve. A hamstring injury kept him out of preseason after a promising period in training camp. It’s possible Beal could overtake Baker next week against the lowly Jets, a good game for Beal to make his debut and gain essential confidence.

At this point in the season, the New York Giants need to leverage Beal into competing with Baker, who has been a liability in coverage all year.

Nonetheless–

Your top news of the day:

Ryan Dunleavy – Giants have a really hard Sterling Shepard decision to make

Michael Eisen – Giants turn focus to Jets after loss to Cowboys

Alexander Wilson – New York Giants: 3 things we learned from loss to Cowboys on Monday

Chris Pflum – Four plays that changed the Giants game against Dallas

Paul Schwartz – The Giants are losers — but this can get so much worse