Recap of Jets-Giants' tape + 53-man Roster Predictions

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unexpected a lot of unexpected draft picks and just a I absolutely love it Dan but I know it's the most virgin Behavior ever I want to fully sign up for it like I wish I was in that League because I love doing fantasy football with you it's a ton of yeah live auction at the draft like there's nothing beats a live auction everybody there uh you know first we did drinking and oh to make this even more version activity uh we did board games like we played like board games God D at night after the draft yes drank and and played board games so that was Sunday Saturday was obviously golf uh and watching the Giants obviously so yeah Golf and Giants it's a great Saturday can't beat that really I mean you get your two favorite things football and golf in one Saturday so it's good to end the end of you know summer basically is what it is well next weekend I guess Labor Day is the official end of summer and we're into football season and so that's what we're doing today we're recapping the Giants last preseason game and we're giving our 53 man roster prediction so where do you want to start let's start with the last preseason game Nick and I think the big topic that we can start with is Evan Neil yeah Evan Neil we got to see him now after the game Evan Neil said he was fine he was not concerned it was the same ankle that was rolled up on but Brian dable told Neil that hey you're probably gonna play 20 to 25 snaps he played 21 snaps if you're watching on YouTube I'm gonna run through just a bunch of Evan Neil taping if you would like you can check this Channel or big blue views channel for a film breakdown of Evan look I thought he was actually really solid Dan as a run Blocker in these combo blocks these first two plays that I'm playing at the moment you can see how he is I don't want to say he's able to really get low but he's able to win his blocks once Jaylen Mayfield climbs to the second level or once Jaylen Mayfield leaves a block and it's not always the smoothest transition so am I grasping at straws I don't think so because we've seen good tape from Evan Neil as a run blocker but this whole experiment of Evan Neil playing tackle it it needs to be perfect for it to work and what I mean by that is his footwork his angle discernment his hands his anchor all of those things need to be at like the 95th percentile for him not to be exploited by some of the better Edge rushers from wide angles and we've seen that all throughout his career I'm not willing to say that it's completely out of the picture because he's dealt with so many injuries and this was the first time he's played since his since he had his uh ankle surgically repaired but I'm starting to really favor the whole like hey maybe we should just try this guy at guard because I I just don't know if he's athletic enough and quick enough to to be a to be a tackle who's not a liability and I hate the fact that I'm saying that right now but that could be the case yeah it's very interesting after the game Nick and I had a chance to go back and watch all of his snaps as well and after the game he gave an assessment of his play that I actually felt was pretty accurate as to what actually happened he talked about how he felt really good about what he put in the Run game and I thought that was a good point he played well in the Run game All Things Considered though you know there were some run plays where he also ended up on the ground Nick and that's just something that has been in Evan Neil constant even dating back to Alabama too many times a little off balance on the ground even in the Run game pass game he felt like you know he had the one bad snap where he where he overset and that was it but I didn't over said he he didn't set far he said he yeah yeah he said after the game he's like yeah I just misjudged the set he probably needed to get wider yeah yeah not over set he misjudged the set but I felt like watching some of his other pass pass Pro plays they weren't that pretty besides that either like there were some moments where it's it's like there's an example you just put up a few plays ago maybe six plays ago where he didn't fully get beat but it was the similar to what you just said where like does he have what's necessary to win against those speed rushers are going to beat him up the arc and that's how they're going to beat him because that's how they've always beat him since he made it to the NFL if we see if we see more plays like this one where he's able to he's not perfect like getting up the arc and you have a softer Edge 458 to bend through but he's able to use his power and still maintain some sort of relationship spatial relationship with this Edge rusher to throw him up the pass rushing Arc like he does that's excellent there's three sacks in a row for Tommy DeVito and that was a second and here's a third and this one was probably I mean it's solely on really Josh is zudo but Evan Neil we watch him get bullied back and that's a part of his game that I don't fully understand why yeah his anchor is it's not like he's getting driven back like we've seen like we see with Josh audo right here but there are times where Evan Neil gets pumped like three steps back and that pocket gets really really tight to the point where a long armed Edge rusher can just come down and hit the quarterback and it's just I just don't fully understand how a 6 foot eight 3 you know 50 pound offensive lineman struggles so poorly with with his anchor when it comes to these wide rushers and him absorbing that contact it's something that he significantly struggles with to keep those hips low and to just kind of sink back on those hips and just absorb that that overall contact man yeah it's something that's also part of his game I don't really understand it either um you know you thought you were getting Orlando Brown Jr you thought you were getting Dean Jones in that regard you're not getting either of them you're getting a guy who doesn't have that anchor somehow um I don't know exactly what he offers at this point as for you as a tackle outside of like sometimes in those combo blocks in the Run game he can use his size and his power other than that right now Nick I don't like you know it's hard to really pinpoint what the upside is with him and what he's offering you just from an overall standpoint as a tackle so that's why you consider moving him to guard and I don't know if the Giants are going to do this at this stage to me this is something you should have done earlier in the offseason if you were going to do it at all but we're at the point here where he's GNA be a backup going into week one I think that's almost a guarantee at this point and they kind of have their backup swing tackle in their minds and Josh is zudo I guess which doesn't you know make us feel all that confident either but it's kind of leaves him in a weird spot Evan Neil no it doesn't not I mean I think I'd rather see Neil be the backup tackle than joshu by far so that lends Credence to the idea of just keeping him at tackle but if you want this seventh overall pick to be actualized as a starter then moving him to guard is is more favorable when you're projected to start a 34 yearold you just picked up as your starting guard more than likely so right there there's a lot to consider here and um I'm you know hopefully just trust the Giants and how they want to evaluate this but it's not a great situation but I also don't think this tape was terrible which is a good situation we're just looking for baby steps at this point all I want is baby steps that Evan Neil can prove that he can be an NFL player who is not a complete liability for your off I think we saw some baby steps there but that glaring critical vulnerability of Evan Neil manifested again in the game though it's tough to see you know at this stage if the baby steps are even what I understand where you're coming from but I don't know at this stage if that's enough you know because if you're doing if we're talking about baby steps in year three it's like let's say he doesn't play convert to guard and that's not part of the Giants plans I know we've discussed it as a possibility so we can kind of actualize his talent but if he doesn't and he's bench all year Nick and they they stay healthy at the two tackle spots we're gonna be entering year four and this guy had just taken a whole year off of playing football after being injured the first two years at that stage it's almost like it's it's a wrap um maybe at that point they can try in year four to convert him to guard and see what happens but you know you're you're talking about another wasted asset and it is very very difficult I made this point a couple days ago on Twitter it is very difficult to be a winning franchise when you're throwing out seventh overall picks it's no coincidence to me the Giants have been so bad over the last decade with four wasted first round pick Eric flowers Eli Apple DeAndre Baker and Gary Tony and I mean wasted wasted you got nothing out of any of those and you know people say oh don't bring up the you know don't bring up the ghelman stuff anymore he's been gone for three years well guess what one of those picks was 2021 one of them was 2019 those are this is the time where those guys are supposed to be helping your franchise they're supposed to be your core guys they're your only swings at those assets they're a few Blue Chip shots you get a year you can't just throw them out out so I don't know what else to do with Neil at this point um I kind of hope they do try to convert him to guard Nick just so just for the sake of trying to salvage something out of that I think I'm right there with you there's only one player on this roster that Joe Shane hasn't tinkered with his contract or resigned or brought him himself or drafted and that's a z o jalari yeah that's the only player isn't that nuts man turnovers quick man uh 2021 I think that happens more with the with the bad teams I think that's part of the reason since the Giants are as a franchise I think you know when you're like that you know you don't locate guys in the draft but to be fair Shane has done a poor job locating guys in the draft as well Josh audo is not looking good Cordell flat is not looking good Evan Neil is not looking good these are premium picks that he made that it's looking bad on all three let's hope some of these backend roster guys we're going to talk about later in the episode they can end up being capable players right and it would be like oh look Joe Shane identified this guy and undrafted the free agent he came in and look at him starting and he's good and they're talking about him in like six years he's still on the Giants that would be he's done a better job of that that's the that's the ironic thing or not ironic that's the that's the quirky thing that's like the ying-yang of it like he's found Jason pinck he's found M Cloud he's done some of his backend stuff really well but it's just the front end it's like the premium assets it's where he's been struggling a little bit as a general manager at least you know with those three players we mentioned and it's undeniable too it's just do you think that referendum on Shane is enough to force him to lose his job I'm not quite there yet you know what I'm saying well it's that combin it's the two big things it's that combined with look at what he's entering a season with from a quarterback room standpoint to go Jones De Vito and lock into a season it's it's tough It's a tough pill for a lot of fans to swallow here um you know and it is what it is they didn't want to prioritize Tyrod I think Tyrod also my guess is he didn't want to be here I know that wasn't really mentioned by anyone it wasn't shown on Hard Knocks but if you're a Tyrod Taylor and you're healthy and you're on the bench for Tommy DeVito a guy who we see in this preseason should not be starting over Tyrod Taylor it's a tough pill to swallow I know he was winning games but why would you and you were never given a fair shot to beat Jones it was never a competition you were never given a true competition to win qb1 despite quite honestly putting together better film than Jones last year um so for him I'm sure he wanted to get out of here but for the Giants they're left with lock Jones and DeVito heading into the year yeah and that's um look we'll talk a little bit more actually about the game before we get into the roster projections but uh look there wasn't really much from scheme takeaway other than I I feel like a lot of creative rushing Styles and a little bit of a chess match that you watched between Robert solz defense and Brian D with some of the rushing uh plays that were called but we saw that all throughout training camp and all throughout preseason we're going to see that in the regular season and we will break that down in depth in the regular season for the uh for for this preseason game uh we're not going to go too far in depth when it comes to a lot of these guys some of them who have already been released by the Giants which we'll get into also here in a little bit but I there is one more name or two more names or a few more names I want to mention mostly on the defensive side of the football KJ CL was everywhere in this game this is a guy the Giants picked up mid Camp he had 16 tackles in this game and I'm going to run some of his plays as well here in a little bit but the Giants need linebacker depth desperately right now Carter Coughlin just came back from the injury that he suffered Matt Adams is still out with his injury and then you have Bob o car Micah mcfaden who has been injured all throughout training camp and then Deontay Johnson who was still week to we with his lower body injury so I'm looking at this cloy guy I don't know if he'll make the final roster the Giants might try to you know sneak him through onto the practice squad but he had a really impressive game and I'm about to show you Clips once I can locate them yeah and it's interesting just because he plays that linebacker position and you didn't mention you didn't even mention deont Johnson who's also injured I did oh no I'm sorry I missed the Deontay Johnson but who's also injured there yeah exactly lower body injuries ah dude it's been it's been rough man it's just I don't know man I'm very concerned about this defense we talk a lot about the offense rightfully so the Giants offense has been you know pathetic basically for the last what like five or six years just couldn't really do anything not explosive but I look at this defense and there are some serious depth concerns and even if they are 100% healthy you can identify the strength the defensive line you have Bobby O car but then you're still like yo Deontay Banks please be like the player we think you are and then after that it's like we'll see like I I I I I believe in some of their skill sets no doubt damn but like this is the NFL you know like development if you want development to happen week to week that that's fine but if you're not at a certain Baseline and you're out there starting and you know you have miscommunications on the back this is a new defense that can really lead to some explosive plays against you and then resentment and then a bad environment on a team that frankly has not been good for the last several years other than 2022 when you went to the playoffs and exceeded expectations so man I'm I'm concerned about uh what we might see on defense but hope you're enjoying these KJ C plays yeah he looked great in this game against the the third string I mean look he's these are all guys fighting for the roster spot but this guy played great football and he's one of the only healthy guys left KJ cloy so maybe he does have an outside shot we'll see in a moment if either Nick or I predicting him for the final 53 or practice squad spot but something to consider had a great game I will say this about the defense I'm still leaning on the Hope Nick that when push comes to shove and we get to real football uh the regular season week one the dline will overwhelm I do have a strong feeling still in my head just watching some of those joint practices Burns was so good in the Run game in those joint practices and I think he's going to be really much better than people realize in the Run game Dexter Burns obviously Dexter Burns Kavon diido and then whatever they can move into that for the last spot in the rotation Chapman maybe whoever they get DJ Davidson regardless I feel like that front can help them kind of negate some of the issues on the back end but time will tell that's too much of an optimistic take Casey Rogers is another name the interior defensive lineman udfa out of Oregon who had a really good game plays like this one that you're watching at the moment where 76 he absorbs the combo 76 ends up Landing that long arm and then watch how he just tosses him right as the running back is running past him just like very adaptive plays where he can react very quickly to make stops or tackles for a loss we've seen that all throughout preseason he's probably not going to make the roster but another core practice squad is Casey Rogers in my opinion and I'll say this too about the Brian Burns point that you made Brian Burns is best as a run Defender when he is evading and running around offensive linemen who are trying to block him and that can work to some extent but that can also be exploited and that puts a burden on the other players who are playing behind Brian Burns the linebackers and the secondary pieces who are going to be containing around him if Brian Burns tries to shoot inside and the play is to the outside because you know Shane Bowen wants to attack he can just get pinned into that b Gap and now you're going to have that second contain that forc Defender because Brian Burns is going inside he's not the force Defender it's going to put a lot on him if he's coming from depth and I've seen Burns kind of I don't want to say like wield it like free will it himself on the line of scrimmage but he does try to avoid those blocks and he can take risks in doing so and that is something that I think creative offensive coordinators can exploit if he is not winning at the point of the attack which I think he is capable of doing like FNS is a he's I was looking at him at training camp like no Diddy he's like a big bigger dude than you think bro like his legs are are pretty freaking thick right so I'm hoping that he can stack and shed and be able to anchor down when he's tasked to but that wasn't really his game when he was playing in Phil Snow's defense over there in Carolina yeah we'll have to see maybe I am a little over optimistic about what this dline can do for the rest of the defense time will tell pass rushing I'm I'm fully on board with you there man like pass rushing I think Dex and burns that's such a cool combination what you can do with them is going to be so fun and then you add Kavon in we still need to see another of development from Kavon but this should only help him right and then aiz if you know aiz doesn't get traded which I I don't think he's going to but there's like a little whispers about that you have any anything on that I don't think that's gonna happen but people like oh how much would the Giants get forari if they sent him to this team so I think like the Cardinals just lost his brother and also um the guy they drafted in the first round out of Missouri I think a couple other teams have suffered some Edge injuries and because we've seen Shane be willing to go to the trade market to benefit not just the short term but also the long term of his friend when it makes sense yeah for sure we haven't seen him too do too many of those trades though like the veteran 4 draft pick um I don't see any value I've seen uh Giants fans discuss trading oari or Neil I see no point or no value in it you're going to get a fifth sixth seventh round pick out of that at best why not keep these guys who are team control uh Team control cheap under their contract it look they haven't been great but I definitely not dumping Evan Neil for a fifth or sixth or seventh round pick right now no neither am I and neither am I with oel either unless it was like they don't have enough for this type of stuff like it's just like they're not in a position right now for any of this there were a couple Edge rushers that caught my eye but I mean I feel so much more comfortable obviously with the Z but like players like Benton Whitley had a really good training camp in preseason tone Fox had a really good third preseason game didn't really see him much in the uh previous two a little bit but um the third preseason game he he was all over the place he caused a sack that he didn't get credit for as well so um those are names but like you look at his Seas l completely different type of cat than those two right right they need to keep him for depth they need to keep him from injury purposes and for rotational purposes anything else uh that you wanted to discuss from this last preseason game no man I'm just so excited for the regular season like Dan we we're gonna have we have so many things planned it's gonna be great going through the film going through the tape breaking down the X's and O's and hope real football with Brian dable as the play caller in his system and uh him having this Playbook completely opened up for quarterback who's been in the system now this is his third season with an actual Superstar possibly at wide receiver so I'm excited for it but I'm I'm just hoping the Giants figure it out defensively and their offensive line protects Daniel Jones and Daniel Jones isn't fall flat on his face and Malik neighbors is good as we think and there's a lot of um you know hopes there but there are a lot ofes the fourth one being something I'm not concerned with at all though that's that's the last one I'm concerned with like of all the hopes neighbors is that dude I think he is may not again receiver it's not just on him he has he needs the other parts that could be you know complacent or I'm sorry competent but we'll see what happens there um obviously those are the interesting factors but yeah it's exciting just to get back to real football I just want to watch tape and see what they look like on real tape like there's you can go by some of the preseason reps but like there's no scheme and you can tell some of these guys like and I saw people like oh my God is Keenan Allen shot my take is that Keenan Allen just not running these preseason routes at 100% like why the F would you if you're 30s something years old I would never run a preseason route at 100% there's nothing to gain from that at all you could easily get hurt so I think some of the Giants players you know we haven't seen their best yet and we'll see it in the regular season it's gonna be interesting Minnesota is a beatable game win week one game they can get out to one and0 they can get out to two and0 realistically I they need to get out to two and 0 realistically to have any shot this year looking at the schedule because it gets rough after the first two weeks it definitely does now just some notes on on the projection that Dan and I are about to go over there's been new rules in the NFL uh in the past the when you cut a player and you wanted to designate them for the IR you had to give them a roster spot right they would make the roster and then you would cut a player and then you would have to put them on the IR in the following day or two and then you'd have to go and hope that nobody else picked up the player that you just cut we've seen that a lot well this year you're allowed to put two players on the injured reserve and save two roster spots but the only um caveat to that is the two players that you end up putting on injured reserve they count towards the eight total injured reserve spots that you have well eight total if you activate them obviously and you're planning more than likely to activate a lot of these players if you're going to place them on injured reserve so there have been a little bit of changes and there's going to be like I feel like projecting the roster Dan is a little difficult because now with the practice Squad you can put like 30-year-old Allan Robinson on the practice squad whereas like four or five years ago you couldn't do that right so did I explain that well enough when it came to um how it's different how it's slightly different this season that we're not going to see oh wow they cut you know Isaiah McKenzie I thought they really liked him and then they pick him up like the next day like they bucks did with Logan Ryan a couple years ago there's a lot of teams that do that we're not going to see as much of that more than likely because you can just designate somebody for the IR right off the bat you don't either do all of that uh hoopla right yeah I guess the NFL found a way to just get rid of all that nonsense but it is interesting that you can put like the Allen Robinson Types on the practice squad as well so we to see if you know what they do with that for that yeah it's an interesting little Quirk the NFL has added Nick I don't know if the Giants have any players who are going to fit the billing completely you know as good enough to use one of those eight spots on and at the same time it makes the roster projection very difficult because these injured players you don't know EX exactly if you want to put them on your final 53 all right Nick so let's go position by position on this 53 man Rost prediction see what we can get to um so let's start with the quarterback position how many you got and who you got oh man so this is where it gets really tough I want to keep two and Tommy DeVito hasn't done anything in preseason to make me say oh yeah the Giants can't slip him through the practice squad but when you go through the available quarterbacks on the market there's really only one name out there that is like oh that's kind of respectable and that's Ryan tanah Hill right so I'm looking like you know you got Daniel Jones you have drew lock kind of hurt right now with the hip and Brian dable has a very complex system where he was able to take a udfa and win three games with him last season in Tommy DeVito and part of me thinks they're they're because of the those injuries they're going to keep three so I actually have them keeping three although um I I don't love it yeah and remember this is we're doing here is a prediction of what we think will happen not what we will do but we will go over what we will do on each step of the way too so I am actually gonna so I'll go over both so what I would do is I would keep two quarterbacks I see minimal to no interest in Tommy DeVito longterm I hate to say it nice kid great story um I think his limitations have been very obvious in the preseason I think part of the reason he found success last year is nobody had any tape on him now people have tape on him and I think it's going to be a really bad route Awakening if he has to play again at any point point and I just don't see any point of him long term so to me that's just a waste of a roster spot uh and I I don't think anyone's claiming him off the practice squad personally I know there's bad depth across the NFL but again to claim him you have to put him on your 53 roster you can't just add him to your practice squad so there's a lot of protection over that because it's just is anyone G to put Tommy DeVito on their 53 man at this stage he doesn't know the system at all like that's like they're burning a roster spot um unless they really see some kind of long-term upside there so to me makes a bunch of sense by the way what everything you're saying right now like I completely agree with I just um I think the injuries are more of the reason why and that's a great point I was just going to say to me the reason I'm gonna go with they'll they'll take they'll keep three and I just changed my mind basically on the spot because of that is because of Lock's injury like you just can't afford to go into a year with lock not being per perfectly ready and then what happens if Jones who's been injured almost every year of his career gets hurt you're like ah we're back to the FR days of like claiming from off the somebody's practice squad the bill and being like from you got one week of two to get ready here we go but that's not the case the Vito knows the system and so last second I am actually G to go with three lock DeVito and Jones here before we get into the running backs we should go through real quick just who was cut already it happened on Sunday night Matt Nelson was cut the offensive tackle Kyler ball defensive lineman cornerback Bon borders safety Clayton Isbell wide receiver John Giles running back Joshua Kell linebacker Trey Kaiser running back Lorenzo lingard wide receiver AA Sant and then offensive lineman Marcus mckian now the only name that really jumps out there would be mckian and I'm not expecting any more cuts to really be announced until Tuesday that's um probably what's going to happen Tuesday morning when a lot of those guys end up reporting back to the facility but those were the first round of cuts fifth round pick from 2022 already off the roster will likely land on the practice Squad along with some of those other players like Assante and maybe Giles and players like that yeah and we'll see what happens there as far as practice goes I love a great deal as much as the next guy but I'm not going to enter a parallel universe or go through some elaborate Labyrinth just to save a few bucks it has to be easy no hoops no BS so when mintmobile said it was easy to get wireless for $15 a month with the purchase of a 3-month plan I called them on it turns out it really is that easy to get Wireless for 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month of August um a lot of debates about what would happen things have changed preseason kind of shaped things up where you at now with running backs I got three Dan and it sucks because I love my guy Dante Miller but I think it's going to be well three depending on where you consider joob Johnson all right so Devin single ter he's gonna be the starter Tyron Tracy think he'll play a lot he's one of those players where it's like oh he's kind of injured but I think it's not nearly as severe as we originally anticipated then Eric gray is gonna get a roster spot so that leaves Dante Miller and then Lorenzo lingard and Joshua Kelly were already cut I think the Giants will try to put Dante Miller on their practice squad this is the one player though that I left off of my final 53 where I'm like I could see the Giants still trying to slip him in there maybe at the expense of a quarterback if if they think Tommy DeVito is not going to get claimed this is where it gets really interesting because Brian dble and the Giants they and Joe Shane they understand how a lot of the rest of the league thinks right and what the rest of the league may need so they might have a better opinion or a better more knowledge more understanding more comprehensive understanding on what those other teams may do which could influence what they do with their own roster if they think like oh man I know these guys love Dante Miller I I just put him on the 53 he's not getting through I think that might also apply to players like Jake kubis or some of these other backend udfa type of players that the Giants like so that's a that's a little tidbit there but I have I have three um four if you want to include yakob Johnson I have him as a tight end though right now yeah I'd like that take by you I like both those takes the first one that again Serling back deito I do think will make the roster based on what you said the injury the injury situation with lock and kind of just how many times Jones has been injured you kind of need someone who knows the system in that in there and then with Miller it's like and guys like that we'll get to more it's like do you know does the league kind of not know them as much like d Vito was a star I guess you can call it in the League last year at least somebody who the league knows about right after the with what he did winning those three games that might not be the case for Miller I'm going to go with the same group that you went with I had yakob in this just because I put a fullback there but that's the big one for me the rest are obviously locks I feel like at least Tyron Tracy got got that scare earlier in Camp thank God it would turned out to be nothing crazy and I think he'll be ready for a big roll right away in week one that's something I'm really excited about if you're talking about things that I'm excited about this year it's watching Tyrone Tracy play football for the New York Giants and get actual touches because I think he's that explosive in has that much upside with the ball in his hands Eric gray obviously proved himself this preseason and then yakob Johnson I think is the interesting one I think you could go both ways I just feel like they are going to find Value in having him on the roster not just from the fact that he can play those snaps at fullback but also on special teams and I think this is the type of team Nick that will do better when they run under Center play action they don't want to say heavier personnel with a fullback on the field but I do in the sense of like selling run to open up your pass um and to get more defined one-on-one options for Malik neighbors and Hyatt and Slayton so I think he has value all right tight end is interesting because I don't know how healthy Lawrence cjo is and I I agree with you that the Giants might not burn one of those IR spots on any guys but Lawrence CAG is the one player where I'm like I just don't know because I think the term that was used was he's gonna be out for an extended period of time and that was around like a week ago like August 20th August 19th I don't know how long an extended period of time is I saw Lawrence cager in the locker room I I believe it was Lawrence cager he looked like he was moving around fine but that's not cutting on the field and we remember that he came back after the initial groin injury and got hurt that practice on the interception in The End Zone by Tyler nubin so I think I'm gonna put kager in that IR spot I think I'm just going to do that because I did I did not exactly know how the Giants are going to handle this situation so that leaves me with Daniel Bellinger Theo Johnson and Chris manherz with Jack stall on the out so that's where I'm at with the tight end so that would be four I guess tight ends or three tight ends really depends on how you consider yakob Johnson and then Lawrence cager on the IR with Jack stole being released yeah I guess with the yakob thing we don't know it's fine though you're considering pen I'm it's the same idea I don't have anything different there either I the only one that I was considering was cager but I think with the injury he'll he'll miss it look Theo is going to play a bigger role than we originally projected I think in year one at least Nick I think there's an opportunity for him to play more snaps and Bellinger this year if things break a certain way um he's had a lot of first team reps throughout the entirety of Camp including the despite the fact that he started slow uh manherz has proven himself as well I think all three of these guys are going to play a lot of football this year all three of the tight ends which is awesome and they may not be all on the field at once and 12 personel but just mixing and matching them in different 11 personnel looks it's nice to have um they have so much more depth I feel at least than they had last year at this position obviously they weren't projecting Waller to be hurt but he was hurt and it kind of screwed up their whole plans um so I feel more more comfortable here at this position than I have we could start talking about that too like where we feel versus last year I definitely feel more comfortable this year at tight end I do too which is funny because you wouldn't imagine losing a star like Darren wallow would would lead to us feeling more comfortable about it but it really just comes down to depth and variety the Giants have depth and variety last year they had Daniel Bellinger behind Darren Waller and Lawrence cager and there were really was no depth or no variety there other than the top two guys and we know Waller dealt with his injury Bellinger had a little bit of a Nick there too so I do feel better about the tight end position I don't feel better about the running back position I don't feel better about the quarterback position I'd agree on both not better about running back not better about quarterback all right wide receiver I'm going to go with my be picks here and this was the toughest one I think to figure out especially because there's injuries too like Gunner alski is hurt that's interesting they also have like the Allen Robinson situations so I'm going to go with the easy ones first okay the Big Four Neighbors Slayton Hyatt wandell and there's been discussion about oh should they trade Slayton can they trade Slayton no they cannot trade Slayton Slayton not only is going to be a big part of the offense and within the rotation but you can't when you only have four deep at wide receiver of guys that can play the position I I mean I would argue five or six if you if you count alen Robinson and Hodgins but some people aren't as high on them um but I think they could play at the NFL level if they needed to be but you can't afford to cut or trade a guy like Slayton in my opinion at all so I don't even think that's a possibility those four I'm gonna actually go with well boyin I think is the lock as the fifth just because of what he offers on special teams I my 53 is going to include Isaiah Hodgins because I think that Hodgins uh you need a fifth guy who you can trust to get on the field due to injuries the position it's a very injury-prone position and he's proven when given the opportunity he can block he can you can use him as a blocker and feel comfortable as a two-way player in the run or pass game not tipping off your play and he can make plays in the passing game he's not great but he can make plays in the pass game he's not fast um I went with Gunner but I know Gunner's hurt is that probably something that would be one of those situ we were discussing what do you think on that like Gunner was my seventh I don't think they're going to use an IR spot on Gunner the only reason why I suggested that with kager is because it does seem like the Giants really love Lawrence cager um but that might not even have they might just you know see if they could just slip in through waivers No One's Gonna claim a hurt guy kind of thing right right but then he's on his practice squad which leads to somebody can claim him there so it gets tricky but with Gunner I I actually have Isaiah McKenzie making it over okay him you have seven no I have six so hodin or no boyin no hodgin okay yeah so mine are neighbors Slayton Hyatt McKenzie Wale Robinson and Miles boinkin okay yeah and honestly I don't love the whole Isaiah McKenzie as a punt returner like that's his role that's what he does but like I just feel like every time I watch him back there I just get a little uncomfortable because I've seen him muff it and like Drop It whereas Gunner I I I think he had a reputation of doing that maybe in the past I've never really seen him drop I think I've seen him drop one or two punts throughout all of training camp Gunner alvy but he's dealing with some sort of injury at the moment and that could affect if he makes this roster or not so Dan yeah I'm going with McKenzie let's move on though to the offensive line how many offensive lineman you had buddy this is an interesting one it was very difficult uh to figure these out I think given the situation with where they're at on the offensive line I'm they're going to keep one more than they typically have I went with nine guys Nick I went with the big five Thomas alumor um Neil as the tackle Thomas lumor Neil audo four tackles R and JMS that's six van Ren seven stinny and schlotman so those are my nine I went with on the offensive line yeah I was going back and forth man I'm like so I have nine as well but it comes down to schlotman or Jake kubis yes and I really like Jake kubis and this just comes down to how risky do the Giants want to get with trying to slide him through waivers there's that but there's also do you want to not have a true backup center behind uh behind jmss when jmss is dealing with his injury and that's what Austin schlotman is and Austin schlotman has received a lot of first team reps he's received third team reps so it's kind of hard to really discern where he where he is standing with this coaching staff ultimately though I think the Giants will go with I think I'm gonna go with schlotman and they're gonna try to get tricky and get kubis on yeah but that's a risk and I like Jake kubis a lot I talked with him after the game you know Ed was asking him questions about hey like how do you what are you going to do in these next coming days like hey man I can control what I can control I'm that kind of guy you know and uh I think he actually has some pretty damn good tape so I'm hoping that he makes a team I think the Giants might look at their Center situation with John Michael Schmitz and be like right if we do not bring schlotman along that means Greg van Ren is going to be playing Center and then Aron stiny will slide in which isn't a terrible situation but you're just moving parts and pieces around and it's you're not going to form a a completely uh cohesive unit right so that's where I think I am as well yeah and that's what it came down to for me Nick in the end ultimately we got reports back from the game and it was clean for Neil it was clean for JMS nothing crazy there from the injuries they sustained in game but jmss has had an injured shoulder that he missed time with earlier this year he had an injured shoulder last year a lot of injuries have piled up with him over the last two years so to just have that safety and someone else who can do it look maybe they feel comfortable with v ruin do it maybe they don't because he hasn't played much and he did it a little bit in Camp early but that's not necessarily something you can feel totally comfortable with and then in addition to that like you said you're Shifting the line you're reshuffling it and you're getting to a point where now the continuity is broken as well versus if you just put someone in like schlotman and you keep the rest the same you might have a better chance of keeping continuity across the board or at least a better version of continuity so I think that's going to play a role and I think they have a little bit of flexibility with the situation at receiver maybe keeping a guy less if they go six or seven and just the fact that you know at at at least for me if they go quarterback they can keep it at two but you know the the Vito thing makes it a little more tricky because I did add him back at the end so maybe you know looking back on this I would take one receiver away and add a no line or you know and keep this old line or take one of these guys left but I think it came down to me and those tough decisions I would keep schlotman just so I have that safety at Center I like it man I do what killed us last year it was that we didn't have the o line depth and we got down to a point where we were starting like ridiculous guys on the offensive line yeah one of them was just released on the first round of cuts right it's like it's just like that's the like what's more if you're the Giants you're like making these tough calls okay do I want another special teamer on on at wide receiver do I want deito or do I want to have some some kind of con you know some safety valve at the offensive line to me it's that if it was up to me if it was up to me though just based off skill set upside like I want KUB to make it you know I like I like J kubis and I want him to make it I think that could just be some just roster trying to manipulate rosters and banking on somebody not taking them defense though Dan defensive line so I think this Dexter Lawrence guy is gonna make the team probably probably rakee Nunes roaches Jordan Riley Elijah Chapman and DJ Davidson so I have five with Riley and Davidson both making it yeah those are my same five as me this one feels pretty cut and dry I guess you could argue the only one who might be on the bubble would be a Riley but I highly doubt it given what we've seen so far uh this this whole yeah this whole summer so it just feels like those five are very locked in I guess earlier you could make the case like earlier in August or July some make make the case oh Chapman's probably a bubble guy but I think it's pretty clear after what we saw in the third preseason game he ain't a bubble guy he's locked in N he's locked in Ryder Anderson would have made the team but he is injured as well a lot a lot of players who were on the fringes are dealing with injuries ryers I think is a little bit more serious than a player like Deontay Johnson so let's transition a little bit to the linebacker position look man I have like six linebackers and I don't love that but it's mostly because Isaiah Simmons isn't really a linebacker and Carter Coughlin is a special teams player and Carter Coughlin would be my first player out and we could talk about that maybe in a little bit but I have Bobby O car Micah mcfaden Isaiah Simmons Darius muasau Deontay Johnson I did put in there and then Carter Coughlin I think a player like Matt Adams though once he gets healthy the Giants will try to probably put him on the practice squ I don't know how serious the lower body injury is I believe it's a lower body injury they'll try to sneak him probably back on that could come at the expense of a player like Carter coffin or the Giants could just claim somebody else I don't think they claimed anybody last year off of waivers at this time of the year the previous season I want to say they claimed like four I think it was Nick McLoud Jason pinck Jack Anderson and there might have been another player that they claimed as well but last year they didn't and I could see them doing it again this season and I think that would come at the expense of Carter Coughlin who missed a lot of training camps so he's the one that I have here that I'm like eh not sure but he's there right now I think he's even more of a lock when I look at this linebacker I have the same group which I'm surprised I thought this was one we might have a difference in so I thought I might have been taking a little bit of Liberty putting deont Johnson on my list because I did put him on there just given the injury situation but then I looked at I was like Matt Adams the guy who was between is also injured right now so it's kind of just a tricky spot from an injury standpoint right now with the Giants linebacker based on that I think coflin has a good chance to make the roster they need healthy bodies here right now you even mentioned mcfaden is dealing with things it could be like I'm looking at this inside linebacker group and we'll get to Edge in a minute as a little bit scary heading into week one Nick um just because of these injuries that's the real reason they've been very unlucky with injuries I would have felt pretty good if mcfaden and Deontay Johnson were healthy heading into week one we don't really know their stat either of those status but I'm going to go right now with they're banking on the upside Deontay Johnson and they're going to keep him on that week one roster I think MC will be fine for week one U I don't I don't think I've heard anything that suggests that he wouldn't it's just he's had a a slow ramp up through training camp and hasn't really been fully healthy but let's go to Edge I got five Dan Kavon Tibido Brian Burns Benton Whitley Boogie Basham and aizo jalari so I did put Whitley I think he just had played well throughout preseason I think he is explosive I think he can bend a little bit and I think he has a good rip move and that's what the Giants want for these wide rushers that's why you go out and you get a superstar potential superstar in a Brian Burns Whitley is obviously not Brian Burns but can he you know stress an offensive tackles angle and bend around the edge yeah and I think we've seen that through preseason now can he do that against first teamers I don't know but you know what I think he's shown enough to make the initial 53 and be one of the backend players on the roster Wiley has definitely shown enough to make the initial 53 he's performed in that way he didn't make my initial group just because I had the tough decision with keeping that extra offensive lineman or not I went with the offensive lineman there and I also then took you know had to add take a spot back because I added the veto back of the Rost I thought you made a very good case for why deito just needs to be on and given the lock injury situation so I had to cut here and I and I took it out there it was really Boogie you know horrible first season with the Giants we being honest on tape has looked pretty much better this year not not you know we don't think he's going to be a world beater all of a sudden but feel like he's in Better football shape he's in better shape for maybe the position they want him to play Within this scheme and could help him be a productive player I think he's proven enough that he gets that last roster spot over Whitley for me it's because there's a Crunch at the end for me with with the offens of line keeping so many with nine I feel you man so Edge I feel better this year obviously because of Brian Burns linebacker I I think I feel better this year because I'm higher on Mikel mcfaden and the Giants added some depth and retained Isaiah Simmons defensive line I feel worse because there is no Leonard Williams and then we didn't do offensive line and we forgot to do that so the offensive line I feel obviously much better than I did last year heading into the season yeah we didn't do receivers too but I think o line and receivers we both feel much much better about dline I feel worse I agree with on that edge I feel better obviously with Burns linebacker I don't feel better about though just because a McFadden's hurt going into the year and B I just don't still don't know if I trust his fit in this system personally but I will say this if they could get Deontay Johnson healthy and mallic those guys have added depth that I'm intrigued by I don't want to say they make me feel better but I'm at least intrigued by what they can offer in the system so I'll say even on that one for me it' be cool to see KJ KY just be the surprise guy this team after that preseason he was added like two weeks ago highly doubt it but you know anything can happen he did play freaking well and he looked explosive out there very explosive go check out the tweets about KJ Cloyd let's move on Dan to the cornerback spot so I have six corners right now Banks McLoud flott Andrew Phillips Hawkins and then Trey hearnen I also have because he didn't even play in the third preseason game which is a Telltale sign he's more than likely going to make this team yeah we have the same group here the the the five that are locks are the he the five you mentioned the four first four you mentioned obviously Banks flat or Banks Phillips and McLoud to me are the three and then flat you know obviously it hasn't been a great camp for him and has summer but I think he's close to a lot a lock as a roster spot it's four hearnden not dressing that gave it away so then it comes down to that six spot I think they're going to keep six it's just a matter of if it's Trey Hawkins and I think ultimately looking at the rest of the players who he's competing against Hawkins is the guy that's going to get this spot he had he's had two years now with the Giants regular season last year thrown right into the fire it wasn't great obviously but again throw right into the fire it's always been about his development as a developmental late round sixth round pick so I feel comfortable giving him that final spot as well yeah and Hawkins didn't uh even play in the third preseason another good sign yeah yeah so then we have safety oh yeah and I um I feel worse about the quarterback room without adori being here safeties look it was tough for for the safeties obviously nuben pinck and belon are locks and there's that fourth spot and I like javarus Owens and I think javarus ens is a good special teamer but jarus Owens hasn't seen the field since like August 12th with the knee injury true and Alex Johnson's had a good camp and Alex Johnson played like 68 freaking snaps I think in the preseason week three which tends to be like a man you're probably not making this team but if there's anybody was out there playing a lot of snaps that I think could have earned a roster spot mostly because everybody else is injured or ineffective it was Alex Johnson so I'm I think I'm gonna go with Alex Johnson but really there's a lot of conjecture here because if javarius Owens knee is fine then I I would put javarius Owens there I just don't really know the extent of his injury but for this for the for this exercise let's go with Alex Johnson as a surprise it makes it tough because we don't know like the injuries with the extent with him Deonte Gunner like all these players that ultimately like we won't be surprised if they don't make the roster because we just find out oh guess what you you had no in injury information we did and these guys are way more hurt than you realize so I went with Owens in hopes that he had shown enough earlier in Camp that they and the injury isn't serious enough they feel comfortable with him for week one but if you're right if they don't feel comfortable with him for week one he's not making the roster you know if he's that far away from playing so this one's tricky obviously the first three are locks and we don't even like nuben pinck and Belton have earned their roster spots that are going to play a lot of snaps for the Giants and I'll be honest like we talked about where we're at obviously I'm not as like I'm not I don't feel as comfortable without Xavier McKinny but I'll say this Nick I like the fit for nuben and belon in this system a lot more than I like the fit for nuben and belon in wink marale system for that reason alone I don't feel that uncomfortable I don't feel that much worse about where they're at at safety yeah when I was talking to Belton after one of the practice I said I think I said this on the podcast that he's in a I think of him as an elite defensive guard in basketball like a Tony Allen right like a pat Beverly just somebody who has excellent eyes and and who anticipates very well and that plays right in to the Palms the quarters those types of systems that we're going to see those types of play styles that we're going to see with Shane bone and I think nuben is that same exact way I mean nuben ran a very similar system at Minnesota and I think pinck is just a phenomenal athlete who can go out there I think the safeties could be okay if they they take the necessary developmental steps but if there's some regression there that that could be a problem and also if the Giants are relying heavily on these safeties in run support like Dane Belton not the best with that I think pinck will be fine but a little bit wild into the tackle point and I think nuben will also be fine but uh overall I do feel worse without having xman here and I'll say one thing about that Nick I think because they're going to have to play a lot of saf or they're going to want to play a lot of safties this year it's what led me to my decision to put Owens in because Owens before the injury proved in my mind at least that he's on the level of what's you might want to see and might need to see on a football field in September August September October November not just the preseason time like he could potentially play with NFL players at that speed and they're gonna they might need a for safety at some point if injuries hit because they're going to play a lot of safeties especially given what's going on at corner and then Graham GNA Jamie Gillan Casey krider round out the Special Teams and uh yeah and that's it and I think practice squad guys look like I think it's a lot of the guys that were on the fringes Dante Miller Jack stole definitely a kubis if he doesn't make the team they're going to really desperately try to get him on there I'd imagine aanti Bryce Ford weaton KJ Cloud um Timone Fox players like that Alex Johnson if he doesn't make the team or had guys from other teams as well for that yes absolutely yeah so it's gonna be interesting I mean I look Joe Shane's been pretty active as a GM around this time of year so I think it's possible that some guys that aren't on the roster right now will be on the roster come you know week one and week two even but we we'll have to see what happens there but that's our 53 man and the position group that the position groups that I think the Giants are really going to Target one in particular is quarterback but I think safy too if jaar sens can't get back healthy and not sold on Alex Johnson but quarterback look dude they've signed how many corners Brion borders Christian Holmes goodr they've tried so once Final Cuts come there's going to be a player or two possibly that's going to get released so the Giants are going to pounce on again they didn't do it last year but they did it the previous year and they've shown all throughout training camp that any time a quarterback that they somewhat liked was released or waved they pounced on him and they brought him in to try him out now 53 is a big difference from a 90 man roster but I can see them going after a player um on whatever team is rich in quarterbacks if there is a team that's rich in cornerbacks yeah we'll see what happens there all right thanks again to everybody tuning in to big boo bander podcast keep it locked and loaded this week we're gonna have more content coming previewing the season things like bulll predictions uh our season prediction I know people love that we were good on it two years ago we were bad on last year a win loss prediction let's see if we can get it right this year Nick um and everything else so just keep it locked and loaded then we get into the fun stuff the games week one film reviews quick initial reaction to week one I'm excited I hope the Giants can win that first game Nick and we have to see Sam darnold is a quarterback they should be able to get to I hope I'd say so and as I've made this joke so many times Dan let's hope Met Life is haunted again yeah exactly hope be seeing ghosts again and Brian Burns Dexter Lawrence those are his ghosts all right have a great w rest of your week we'll talk to you very soon uh thanks again and go Giants