FanPost

First Impressions: An Exploratory Look at the Giants

Hey ya'll, hope everyone's doing well. I decided before last night's game that since it's the first time we're seeing this radically changed team, I would take notes and try to observe some of the schemes and psychology of our new team as opposed to sitting back and casually watching. Throughout the post I'll take a stab at what I think our coaches are trying to mold this team in to. Now as a note, I only watched the first half of the game, but even that gave me about two and a half pages of notes, so hopefully there will be a few good catches in here! Also as I was writing this, I realized that I wrote out a lot more than originally planned, so what I'm going to do is keep it to offense for this post and do the post on the defense later.

Offense: THAT was new

From initial and even casual observations, it can be seen that our new offense is much different from the one previously ran by Kevin Gilbride. Some of the differences were good, and a few of them were bad. But either way, if the goal was to completely revamp what our offense looks like: mission accomplished.

Formations

First of all, the formations we are using, and the settings we are using them in are refreshingly changed up. I saw many 3 Wide Receiver sets with the QB in shotgun, and I saw this formation on more than just third and long. And surprisingly enough, they passed out of this formation! This is something I could get used to. Also, there were a variety of other formations sprinkled in as well, and this is the first preseason game where we're supposed to be "vanilla". I saw plenty of sets with the Tight End motioning into the backfield, where they were in a singleback set originally, and I even spotted a "Diamond" set where we had three backs in the backfield behind Eli. I wasn't able to see numbers, but it's possible one of those players was a Tight End as well. The Diamond package came on the third series of offense, and it kick started our drive down field. That's something that I like to see.

The Running Game

After watching the game last night, I believe we have the potential to be a very, very nasty running team. If the O-Line can gel, and yes that's a big if after watching the first two series of offense, we're very close to having the perfect formula for a West Coast Offense. In the WCO, you need a healthy running game. I'd say that's something Rashad Jennings and Andre Williams can provide. My one gripe is we need to tailor the blocking to the style of our Running Backs. What I noticed with both Williams and Jennings (but especially Williams) was that they both excelled when they could get that nice first cut in the backfield, and then hit the hole. This means we have got to get our O-Line to become a Zone Block heavy unit. I want to see our lineman flowing to their blocks and engaging their targets, which will provide both of our RB's to see the hole that's set up for them, make their cut, and explode to the second level. If we want to be dominant on the ground, I think implementing the Zone Block Scheme is where you start.

Also, a side note on the running game, but good gravy it's powerful, no? Jennings and Williams did a great job of plowing forward and running hard. When was the last time you saw a Giant RB just power into the endzone the way Williams did on his touchdown?

Reads

Now this portion is going to be a bit of a guessing game, seeing as how I wasn't on the field and I don't know what Eli or Nassib's reads were. But still, I think there were some things to be taken away from how the ball was moved last night. Obviously the big stand out is that the Running Back position is no longer a last resort when it comes to throwing the ball. And this isn't just talking about screens either. Even when the plays were designed to have the other Wide Receivers do more than run dummy routes or block, making them legitimate passing options, often times it appeared the first read was the Running Back. And while we don't need to hone in on dumping off all of our passes to a player coming out of the backfield, having the Running Back as a primary target is going to help. I will gladly take a dump off to the Running Back for five yards on First and Ten. As Invictus and a couple others mentioned, I really did forget how nice Second and Five could be. It does open up the playbook, especially when you're a team that can run the football. If we made a habit of going First and Ten to Second and Five to Third and Two/One, I think I'm confident in Williams to pick up the first down for us. And if that's how you're picking up your yardage as an offense, you're running a lot of time off the clock as you march down field.

Another observation on reads is yes, it appears the option routes are gone. At least as a primary pass option that is. On the plays that Eli and Ryan Nassib did go to their Wide Receivers, the ball came out fast. There wasn't any holding of the ball for ridiculous amounts of time trying to figure out what the Receiver was going to do. Slant patterns were ran, bullets were fired, and even when passes fell incomplete, I never felt like they were in danger of being picked off. Also these reads appeared to help Nassib tremendously. Nassib might not be able to stretch the field with his passes, but he throws the ball hard. In an offense where the route is predetermined, Nassib is able to play to his strengths and fire the ball out on a rope. This also cuts down on his time spent in the pocket, which should mean we don't see happy feet from him so often.

Other Miscellaneous Observations

We need a Fullback. There were times in our first two series on offense where we tried putting Donnell or Fells in the backfield and having them lead block, and that just wasn't working. When we put in Henry Hynoski, and later on John Connor, we had much more success running the ball.

Speaking of Fullbacks, their stance seems more aggressive this year. Even outside of goal line packages I saw Hynoski in particular in what appeared to be more of a Defensive Lineman's stance, putting a lot of weight on the hand that's on the ground in an effort to explode forward as a lead blocker. I like that, and it's the little things that can lead to much larger successes.

There were a few times where Eli's mechanics stood out to me, and in a good way! The play I specifically made note of was a third down that happened early in the third series our offense was on the field. Eli was under center, and pressure started coming from the edges. Eli climbed the pocket very well while keeping his eyes down field. He stepped up into the pocket and delivered a completed pass for a first down. Again, it's something that you can casually brush off and say "that's what QB's are supposed to do" but after the way Eli played last year I see these small victories as something that can turn into winning games if they continue to be worked on.

Nassib might benefit a lot from rolling out of the pocket. He's got the athleticism to be quick on his roll outs, and it allows him get away from the pocket where he sometimes doesn't look comfortable. The key is making sure he sets his feet when he finds his target. There was one play in his first series where he does just that, and he completed a strike to Marcus Harris. Eli definitely doesn't need to be rolling out (that's when he lost the fumble) but Nassib can probably pull off that type of mobile passing attack.

Speaking of Marcus Harris, he had a strong game. A lot of his completions came one after the other. Now while multiple completions/catches isn't a horrible thing by any stretch, I did notice that this was due to Nassib kind of locking on to Harris. Now I normally wouldn't point this out if it were a starter at QB, but I do remember being (slightly) worried that Nassib was staring down his target (Harris) once he got comfortable with him. If a QB starts relying on one specific receiver as opposed to finding his other targets, the offense becomes one dimensional. It's also easier for Corner Backs to know where the ball is going and possibly pick off a pass. It's a minor thing, but all the greats spread the ball around to their receiving options. I'd like to see Nassib get comfortable with multiple targets.

Well that's all for the observations on the offense, hopefully I'll be able to post my write up on the defense tonight or tomorrow. What do ya'll think? Did you see some of what I did, or is there something you think I missed? Let me know!

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