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Good morning, New York Giants fans! It’s already June, the sun is finally shining here in upstate New York and we are one day closer to real football. Let’s check your Giants-related headlines and see what is going on.
Are OTAs Really a Big Deal?
OTAs are a milestone of sorts in the NFL offseason. Their arrival means we are one small step closer to training camp, followed by the preseason and then — thankfully — real football.
Are they, however, all that big of a deal? The way they get covered by reporters and bloggers hungry for something, anything to feed to their starving audiences you would think they are. The gnashing of teeth over the absence of players like Odell Beckham Jr. from these voluntary workouts makes the “crime” of not attending reach something like a DEF-CON level crisis.
Thing is, the players — past and present — don’t see them as a big deal. As I wrote the other day in discussing Beckham, this is still part of the player’s offseason. Carl Banks admitted recently that he “never went to OTAs.”
Former Giant and current SB Nation contributor Geoff Schwartz has penned a nice breakdown both of why OTAs are important, but also why it’s not a big deal when players decide to skip them.
A couple of former Giants took to Twitter on Wednesday to downplay the significance of these workouts in shorts and t-shirts.
I don't remember any team I was on that guys were mad at other players for missing any offseason stuff. It got guys like me more reps. https://t.co/twDmuTMMbf
— David Tollefson (@DTollefson71) May 31, 2017
OTA's are dumb. No @NFL player has ever won or lost a job in OTA's outside of getting injured. @OBJ_3 doesn't need OTA's the media needs OBJ
— Lawrence Tynes (@lt4kicks) May 31, 2017
Bechkam, incidentally, re-tweeted the remark from former Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes.
Former Giants Justin Tuck said recently that Beckham’s absence is nothing to worry about:
"As long as Odell is doing what he needs to do to prepare himself for the upcoming season. I'm still very in tune with what goes on in Giants headquarters and it seems to me that the players are totally fine with it because they know that he's out there working,” Tuck said.
"I don't have any issue with it.”
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7 draft busts from 2013 getting a second chance this season | theScore.com
Sources: NFL Is Considering Moving The Scouting Combine To California In 2018
The NFL Scouting Combine could be on the move very soon. According to sources, it could be headed to California.
[E-mail Ed at bigblueview@gmail.com | Follow Big Blue View on Twitter | 'Like' Big Blue View on Facebook]