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NFC East Preview: Are The New York Giants Ready To Be Competitive? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hello, Welcome back to Inside the Birds NFC East preview show.
• 0:13
  I'm Jeff Mosher with Adam Kaplanan. Of course, we are
• 0:15
  previewing the NFC East as we do every summer, and
• 0:19
  we bring in the godfather of tape breakdown, Greg Cosell.
• 0:22
  We have already started this series. We have previewed the
• 0:25
  Dallas Cowboys and we are on to the New York
• 0:28
  Football Giants, a team that has not been very good. Yes,
• 0:32
  we know they made the playoffs a couple of years ago,
• 0:33
  but in general they have really struggled to put together
• 0:37
  some consistency and be what they were back in the nineties.
• 0:42
  So Greg, we're gonna go through the Giants. They finished
• 0:44
  three and fourteen last year, and that's not good, is it.
• 0:49
  No last I checked, that's a lot of losses, not
• 0:51
  very many wins, and they still didn't get a quarterback
• 0:54
  in the top five, although they did draft a first
• 0:56
  round quarterback that we will speak of. So let's get
• 1:00
  into the Giants. We'll talk about them offensively. They are
• 1:04
  very interesting I think for people because not only did
• 1:06
  they sign Jamis Winston, who we thought would be the
• 1:09
  bridge quarterback, but then they went and got Russell Wilson,
• 1:12
  and then drafted Jackson Dart. So when you put these
• 1:15
  three together, what comes to mind here for the New
• 1:18
  York Giants.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: You know, it's funny it appears it appears that Wilson
• 1:28
  will be the starter. I know, there's still a whole
• 1:30
  training camp, so I you know, maybe I'm talking out
• 1:32
  of my rear end. You know, I can't get Jameis
• 1:35
  Winston out of my head because you know, the last
• 1:37
  time I know Winston played in Cleveland a little bit
• 1:40
  in the end, he was very up and down, and
• 1:42
  you know there was nothing about that that said, oh,
• 1:44
  Jameis is really good. But I just remember the last
• 1:48
  time he was a true starter. I mean that was
• 1:50
  with the New Orleans Saints and that's when he tore
• 1:53
  up his knee and he was playing at a really
• 1:55
  high level. And I've always thought, and I know people
• 1:59
  point to the interceptions and maybe that's somebody that's who
• 2:02
  he is, that'll always throw a couple, you know, or
• 2:05
  more than a couple where you just scratch your head.
• 2:07
  But you know, I always thought Tamis Winston could play
• 2:10
  quarterback in this league and at a reasonably high level.
• 2:13
  But we'll see how it plays out. You know, if
• 2:16
  you if Russell Wilson is your starting quarterback, you have
• 2:19
  a certain kind of offense because he's a limited player,
• 2:22
  and now your run game has to be a big factor.
• 2:27
  You know, obviously they have Tyrone Tracy, but they also
• 2:30
  drafted the kid from from Arizona. Who's who's fascinating Damn
• 2:35
  Scatterbow who you.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: Know, Arizona State?
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: Correct, Arizona State? Excuse him? Correct? Yeah? And you know,
• 2:44
  the more I watch this kid, the more I liked him.
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  And I remember in my notes. I'm not going to
• 2:49
  sit here and read my notes, but I remember my
• 2:51
  notes saying that, you know, this whole thing about feature backs,
• 2:55
  guys that carry the ball a lot, you sort of
• 2:58
  have to change your opinion little bit. I mean, you
• 3:01
  know we've mentioned this one hundred times. Kyron Williams is
• 3:04
  probably going to get a contract. You know, was a
• 3:06
  fifth round pick at a Notre Dame. Okay, and look
• 3:09
  what he's done. He carried three hundred and sixteen times
• 3:11
  last year and didn't play in the final game. Now,
• 3:14
  I'm not saying Scatabo is carrying three hundred times, but
• 3:17
  I think Scatabo has the the physicality the toughness to
• 3:23
  be a sort of feature type back, and he gives
• 3:27
  you he's an attitude back and he's a really good receiver.
• 3:31
  So it would, and they still have Singletary. It's going
• 3:34
  to be very interesting to see how this plays out
• 3:37
  with Tracy Singletary and Scatabo. And they need a run game.
• 3:42
  Russell Wilson as your starting quarterback, you need a meaningful
• 3:46
  run game. You know, if you want to use the
• 3:48
  word balance and put it on a spectrum like if
• 3:51
  right in the middle, your run game has to be
• 3:54
  a little higher with Russell Wilson the quarterback as opposed
• 3:57
  to a little lower.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: I would, Yeah, what's your sense on when it becomes
• 4:02
  Russell Wilson or Whinstate?
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  Speaker 3: And I want to get jet I want to get
• 4:06
  Gregor and Jackson Dart in a minute. But I'll tell
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  you that the marriage between the head coach who's going
• 4:11
  to call the plays, uh, Brian Daball and Wilson because
• 4:16
  Dave Ball's got a short fuse. Wilson his careers have
• 4:20
  been about big play and hold on with the ball,
• 4:22
  trying to be superman. I know he's older. You question
• 4:24
  how well he moves with this offensive line and their issues. Man,
• 4:28
  this is this could be fascinating. So Jeu Regor send
• 4:31
  it to you. You've got Jackson Dart. What does his
• 4:35
  tape look like? And what do you think of him
• 4:37
  with da balls offense.
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  Speaker 2: I kept going back and forth on Jackson Dart when
• 4:41
  I watched his tape and I watched him last summer,
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  and of course I watched him in great detail this
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  year because as I started watching, in my sense he
• 4:46
  could be polarizing and it is somewhere he was to me.
• 4:51
  Dart's an interesting player. The mobility is a factor. You've
• 4:54
  got to that. You do have to factor the anti
• 4:56
  the equation. You know, everybody always says, well, he's not special. Well,
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  I don't know what they mean when they say that.
• 5:00
  There's only one Lamar Jackson. There's only one Josh Allen
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  who's six five two forty. You know, there's only one
• 5:06
  Mahomes with his sense of spatial awareness. So you can't
• 5:09
  just start saying, well, you know, it's not special. He's
• 5:12
  gonna run for first downs. I mean he may not,
• 5:15
  you know, be the fastest guy on the field, but
• 5:17
  that's a part of his game that's meaningful. I think
• 5:20
  he's a good thrower. I don't think he's a great thrower.
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  I thought that at times his deeper throws lost a
• 5:25
  little energy on the back end. Sometimes he works hard
• 5:28
  to throw the ball. I think he needs it in
• 5:32
  some ways. He needs what Russell Wilson needs. He needs
• 5:35
  a complete offense. You know. Now, he's supposed to be
• 5:39
  from everybody I've talked to, an unbelievable kid, the kind
• 5:42
  of kid that people gravitate toward. We'll see how it
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  plays out. Look, they made they drafted him to be
• 5:48
  their quarterback, maybe not game one this year, but to
• 5:51
  be their quarterback. So it's just a matter of time,
• 5:55
  you know, and if we'll get to their defense, which
• 5:58
  by the way, has a chance to be very very good,
• 6:00
  So let's we'll get to that. But offensively, I think
• 6:04
  this season early on will be a meaningful work in progress.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: So it always with the Giants for the last few years,
• 6:11
  has been a discussion about the offensive line. It's hurt
• 6:14
  the quarterback, it's hurt their passing game, it's hurt the
• 6:16
  running game. But interestingly, here's what I think is interesting.
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  They didn't really make too many changes to it. And
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  people are gonna say, well, then they're still gonna stink.
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  But there was a time period last year, Greg, I
• 6:28
  think we were talking with you about this where when
• 6:31
  Andrew Thomas was healthy. Yes, their offensive line was actually
• 6:35
  playing decently. Wasn't the seal that had been two years ago?
• 6:38
  And you look, assuming Thomas comes back healthy, Runyon still
• 6:42
  at left guard, John Michael Schmithton center, Greg Van Roten
• 6:45
  Adam's favorite right guard there and remain illumina or right tackle.
• 6:48
  That's still to me is far from elite, but it
• 6:51
  can get the job done if it stays healthy.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: I think you stay healthy. Thomas is a good left tackle.
• 6:57
  You know, John Runyon is a solid player. You know
• 7:00
  they drafted Schmidt's out of Minnesota in the second round.
• 7:02
  They're expecting him again to be, you know, sort of
• 7:05
  a centerpiece. You don't draft the center in the second round,
• 7:08
  you know, to be a guy. You draft him to
• 7:09
  be a good guy. It's the right side. Look, the
• 7:13
  Evan Neil deal hasn't worked out at tackle. He was
• 7:15
  a first round pick and a high first round pick.
• 7:18
  They've moved him to guard. In an ideal world, they'd
• 7:20
  like him to beat out Van Roten. You know who's
• 7:23
  been with a lot of teams and you can, you
• 7:25
  can line up with them, but you'd prefer to have,
• 7:27
  you know, a better guy. So we'll see how the
• 7:29
  Evan Neil experiment works. You know, if the old line
• 7:35
  can be just above average. You know, they've got some
• 7:39
  interesting players on the outside. We know what Malik Neighbors is.
• 7:43
  You know, Slayton has hung around because you know what
• 7:45
  Slayton makes. To sound cliched, but true, Slayton makes big
• 7:50
  plays and he's not going to catch ninety balls, but
• 7:53
  he has those games at him, you know, where all
• 7:55
  of a sudden he can run too, you know, to
• 7:58
  forty five yard fifty yard touch. He's a weird guy.
• 8:02
  I have read some quotes from DABA that Jalen Hyatt.
• 8:06
  They're saying that he's really a different guy. Now until
• 8:10
  you play the games, we don't know, but we'll find out.
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  Because he was a pretty high pick as well. So
• 8:15
  they've got, you know, a bunch of guys, you know.
• 8:18
  I think they brought in Zach Pascal, and I think
• 8:20
  that was a good move because he's just one of
• 8:22
  those savvy veteran types that can be around young players,
• 8:26
  and he certainly can play in certain packages. So we'll see,
• 8:31
  you know, the O line. It kind of really depends
• 8:33
  on the O line. I guess we'll see who the
• 8:35
  quarterback is. But I think the run game is gonna
• 8:37
  have to be a big factor here.
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I would add two things and what I
• 8:41
  like about this offense, Jeff, In terms of talent, you
• 8:44
  also have Wandell Robinson who could play inside. He can
• 8:47
  have little gadgety, he's he's on a contract year. Then
• 8:51
  a guy I know we all like coming into the
• 8:53
  last year Shrafter is THEO Johnson who could run Greg. So, yeah, Jeff,
• 8:57
  They've got they've got plenty of talent offense.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: Can they protect I think that's always been the question.
• 9:03
  And again depth on the old line, right. I mean,
• 9:05
  their starters can hold their own, We've seen that. But
• 9:08
  if they have one or two injuries, how corrupted will
• 9:11
  this offense be?
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: I think they bring in some veteran guys who can
• 9:16
  play meaningful snaps in the NFL. Okay in Aaron Stinney,
• 9:20
  in Austin Schlottman. I mean, again, we're not saying that
• 9:23
  these guys are stars. That's not the point. But they've
• 9:25
  played meaningful snaps in the NFL. So if they did
• 9:29
  have to play those guys, they're not putting in you know,
• 9:32
  rookie types or guys that have you know, not played
• 9:35
  in the league. They've played. Guy, they're bringing in guys
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  that have played a lot of snaps in the NFL. Jeff.
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  So again, I don't want to come across it's like, oh,
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  this is a great old line. But they did that
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  intentionally because they know what the line has been and
• 9:49
  they just wanted guys with NFL experience.
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  Speaker 1: Makes sense. And again when you talk about potential, if
• 9:56
  things go well, this offensive line holds up the quarterback
• 9:59
  in run the game are better, then they certainly have
• 10:02
  those outside. I'm really curious to see how Theo Johnson
• 10:05
  will do in year two, but certainly with the Molek
• 10:08
  neighbors as a star. We saw that Slaton can stress
• 10:11
  the defense and I thought, h Wandel Robinson.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, yeah slot guy.
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  Speaker 3: Right, So they yeah, right, hey, Jeff, as we we
• 10:22
  will get started with defense about thirty seconds. But to
• 10:25
  use a co cell line, it's there, there's something there
• 10:28
  with this something inside there.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, if it's there.
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  Speaker 3: But they got they just have never been able to
• 10:34
  put again it starts, and the line has been a
• 10:36
  huge problem.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, all right, So let us now then transition
• 10:41
  to defense, because this is where it's really there, right Greg,
• 10:44
  I mean the talent and if it doesn't have to
• 10:46
  be relied on to win every single game and try
• 10:49
  to win fifteen to three every week, this defense, if
• 10:52
  it's even gets a little rest, can be very very good.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: They've got a really good decoordinator and Shane Bowen, who's
• 10:57
  been around the league, does some really nice things with
• 11:00
  rusher schemes. But I mean, if you look at this
• 11:02
  group overall, I mean it's you know, Dexter Lawrence will
• 11:06
  be back. He's he's he's a man in a half.
• 11:09
  They got, you know, some interesting players up front. They
• 11:13
  drafted the kid from Toledo, Darius Alexander. Yes, very intriguing prospect.
• 11:17
  It's hard to know coming from the MAC if you'll
• 11:19
  be ready, you know, as a rookie to play meaningful snaps.
• 11:22
  But he's got pretty high level traits. And of course,
• 11:26
  now on the edges in their base, what do you
• 11:29
  want to call it a five two or three four,
• 11:31
  They're going to have Brian Burns and I'm Duel Carter
• 11:33
  and that's you know, those are two explosive athletes that
• 11:38
  have to be dealt with. And I got to tell
• 11:40
  you they're two linebackers. Okaa k and McFadden. They're good
• 11:44
  football players. You know, they're not stars and impact players,
• 11:48
  but they're just really good players. And what they did
• 11:52
  on the back end, and I think was was they
• 11:56
  needed it. They brought in you know, Paulson Adebo from
• 12:00
  New Orleans who's a solid corner he'll start, and Javon Holland,
• 12:04
  who did not have a great year last year, but
• 12:06
  javonn Holland went healthy and playing. He had a great
• 12:11
  conversation with a coach in the league about safeties and
• 12:16
  the term he used was five tool safeties and he
• 12:21
  felt that the two best five tool safeties in the NFL,
• 12:24
  you know, when they're playing their best. I mean, that's
• 12:26
  what you're you know, are Minka Fitzpatrick and Javon Holland.
• 12:30
  And Javon Holland at his best is a really good player.
• 12:34
  And I think bringing Holland and a debo in was
• 12:37
  also done intentionally for Banks because Banks is a really
• 12:42
  high level traits corner. But again I don't know Banks,
• 12:46
  but from everything you read in here, he's just an
• 12:48
  immature kid who still doesn't quite know how to be
• 12:51
  a pro. Adam could probably speak a little more about that,
• 12:54
  but he's super gifted, and I'm sure they hope that
• 12:58
  the veterans can sort of teach this kid, you know,
• 13:01
  how to be an NFL player, because this kid can
• 13:03
  line up and he I remember watching him coming out
• 13:06
  of Maryland matching up to Marvin Harrison, and it was
• 13:11
  it was a great watch. Greg.
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: If you look at the secondary, you mentioned Paulson Debo
• 13:15
  comeing from New Orleans with Banks, if you could play
• 13:17
  more consistent football, Phillips is there? Second year Nickel really
• 13:23
  quality safety, right, So, and Chauncey Golson will come off
• 13:28
  the bench where Robinson Harris has always been a nice player. Yeah,
• 13:32
  free agency on Thibodeaux, whose snaps are probably going to decrease. Yeah,
• 13:37
  and you put you put in Thibodeau is the first
• 13:40
  guy off the bench. Well, although initially Thibodeau might be starting.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, how good can this defense be on her bowe?
• 13:45
  I think it could be very good. I mean I
• 13:47
  think it'll be their strength for sure. You know, obviously
• 13:50
  you bring in new players. It's how quickly, can you
• 13:52
  you know, you put it all together. Yeah, you know, Look,
• 13:55
  there's so much detail. You know, I've been fortunate to
• 13:57
  be able to be in meetings at times through the years,
• 14:00
  and there's just so much detail. It's unbelievable. It blows
• 14:03
  me away. I mean, you know I know this because
• 14:06
  the tape I watch too. But every time I'm able
• 14:08
  to sit in a meeting, you know, the detail, it's
• 14:11
  it's I don't quite Frankly, I don't understand these players
• 14:14
  do it. It just blows me away. But it's it's
• 14:18
  you know, That's what it comes down to is how
• 14:19
  quickly you can assimilate. Because Shane Bowen's really good with pressure,
• 14:23
  not pressure the way maybe you think of like Rex
• 14:26
  Rye and all pressure. You know, he's he's really good
• 14:29
  with simulated pressures, rushing four, he's really good at that.
• 14:34
  He's really good at overloads where you might only rush
• 14:37
  four maybe five. But you know, he's just really good
• 14:41
  and that requires a ton of detail. And uh so
• 14:46
  we'll see how it all plays out, you know, we'll
• 14:48
  see what they do with Abdul Carter. I mean Abdul
• 14:50
  Carter maybe year one. You just say, there's the quarterback,
• 14:52
  go get them. I mean, you know, you know he
• 14:56
  has he'll have a lot to learn.
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: Well, I would think, well, so this is what I'm
• 15:01
  curious say. And we talked about this even with with
• 15:03
  Matt Evenflus in Dallas. Is this going to be a
• 15:06
  four man rush where it's go get the quarterback? Or
• 15:09
  with the versatility has Yes? And with what Abdul Carter
• 15:13
  showed at Penn State to be able to move from
• 15:15
  off ball linebacker to edge, can that learning curve be
• 15:19
  just as fast in the NFL where you can be
• 15:22
  more versatile with him and not just say go get
• 15:24
  the quarterback.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: I think they like that.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: And that would be an amazing advantage.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: Right then it depends on Carter and how quickly he
• 15:29
  picks things up. And you know, because I mean, you know,
• 15:33
  because you have to hit exact gaps. You know, it's
• 15:35
  not just hey, let's go get the quarter you know,
• 15:37
  when you're when you have pressure concepts. People might not
• 15:41
  think of it this way, but this is the way
• 15:43
  it is. You're working in tandem with others, you know.
• 15:46
  I remember years ago this just popped into my head.
• 15:48
  I remember years ago doing a radio show with Quinton
• 15:51
  Michael okay, and I asked him, what's the thing that
• 15:54
  gets Jim Johnson, the old Eagles de coordinator, one of
• 15:57
  the best who ever did it, said what gets him
• 16:01
  the most pissed off? And he says, when guys don't
• 16:04
  rush the quarterback with the needed discipline, because it's not
• 16:08
  just let's go run and get them. You know, you
• 16:10
  have to hit specific gaps. It all works together. And
• 16:13
  I noticed that on tape. We do plays like that
• 16:15
  on the Matchup show. You know where Hey, this guy's
• 16:18
  going to go here this you know, you have to hit.
• 16:20
  It's all about discipline and you know those things you
• 16:22
  have to learn.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, we've had Quintin on a lot and
• 16:26
  he's taking He's actually given specific examples of guys like
• 16:29
  sort of running into each other.
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, tape a lot. Yeah, when you've probably got a
• 16:34
  lot of creative pursing upstairs from the defensive right. Yeah, hey, Jeff,
• 16:41
  real quick.
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: So the one thing that could hold this team back
• 16:44
  is their first corn of the season at Washington at
• 16:48
  Dallas home against the Chiefs, home against the Chargers. Good luck. Yeah, so, yeah,
• 16:52
  the roster's clearly better, but that I mean, if they
• 16:55
  could go too and two after four weeks, consider that
• 16:58
  a win for them.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: One percent. I think this will be a big growth
• 17:02
  in development year, obviously for the defense and obviously for
• 17:05
  the quarterback. But can they do that and also stay competitive,
• 17:09
  try to get a last seed in the playoffs, you know,
• 17:12
  just try to get themselves building in the right direction.
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: That would mean that the whole purpose, I don't want
• 17:17
  to say the whole purpose, but a very high percentage
• 17:20
  purpose of this season is to develop Jackson Dark because look,
• 17:25
  they signed Wilson, who's clearly at the end. They signed Winston,
• 17:29
  who seemingly has fallen into that journeyman you know, just
• 17:32
  go somewhere wherever that may be, you know. So the
• 17:36
  whole purpose of this season is to develop Jackson Dark.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely. And on defense, Craig, you guys talked about this.
• 17:43
  To wrap it up, they seem to have either a
• 17:45
  proven very good player or a guy who, like whether
• 17:50
  it's a Nubin or a Carter or you know, somebody
• 17:53
  who's emerging there Darius Alexander, someone who we expect to
• 17:57
  have a trajectory to be a pretty good player. And
• 17:59
  that's a good recipe for a solid defense from top
• 18:02
  to bottom.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: The other thing they brought in on defense as free
• 18:05
  agents is they brought in guys who've been with winning
• 18:09
  teams that are not stars, and they're probably special teamers
• 18:12
  like Chris Bord from Baltimore, like Flannagan Falls from San Francisco,
• 18:16
  guys who've been with winning tea. You know, these guys
• 18:18
  are special teamers. But they've started and played meaningful snaps
• 18:22
  in the NFL, you know, and again you don't want
• 18:24
  them to have to play meaningful snaps, Jeff, but they've
• 18:27
  been with winning programs, and you know, it's just like
• 18:31
  I mentioned the offensive linemen they brought in. I think,
• 18:33
  you know, all this is done intentionally. It's not a fluke.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Well, we'll see if it pays off for the New
• 18:38
  York Giants. They really need to get their act together
• 18:41
  and start to become a formidable franchise once again. So
• 18:44
  that is now two of the four NFC teams. We
• 18:47
  have wrapped up the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants,
• 18:49
  and then we will be on to the Washington Commanders
• 18:52
  and of course finish up with the Philadelphia Eagles. And
• 18:55
  we will continue to do it with the man Greg
• 18:58
  Cosel so for Greg Cosell and Adam Kaplan, I'm Jeff Mosher.
• 19:01
  Thanks for watching our NFC East preview show.