My Giants-Jets Observations:

[TomShane]

1) The Giants are awful on defense. Just pathetic D-Back play. When Wayne Chrebet and Jay Fiedler are beating you deep, you know you have problems. Chas Gessner--THE Chas Gessner--absolutely dominated whoever was trying to cover him. On one play he spun Giants #1 corner Will Peterson around like a top on an out cut. Awful. The Giants may go 3-13 this season.

2) Chad's arm is very weak. VERY. Some of us were speculating that it was by design to not have him air it out, but the man's floaters looked like knuckleballs out there and his new motion is actually sort of a hitch. Bad news, unless they didn't want him to throw hard. On the plus side, Chad was deadly accurate. It defies conventional wisdom that he's able to complete the passes he completes with balls that float like that. Every time it leaves his hand you think it's getting picked off, but it never did.

3) Brooks Bollinger is dogsh*t. I admit to an anti-Brooks sentiment coming in, but Brooks is completely out of place in Dinger's O. There is no dump-off receiver for Brooks to flip it to anymore, and when he's forced to make a read and deliver it, he is terrible. I can't wait for him to be cut.

4) Look for the Jets to sign a veteran QB late in camp. Yes, they have Fiedler backing up Chad, but beyond those two there is zero. If, for any reason, Chad misses a couple of weeks (almost an inevitability), we will be one Fiedler sprained ankle away from the first pick in the draft. Kevin Eakin is Bollinger's competition, and he actually looked decent, but he is not an NFL QB by any stretch of the imagination. Don't be surprised to see Vinny in green soon. I kid you not.

5) The offense works. The difference between Hackett's miserable O and Dinger's O is night and day. No question. For one thing, the running backs on pass plays are not running flares five yeards behind the line of scrimmage--they are 5-10 yards downfield in the hook zones, and the receivers have deeper routes this year as well. The good news about this is that even the fourth option will give us 6-7 yards on a completion (as opposed to 2 in the Hackett O). The bad news is that the QB's have to make their reads ALOT quicker than they did last season, otherwise they'll get picked clean. At times Fiedler actually looked sharper in terms of making his reads than Penny did because of the bad habits Penny learned under Hackett. Watching the O, Chad might get 25 TD's (if healthy), but we'll also see some ugly interceptions because his dump-offs are not there.

6) Don't believe the hype about the physical Jets "team" versus the wussy Giants. Last year at these practices the Jets O got bitch-smacked all over the field by the Giants D, but the defense was tough under Hendu. Still, both units were not prepared for the Giants physicality at all. This year, Hendu obviously reminded them about it and the D came out pissed off and ready. The O did most of their talking by scoring touchdowns, but were not exactly throwing haymakers out there like the media is presenting it. And for Coughlin to complain about physical play is hilarious. He's trying to make friends with his players by going soft and all it got them was their face-masks pushed in. What concerned me was that, despite the admittedly physical nature of the practice, the Jets still played soft on the O-Line and got no movement in the running game. Except for a few plays by Cedric Houton, the Giants were living in the Jets backfield. Why this is scary is because Dinger clearly wants them to line up and go smashmouth on O, but the Jets O-Line is a bunch of finesse guys. Could be an issue.

7) Adrian Jones is not the answer. Yes, it was against Strahan, and yes, it's only practice, but Strahan, on the first play of the contact drills, was already 4 yards into the backfield before Jones took his hand off the ground. You give him a pass because Strahan is a freak, but he was beaten SO badly that you really have to wonder if he can play at all against anybody. Just brutal. He is good when he gets his hands on people, however. Factor in that Dinger was running alot of tight formations with piched wideouts lining up inside the hashes, and we could see some devastating hits on Jet QB's this season off the right side. Scott Gragg, anyone?

8) The Jet WR's are going to be tough. Cotchery and Coles both look like Marshall Faulk with the ball, meaning that they have RB power and quickness that made it very tough for the Giants smaller DB's to stay with them. Coles, in particular, was abusing people with his muscle. McCareins looked amazing out there, and you could tell that Dinger is really going to get him 5-6 touches per game this year. Alot of side-opens for Mac. However, the two best receivers on the field outside of Coles may have been Gassner and Harry Williams. Gessner looked alot like a guy that used to play for the Vikings named Jake Reed to me. Just a big, physical wideout who looks like he's playing basketball out there. He has tremendous feet for a player of his size, and is very quick in and out of cuts. Williams was just as fast as GGG reported, taking a crossing pattern and going 50 yards with it. The thing about that play was that it looked like a 20 yarder-- that's just how fast Williams is. For a small school guy, Williams looks very polished, catches the ball extremely well, and (number one) KNOWS how to get open. Watching him practice, I couldn't understand how he made it to the seventh round. I know it's early, and the numbers are against him, but he looked to me ALOT like Isaac Bruce. That's right, I said it. Also, Wayne is Wayne. He looks slimmer this year, and quicker.

9) Strangely, the TE's didn't get alot of action. I wanted to see what everyone was chirping at about Jolley, but he couldn't be found in the scrimmage. It was probably just a result of piss-poor defense by the Giant DB's, leading to open wideouts, but I was hoping to catch a glimpse.

10) The offense will be accountable this season. This was the biggest difference between last year and this year. Watching the O practice last season, it was quiet, peaceful and relaxed. This year you could hear Dinger SCREAMING at players for not running in and out of the huddle, for missing blocks, and for screwing up. God bless Dinger the first time he rips into Kevin Mawae. That could be a UFC-worthy bloodbath.

11) Herm still looks like he should be carrying a water-jug out there. Nitwit, and now, useless.

[joewilly]

good read shane, did you watch the defense at all?

[LionelRichie]

2) Chad's arm is very weak. VERY. Some of us were speculating that it was by design to not have him air it out, but the man's floaters looked like knuckleballs out there and his new motion is actually sort of a hitch. Bad news, unless they didn't want him to throw hard. On the plus side, Chad was deadly accurate. It defies conventional wisdom that he's able to complete the passes he completes with balls that float like that. Every time it leaves his hand you think it's getting picked off, but it never did.

8) However, the two best receivers on the field outside of Coles may have been Gassner and Harry Williams. Gessner looked alot like a guy that used to play for the Vikings named Jake Reed to me. Just a big, physical wideout who looks like he's playing basketball out there. He has tremendous feet for a player of his size, and is very quick in and out of cuts. Williams was just as fast as GGG reported, taking a crossing pattern and going 50 yards with it. The thing about that play was that it looked like a 20 yarder-- that's just how fast Williams is. For a small school guy, Williams looks very polished, catches the ball extremely well, and (number one) KNOWS how to get open. Watching him practice, I couldn't understand how he made it to the seventh round. I know it's early, and the numbers are against him, but he looked to me ALOT like Isaac Bruce. That's right, I said it.

11) Herm still looks like he should be carrying a water-jug out there. Nitwit, and now, useless.

TS - thanks for the update. after watching the NFL network training camp special i said the same thing about chad's arm - he needs to start showing improvement b/c each passing day gets closer to 9/11 and he is nowhere near ready.

i saw williams on the same special and he looked awesome - tall and fast. i think carter is on his way out. if williams makes the team that is a great job by TB and the scouts.

i am not going to start on Herm - i think the 18 pages dedicated to him last week was probably enough for awhile.

[BwanaZulia]

11) Herm still looks like he should be carrying a water-jug out there. Nitwit, and now, useless.

He was thinking about the Ty Law contract.

BZ

[RSJ]

Thanks TS. Great report!

[TomShane]

good read shane, did you watch the defense at all?

Didn't get to watch the contact stuff with the D because we wanted to see Chad, but everything looks real good as far as they're concerned. The one thing that scared me was that the SS spot has 11 average guys trying out for one slot. Not good. Also, Ray Mickens looked like he was on his last legs out there. Clearly, he had to go. WHat stood out about the defense is that they have so many quick, fast guys now as opposed to past seasons. Very smooth athletes, particularly in the backfield. And Sean Ellis looks like he's on steroids. The most physically impressive athlete I have ever seen on a (practice) football field is Mike Strahan, who could forklift a 330 lb rookie on one play, and then chase down Tiki Barber from behind the next. Let's just say that Ellis is reaching that level. Not as quick off the ball, but he might be more powerful than Strahan.

btw, Vilma is crazy. Tiny, but crazy.

[TomShane]

He was thinking about the Ty Law contract.

BZ

I think Herm was thinking about how he'll look in an ESPN blazer.

[BwanaZulia]

I think Herm was thinking about how he'll look in an ESPN blazer.

Or winning the big game.

Stick with it TS, you can count out the Chargers after week 8 and come back to the green love.

BZ

[TomShane]

Or winning the big game.

Stick with it TS, you can count out the Chargers after week 8 and come back to the green love.

BZ

My Chargers are going all the way, baby. Brees>Chad; Tomlinson>>>Martin. Holla.

[joewilly]

Didn't get to watch the contact stuff with the D because we wanted to see Chad, but everything looks real good as far as they're concerned. The one thing that scared me was that the SS spot has 11 average guys trying out for one slot. Not good. Also, Ray Mickens looked like he was on his last legs out there. Clearly, he had to go. WHat stood out about the defense is that they have so many quick, fast guys now as opposed to past seasons. Very smooth athletes, particularly in the backfield. And Sean Ellis looks like he's on steroids. The most physically impressive athlete I have ever seen on a (practice) football field is Mike Strahan, who could forklift a 330 lb rookie on one play, and then chase down Tiki Barber from behind the next. Let's just say that Ellis is reaching that level. Not as quick off the ball, but he might be more powerful than Strahan.

btw, Vilma is crazy. Tiny, but crazy.

I asked about the "d" cause you're a realist leaning towards pessimist when it comes to evaluating the jets.

I don't know, after pittsburgh saying how tough our d is & coughlin complaining to hendu about playing too rough, I think theres a real swagger to this unit & they play as a unit.seems everyones got each others backs & I think they proved something to themselves on the field last year by finishing so strong.

with law coming in & if abe suits up & plays, I really think this is gonna be the BEST DEFENSE IN THE NFL THIS YEAR. I think hendu's got em playin & thinkin like a pack of wild dogs. I am really excited about our d this year

[Meddle]

5) The offense works. The difference between Hackett's miserable O and Dinger's O is night and day. No question. For one thing, the running backs on pass plays are not running flares five yeards behind the line of scrimmage--they are 5-10 yards downfield in the hook zones, and the receivers have deeper routes this year as well. The good news about this is that even the fourth option will give us 6-7 yards on a completion (as opposed to 2 in the Hackett O). The bad news is that the QB's have to make their reads ALOT quicker than they did last season, otherwise they'll get picked clean. At times Fiedler actually looked sharper in terms of making his reads than Penny did because of the bad habits Penny learned under Hackett. Watching the O, Chad might get 25 TD's (if healthy), but we'll also see some ugly interceptions because his dump-offs are not there.

Nice write-up. You negative mofo.

Could the fact that Dumbo read the D quicker have something to do with him getting all the snaps in the new offense all off-season long?

I heard Jones held up pretty well and has looked good in practice. I hope you missed the good stuff. We need that guy badly. Ethan Brooks is no answer.

[TomShane]

I asked about the "d" cause you're a realist leaning towards pessimist when it comes to evaluating the jets.

I don't know, after pittsburgh saying how tough our d is & coughlin complaining to hendu about playing too rough, I think theres a real swagger to this unit & they play as a unit.seems everyones got each others backs & I think they proved something to themselves on the field last year by finishing so strong.

with law coming in & if abe suits up & plays, I really think this is gonna be the BEST DEFENSE IN THE NFL THIS YEAR. I think hendu's got em playin & thinkin like a pack of wild dogs. I am really excited about our d this year

Homey, this is all you need to know about the defense: Shockey tries blocking Oliver Celestin, Celesting bitch-slaps Shockey's facemask, Shockey pushes back. Within SECONDS, Erik Coleman is AIRBORNE to jump on Shockey's back. Right behind him is Vilma who comes in and lowers a shoulder into the whole pile. They may give up big plays this season, but it won't be for lack of enthusiasm.

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 7:21 pm Post subject: Re: My Giants-Jets Observations:

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TomShane wrote:

5) The offense works. The difference between Hackett's miserable O and Dinger's O is night and day. No question. For one thing, the running backs on pass plays are not running flares five yeards behind the line of scrimmage--they are 5-10 yards downfield in the hook zones, and the receivers have deeper routes this year as well. The good news about this is that even the fourth option will give us 6-7 yards on a completion (as opposed to 2 in the Hackett O). The bad news is that the QB's have to make their reads ALOT quicker than they did last season, otherwise they'll get picked clean. At times Fiedler actually looked sharper in terms of making his reads than Penny did because of the bad habits Penny learned under Hackett. Watching the O, Chad might get 25 TD's (if healthy), but we'll also see some ugly interceptions because his dump-offs are not there.

Nice write-up. You negative mofo.

Could the fact that Dumbo read the D quicker have something to do with him getting all the snaps in the new offense all off-season long?

I heard Jones held up pretty well and has looked good in practice. I hope you missed the good stuff. We need that guy badly. Ethan Brooks is no answer

Fiedler's eyes are always downfield. Chad's eyes are still looking for Sowell swinging out of the backfield. I kid you not.

Jones looks tough when he gets his hands on people, but he's very awkward trying to move laterally. He looks like he still doesn't know how to get around with the extra 50 pounds he's put on in the past two years. I think he'll eventually be good, but he;s one of those guys I'd like to see earn some stripes playing RG first so he doesn't get anyone killed.

[Meddle]

I don't doubt that. Point is that he's had little time to apply his knowledge. I don't see it as a big problem.

[TomShane]

I don't doubt that. Point is that he's had little time to apply his knowledge. I don't see it as a big problem.

Tell that to Chad's orthopedic surgeon in two months.

[nj meadowlands]

I dig the read Shane. Dare I sense optimism?

I think we'll be pleasantly surprised to see Chad progress faster than we expect, and I think by week 4 his arm will be much stronger than it was last year, MUCH.

I like your bit about Wayne. He's Wayne. Guarantee there's a few plays on the playbook with his name on it, because he will be getting us some key third down conversions.

[mudcat21]

Nice write up Shane.