Martin asks: All this talk about the new defensive rookie players but we haven’t heard how Dexter Lawrence elbow surgery is coming along. For a man that uses his arms 99% of the time, this may have an impact on his rushes, yes?
Ed says: Martin, Lawrence is fine. Lawrence had a dislocated elbow that did not require surgery. He participated in events during the Pro Bowl games in February, which he would not have done if there were any risk. He was on the field doing individual drills on Wednesday when media had access to practice.
Ed Metzendorf asks: With the Giants facing a tough schedule and a roster that may be improved but still flawed, how closely do you think the Mara family will be watching Daniel Jones’ performance in Indianapolis?If Jones thrives with the Colts while the Giants show only marginal progress, could that shift the narrative around Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen? They’ve received significant credit for developing Josh Allen in Buffalo, but if Jones succeeds elsewhere and the Giants continue to struggle, does that raise questions about whether Allen’s success was more about his unique talent than Daboll and Schoen’s system?
Ed says: Ed, I am sure there will be curiosity about how Jones does in Indianapolis. I don’t quite understand how Jones’ play with the Colts, though, is a referendum on Daboll and Schoen.
Fans conveniently want to forget that Jones was in his fourth year when Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll were hired. Schoen was his second GM, Daboll his third head coach. Jones, guided by Daboll, had the best season of his career in 2022. The coach should get some props for that.
There will always be a debate about what percentage of the credit Daboll should get for Josh Allen’s success. Allen deserves much of the credit. Quarterback coach Jordan Palmer deserves some of the credit. Daboll’s work in building a relationship with Allen, and his willingness to bend his system to Allen’s strengths, was also a part of the story.
Doug Mollin asks: I was wondering if you’ll be following/rooting for DJ with the Colts this season. Or, is he just another random NFL player at this point?
Giant players that have moved on often remain relevant with BBVers for a while, see OBJ, Landon Collins, Leonard Williams, Toney, Saquon, etc.
Personally, I thought I’d be rooting for DJ to succeed, but I honestly don’t care much either way at this point. Not rooting against him, just not particularly interested in what happens.
Ed says: Doug, yes, I will be following and rooting for Jones to succeed in Indianapolis. To do this job on a daily basis for 18 years and try to remain as clear-headed as possible, I put my fan card away a long time ago. I simply can’t do this job — and it is a job — emotionally.
That said, I absolutely root for certain players. Jones is one of them. He is one of the most boring people on the planet to try and interview, but he is a good guy. He works as hard as anyone in the game. He has always been a class act, and was a great representative for the franchise as a Giant. There are clear limits to his game, but a lot of what happened during his 5+ seasons with the Giants was out of his control — and not his fault.
The only thing Jones ever did wrong as a Giant was not be good enough to live up to being drafted No. 6 overall. I will be happy for him if he plays well in Indianapolis.
Clinton Brooksasks: There seemed to be some level of interest in Gabe Davis prior to his visit with the Giants. I’m interested in knowing what happened. Failed physical? Unable to reach a $$ agreement? Not interested in playing with the Giants? Something else?
Ed says: Clinton, nothing happened. The Giants had Davis in for a visit. They went out to dinner with him. They didn’t sign him immediately. That doesn’t mean they won’t … eventually.
Now, I don’t know if Davis will be a Giant. But, here is my guess based on how these things usually work. Schoen mentioned to Kay Adams that Davis is coming off an injury — he tore a meniscus last season and finished the year on IR. Best guess is that Davis is not yet ready to pass a physical or to practice, so there isn’t any rush to sign him.
The Giants are going through OTAs. Sign Davis now and, if he can’t practice, they are short one wide receiver they could be getting a look at during the spring.
Let’s see if something develops closer to, or during, training camp.
Robert Goodman asks: Did Evan Neal go to an OL camp this offseason, such as Duke Manyweather’s? Did Becton do this prior to the last season? How did Becton prepare for the switch from tackle to guard?
Ed says: Robert, I don’t know how Becton prepared for his 2024 season with the Eagles. I do know that he has been a Manyweather client.
As for Neal, he has worked with Manyweather since high school. I haven’t asked Duke recently about his work with Evan. I do know this about Manyweather. When he works with clients he has them work multiple spots. He had Will Hernandez doing right guard drills before the Giants moved him from the left side to the right side in 2021.
The last time I communicated with Manyweather about Neal, there wasn’t clarity as to where he would be playing. I know Duke well enough, though, to believe that at least some time would have been spent prepping him to play guard.
Michael Bannon asks: If the teams have 53 player rosters, why are only 46 eligible on game day? I have never seen anything on the rationale for this. Do the players not on the game day roster still get paid?
Ed says: Michael, I hate this rule. Yes, players who are inactive still get paid because they ar on the roster. Being inactive, though, does not help them accrue service time.
The reason for the rule is competitive balance. Teams always have a few injured players on their 53-man roster who won’t be able to play. To achieve balance, so that one team does not have more players available than the other team, game day rosters are set at 46 players.
To me, I would rather see the game day rosters be 53 active players. I think you would get a better product because you might not have fill-in guys playing out of position due to in-game injuries. If you have three players who are out due to injury, just let teams active three players off their practice squad for a game and then return them to the practice squad after the game without having to pass them through waivers.
Douglas asks: I keep reading about how the Giants have a brutal schedule in 2024 and are therefore doomed. But these assessments assume that all teams will be pretty much the same team in 2025 as they were in 2024
Experience teaches otherwise . Every year numerous teams grossly under perform the preseason assessment while a similar number over perform. 2022 is a good example. Before the season, most pundits thought the Giants had a brutal schedule, but it ended up being much weaker. There is immense roster change year over year. Injuries happen to key players. Good players get old fast. Some players over perform their place in the draft (see Tyrone Tracy), while others underperform (see Evan Neal and Ereck Flowers).
My view is that preseason assessments of strength of schedule are not very meaningful. How much stock do you put in preseason assessments of strength of schedule.
Ed says: Douglas, I wholeheartedly agree. At Big Blue View, we are as guilty as every other media outlet of writing that a team’s schedule looks “brutal,” or that it might be “soft” based on what a team did last year or is projected to do this year.
Truth is, though, all of those projections are meaningless. Now, we know that teams like the Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions “should” be good. And a team like the New Orleans Saints “should” be beatable.
But, we have no clue what any team will look like the week or weeks they face off with the Giants. Or, what the Giants will look like. Which guys will be hurt for either team? Who will be at quarterback — for the Giants or for their opponent? How meaningful will some of the late-season games be?
Each year when the schedule comes out we do a game-by-game assessment and come up with a projected record. This year it was my turn to handle it. I dislike having to do that post, maybe as much as I dislike any post we run all year long. We do it because the data tells us that readers — you guys — want to read it and talk about it. The post itself means nothing. It comes four months or more before any of those games are going to be played. It’s just something for discussion.
You know when I want to discuss a certain game on the schedule? The week that it’s actually being played, when we know who will be playing and how the two teams are doing at the time.
Edwin Gommers asks: Do you think the Giants dodged a bullet by not drafting Shedeur Sanders?
Personally I think he presents himself as a (below) average QB with an already HOF ego, but let’s not go there, just yet.
One look at (social) media every day and the Browns are in the middle of the media circus.
- Shedeur will be QB1
- Shedeur may get cut
- Shedeur buys a car bigger than his signing bonus
- Shedeur this, Shedeur that…
- Shedeur, Shedeur, Shedeur.
With the entire media circus that’s going on now which would be exacerbated in NY with media looking for hit pieces, just to get clicks, IMO the Giants dodged a bullet with not drafting the kid.
What’s your opinion?
Ed says: Edwin, I don’t know that I would say “dodged a bullet.” I would say that I warned for months that drafting Sanders would be bringing the circus to town, and so far we are seeing that prove to be correct. By the way, let’s clarify that Sanders has denied the whole expensive car thing.
Drafting or not drafting Sanders was always about a lot more than his play on the field. It was about being comfortable with his personality, with the potential for his father to be a hovering presence and a distraction, about the added scrutiny that the team drafting Sanders would be bringing to itself.
The Giants chose a different route. I am glad they did.
Chris Eberth asks: Three players have earned the proven performance escalator this year; Cordale Flott, Daniel Bellinger and Micah McFadden. They all have a salary cap charge around $3.5M, up from about $1.5M. Typically, Joe Schoen has asked players who earned the PPE to take a pay cut, or get cut. Do you think the Giants will demand a pay cut from these players this year?
Ed says: Chris, first let’s show the math.
- McFadden’s salary rose from roughly $1.1 million it was expected to be to $3.406 million thanks to PPE.
- Flott’s salary rose from roughly 1.4 million to $3.356 million.
- Bellinger’s salary, like McFadden’s, rose from roughly $1.1 million to $3.406 million.
Would I be shocked if Schoen squeezes one or more of these players for pay cuts that would basically cancel out the PPE pay hikes? Of course not. Schoen has done it to players like Darius Slayton and Nick McCloud. The pay cut is a tool in a GM’s tool kit, and Schoen is far from the only GM who uses it when he needs to. The NFL can be a harsh business, and players considered replaceable commodities get squeezed when teams need the cap space. That’s just how it is. Some, like Slayton, take the cut and go on to prove their employer wrong. Some, like McCloud, take a hike.
