Another try at projecting the 53-man roster
Well, we are two exhibition games in and we have learned a few things about the Giants.
We have learned that Domenik (see, I can spell it!) Hixon can play. So can Kenny Phillips. We have learned that the Giants can still hound quarterbacks even with Michael Strahan retired. We even learned that Lawrence Tynes doesn't like nice, plush grass.
So, let's take what we have learned and take another stab at projecting the season-opening 53-man roster. There are bound to be some changes since the last time I tried this, which was the day training camp opened.
Quarterbacks (3) -- Manning, Carr, Woodson.
As I said a few weeks ago, bye-bye Anthony Wright. The Giants will keep Andre Woodson, a guy they drafted hoping to develop into a quality backup. All David Carr has to do is be better than Wright, and thus far he has been (91.1 quarterback rating to 63.6).
Running Backs (5) -- Jacobs, Bradshaw, Ward, Ware, Hedgecock.
Have a nice life, Reuben Droughns! Danny Ware (16 carries, 115 yards and a 34.8 yard average on 5 kickoff returns) deserves a spot on this team. You can't turn away guys who can make big plays, and Ware looks like a guy who might be able to do just that.
Wide Receivers (6) -- Burress, Toomer, Hixon, Smith, Moss, Manningham.
I really want to find a spot for Brandon London, but I don't see how. Moss has shown big-play ability in both exhibition games -- remember how he blew past Cleveland corner Eric Wright last night and ended up drawing an interference penalty. If Mario Manningham gets healthy, he will make this team. The Giants drafted him too high to give up on him, even though he has yet to do anything. If he's not healthy, he'll go IR and London will make the squad. My guess is David Tyree stays on the PUP list until mid-season.
Tight ends (3) -- Boss, Matthews, Johnson.
This is what I figured when camp started, and nothing has happened to make me feel any differently.
Offensive Linemen (9) -- Diehl, Seubert, O'Hara, Snee, McKenzie, Reugamer, Whimper, Boothe, Koets.
Too bad about Shane Olivea. The Giants thought they had really stumbled upon an excellent, experienced backup at the tackle spots, but his back injury landed him on IR.
Defensive Linemen (8) -- Umenyiora, Tuck, Robbins, Cofield, Alford, Tollefson, Wynn, Nwagbuo.
Wallace Gilberry has been impressive, but he is a defensive end and the Giants already have too many of those. He could end up on the practice squad. I picked Ogemdi Nwagbuo to make the roster when camp started. I will stick with that, but the truth is I think the fourth defensive tackle on this team is probably a veteran who is in camp with somebody else right now.
Linebackers (7) -- Pierce, Kiwanuka, Wilkinson, Clark, DeOssie, Kehl, Blackburn.
All you Chase Blackburn fans out there can stop hating me now! I originally figured rookie Jonathan Goff might play Blackburn out of a job. Goff is hurt right now, though, and could be headed to IR. Even if he comes back, Blackburn deserves to stick around. He makes too many plays and is too good of a special teamer. A guess here is that if Goff is healthy the Giants carry an extra linebacker and only seven defensive linemen. The other difference here is that Danny Clark has clearly earned a starting nod over Gerris Wilkinson.
Cornerbacks (6) -- Ross, Webster, Madison, Thomas, Dockery, McQuarters.
R.W. McQuarters has been slowed by injuries during camp, opening a door for Geoffrey Pope. I still don't see McQuarters getting dumped, though.
Safeties (4) -- Phillips, Johnson, Knight, Butler.
Kenny Phillips must start. How this guy lasted to the 31st pick in the first round I will never know.
Specialists -- Jeff Feagles (punter); Lawrence Tynes (placekicker).
OK, so tell me what you agree with and where you think I'm wrong.
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19 comments
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Jeez
Give me SOMETHING to disagree with you on.
Although I think you’re being too easy on Anthony Wright, he’s terrible.
Giants fan from the womb to the tomb
by Jim Schmiedeberg on
Aug 20, 2008 8:08 AM EDT
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I like Pope's speed.
He’s even faster than Hixon. I’d like the Jints to try him on returns. Other than that, i agree with your choices.
by george cronin on
Aug 20, 2008 8:26 AM EDT
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Pope
I like his speed, too. But, when has he actually made a play? Until he does, I still think McQuarters makes this team.
by Ed Valentine on
Aug 20, 2008 8:54 AM EDT
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The Blackurn fan club
has you back off the blacklist! The giants really need a way to “hide” Gillbery he seems to have some ability. I think as TerraByte mentioned in his post other teams will be snapping a lot of these guys up before they make it to the practice squad.
We're only gonna score 17 points?
by big blue wrecking crew on
Aug 20, 2008 8:39 AM EDT
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Gilberry
I think you’re right, but he will probably end up on the practice squad. It is a complement to the Giants that other teams are waiting for the guys they release. Fact is, the Giants will be letting some good players go.
by Ed Valentine on
Aug 20, 2008 8:56 AM EDT
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One of those guys
is likely to be London, which is too bad because he had a great camp.
by potroast on
Aug 20, 2008 9:05 AM EDT
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London reminds me of A. Mix
Huge target, I think he was a tight end in college. Just not enough to keep on the 53. Hopefully he gets a season ending “ricket” so we can hide him too!
We're only gonna score 17 points?
by big blue wrecking crew on
Aug 20, 2008 10:09 AM EDT
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whoo Blackburn
I think that’s a good point, it makes more sense to keep an extra LB since Kiwi plays both positions
by queler on
Aug 20, 2008 12:17 PM EDT
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Yep
That was part of my thought on that. Kiwi can move to end if he has to, Tuck can play some inside and they can always hide one of these young guys on the practice squad if somebody gets hurt.
by Ed Valentine on
Aug 20, 2008 12:36 PM EDT
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Manningham and Moss
I don’t follow college football so I’m not acquainted with Manningham. Does he have so much potential that he’s worth keeping over guys who are already showing their stuff? Given the injury history of the number 1, 2, and 3 WR, can the Giants afford to keep two works-in-progress, Moss and Manningham?
One interesting thing I heard (no ESPN) during the game with Cleveland was the five-receiver set they used. You can’t do that unless you are really confident that your OL can protect your QB. I remember the Giants tried 5-receiver sets for a series of plays at the beginning of a game back in the ’60s. Y.A. got creamed on every play so they had to go back to 3 yards and a cloud of dust.
by TerraByte on
Aug 20, 2008 12:51 PM EDT
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Manningham
Fact is, he probably would have gone in the first round if he hadn’t had some off the field issues, and had people questioning his intelligence. He has a lot of ability. That aside, the Giants are not cutting a third-round draft choice when they have barely seen him get on the field.
by Ed Valentine on
Aug 20, 2008 12:58 PM EDT
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Yeah, I heard something about the test results.
He scored down in William Joseph territory. I hope he won’t need Mapquest to figure out his routes.
by TerraByte on
Aug 20, 2008 5:11 PM EDT
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Mannigham was probably
the top wide receiver in the draft going into last season. He didn’t have an amazing season (though he was still pretty good) and had some off field stuff, so that definitely took him down a few notches. The kid has a ton of talent, and I hope the Giants stick with him b/c I think he’s got the potential to be a borderline #1 type guy.
by cjmulrain on
Aug 20, 2008 1:16 PM EDT
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Mario
It’s just crazy that one after another every WR the Giants pick early in the draft seems to struggle to get healthy and produce. Very, very bizarre.
by Ed Valentine on
Aug 20, 2008 1:31 PM EDT
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I think you're right on
jrs pointed this out and hind sight being 20/20 it seems our wide receivers are constantly in the trainers room,especially the young guys. This can’t be attributed to mental toughness as Plax proved last year. There have been so many nagging type injuries that instead of listing them from now on I’ll follow his lead and just say they’re “rickets”. Somethings got to give.
We're only gonna score 17 points?
by big blue wrecking crew on
Aug 20, 2008 2:12 PM EDT
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Receivers
Coughlin addressed this the other day. He feels that the young receivers get hurt simply because they don’t understand how much running and cutting is required at the NFL level. He says these guys get hurt because they “think” they are in shape when they come to camp, but find out that they aren’t once practice starts. Since so many of these injuries are leg injuries, he may have a legitimate point.
by Ed Valentine on
Aug 20, 2008 2:42 PM EDT
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Yay Kevin Boothe!
(I went to Cornell so I’m biased.)
by JoshNY on
Aug 20, 2008 8:51 PM EDT
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