New York Giants News & Notes: May 19, 2010

Scouts.inc's Matt Williamson (via the Worldwide Leader) breaks down what he feels is the Giants biggest weakness entering this upcoming season: middle linebacker. I don't think too many of us would disagree with that.

Vinnie Iyer of The Sporting News writes about the transitional position the Giants find themselves in, teetering between a Super Bowl contender (as they were in 2007 and 2008) and a pretender (ala last season). He thinks, as I'm sure many of you agree with, that the key is the defense.

Steve Smith did a web chat with NFL.com yesterday, and ESPN New York has the highlights. Smith also talked about Eli Manning in the interview, as highlighted on NFL.com. The full chat transcript is here. Also, if you guys are on facebook, I strongly suggest you become a fan of Steve Smith. He updates frequently, runs contests, and actually participates in conversations with people who post on his wall. Unlike a lot of athletes, I very much get the sense that it's really Steve who's doing the posting, and some of his stuff is very entertaining. He's been my favorite offensive player on the Giants for almost 3 years now, and his openness with the fans just makes me like him more.

Finally, a nice write-up about Tom Coughlin and his charity work off the field. I was one of those shouting from the rooftops for Coughlin to be fired before the 2007 season (and especially after the 0-2 start), but I'll be the first to admit that Coughlin proved all my doubts wrong, and I'm so glad the Giants kept him around. He's proven to be a very good football coach and, more importantly, a good human being. He may be a hard ass at times, but now that we've seen beneath his hard shell, he reminds me more of a strict but kind grandpa than a dictator.