BBV Mailbag: The mail is interesting, but a little sparse this week

There aren’t a lot of questions in this week’s Big Blue View mailbag. Part of that, I’m sure is because this is a holiday weekend. The other part, to be honest, is that it’s pointless for me to answer the same questions week after week.

Anyway, here are this week’s questions.

Ed says: No, not in my view. I honestly hadn’t really thought about this aspect with Carr, but I found this tweet to be thought provoking:

Point is, the way Carr has played the last two seasons it’s fair to wonder how good he really is. He might be really good. He might be an overpaid middle of the road quarterback. Kind of like Kirk Cousins, in my view.

The other reality is this. The Giants are building. Yes, they need a long-term answer at quarterback. They need their top draft picks, too. They aren’t in any position, in my view, to go surrendering first-round picks for a guy like Carr.

For me, this is a hard no.

Bruce Frazer asks: What has happened to the Giant’s defense since the start of the season. 500 yards to Tampa Bay, what is going on? The lack of pass rush is obviously a big factor, but has the departure of Harrison really stifled the run defense? Is James Bettcher trying to do too much with too little? What is your take on the defense and it’s needs?

Ed says: Nothing necessarily “happened” to the Giants’ defense. We entered the season thinking there was a possibility the Giants’ defense might not be very good. All the first 10 games have done, for the most part, is confirm that. Defensive coordinator James Bettcher is doing what he can with what he has. Problem is, he doesn’t have enough.

The Giants have one established pass rusher, and Olivier Vernon has one sack in five games. They have one Pro Bowl caliber play-maker in the back end of their defense, and Landon Collins hasn’t made very many plays this season. They have a few developing young players like Dalvin Tomlinson, B.J. Hill and Lorenzo Carter who haven’t reached their full potential yet. Other than that, in my view, they for the most part have a collection of guys out there playing because the Giants don’t have anyone better to run out there.

This defense needs at least one more dynamic pass rusher, maybe two. It needs at least one three-down inside linebacker. It needs a free safety who can actually tackle in the back end of the defense. It needs multiple cornerbacks.

In other words, it needs a lot.

Ed says: Seth, believe it or not that is kind of a difficult question for me to answer. Mostly that’s because, to be honest, not much has surprised me about this season — with the exception of the Giants starting 1-7. I figured they would be a little better than that, a three- or four-win team at the halfway point.

I haven’t been surprised by the offensive line woes, which is the primary reason the Giants struggled on offense the first part of the season. All along I said the question was whether the offensive line would be better than it was a year ago or if it would just be different. Until Spencer Pulley settled in at center and Jamon Brown took over at right guard the answer was “different.”

Defensively, we knew that lack of pass rush, lack of quality depth at cornerback, free safety and the lack of three-down inside linebackers could all be issues. Well, no surprise that they have all been issues.

Ed says: Highlander, I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt here that AutoCorrect messed with you and you actually know the name of the backup quarterback is Alex Tanney, not Andy Someone.

Anyway, this is simple. Alex Tanney has played in only one NFL game. He has, however, been in the league since 2012. The Giants, I think correctly, believe that because he has been in the league for so long and understands what it is to be the backup quarterback is better equipped to come into a game mid-stream should something happen to Eli Manning.

When it comes to Kyle Lauletta, look for the Giants to activate him for the last two to four games. As far as playing, when the Giants are officially out of the playoff race is when you will probably see the rookie. Not until then.