The Giants’ GM is looking forward to watching the defense hunt quarterbacks
We’ve reached a bit of a lull in the NFL’s seemingly relentless calendar. The offseason excitement of the free agency frenzy, the draft, and rookie minicamp are all in the rear-view mirror.
We can all finally take something like a breath. The New York Giants, however, are slowly ramping up their off-season program as they get ready for mandatory mini-camp.
Giants’ GM Joe Schoen took some time while the players were out working to make an appearance on Kay Adams’ “Up & Adams” podcast. And while Schoen refrained from breaking any news — Adams asked him if he’d announce a Gabe Davis signing — he did provide some insight.
Schoen got into how he views the Giants’ schedule, the defense the Giants built, and how excited the team is to have Jaxson Dart.
Reacting to the Giants’ schedule
It isn’t a secret and much has already been made of the fact that he Giants have the toughest schedule in the NFL — at least on paper. Schoen, however, doesn’t necessarily view that as a bad thing.
Rather, he views their opening gauntlet of the Commanders, Cowboys, Chiefs, and Chargers as an opportunity.
“Right at the beginning, you want to get off to a fast start,” Schoen said. “That’s something we did in 2022 and haven’t the last two years, so you’d always like to get off to a fast start if you can. We’ve got two division games there with Washington and Dallas right out of the gate, and then a prime time game at home.”
Schoen isn’t blind to how difficult their schedule could be. But rather, he and the coaching staff are facing it head-on and working to get the team ready to face that test.
“There’s nothing we can do about it. You know, it is what it is, and we have to control the controllables,” Schoen said. “We’re going to focus on us right now, this time of year, bringing the guys together — we have some new players, rookies and free agents that we signed.
“Really, just starting to build the team culture and continuity amongst the guys that we have,” he added. “Each year it’s different and there’s a lot of roster turnover year to year. Right now we’re just focused on us and we like the pieces we brought in this off season. It’s going to continue to gel and we’ll be ready to go at the start of the season.”
The Giants’ defense could be special
Ideally, much of that roster turnover would result in net gains for the team. Schoen and the Giants’ front office certainly worked to make that the case for the defense this off-season.
Adams first brought up third overall pick Abdul Carter, the consensus All-American edge defender out of Penn State. She wanted to know what it was like to finally get to see Carter in-house, and what stood out most.
“The work ethic, you get to see it now. You get to hear about it, how much he loves football, and he’s constantly working,” Schoen said. “Our rookies are here first thing in the morning, they’re the first lift group. So to see him in there working, doing the extra field work. You hear about it, but you take a guy where we took Abdul, at number three, and you see a guy that’s doing all the right things when he’s in the building, that’s what’s most impressive. That’s really what you want when you invest the third pick in a player.”
Adams used that as a segue to talk about the Giants’ defense as a whole, remarking that they could truly be a “special” unit. In addition to Carter, the Giants also added Jevon Holland, Paulson Adebo, Chauncey Golston, and Roy Robertson-Harris — as well as Darius Alexander.
Overall, Schoen seems pleased, at least in principle.
“On paper I like the pieces, but again, we still have to come together and gel as a whole. But yeah, Jevon Holland, a guy we added from Miami, also provides leadership and ball skills. Paulson Adebo is in the same boat. A lot of career production in terms of interceptions and PBU’s, and provides some leadership for us. And then you look up front with some of the additions and the ability to get after the quarterback,” Schoen said.
“[Brian] Burns, Dexter [Lawrence], Kayvon [Thibodeaux]… Yeah, on paper I like the defense,” he added. “There’s good players, good leadership, guys with vet experience, young guys. Then we have guys going into year two who played well year one. I’m excited to see how Tyler Nubin and Dru Phillips play this year, going into their second year. They’ve had good off-seasons, they’ve been around a lot, they’ve been working hard. Add the new guys with the guys who were here, and I’m excited to see what they can do.”
While it doesn’t quite come across in words, Schoen’s face lights up when he talks about the Giants’ defensive unit.
“All those guys, there’s going to be ways we can get them on the field together,” he said. “Obviously, Abdul has some versatility and he played off the ball when he was at Penn State. We’ve dropped Kayvon [into coverage] before, we’ve dropped Burns. Shane’s doing a good job of how he’s going to envision those guys on the field at times. Some times you’re going to be against mobile quarterbacks where maybe some of those guys spy. There’s a lot of different scheme fits that we can use with those guys because they do have the versatility and they’re all smart enough to learn multiple jobs.”
“I’m excited about it and Shane is too. They’ve been up in the lab upstairs, in the defensive meeting room looking at how they’re going to use all these guys.”
How Jaxson Dart became “The Guy”
Despite getting a player who might be the best in the draft class in Abdul Carter, Jaxson Dart is still the talk of the Giants’ draft.
Adams noted how excited Brian Daboll has been in behind-the-scenes footage we’ve seen from the Giants’ draft process. She wanted to know if Dart is “Daboll’s Guy”, or if there was broad agreement that Dart was The Guy.
“It was an organizational decision,” Schoen said. “Any player that we take, it was a collaborative process, it’s very detailed, and we believe in it. Jaxson was the guy that was on the radar throughout the fall we were able to see play live, spend a lot of time with him at the Senior Bowl as well this spring.”
He did note that Daboll’s experience as an offensive coach who’s worked with young quarterbacks in the past has helped. He also noted that offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney would be working to develop Dart as well.
“It helps when the head coach has an offensive background and has a history with developing quarterbacks,” Schoen said. “Then you throw in a Mike Kafka who was there for Patrick Mahomes’ rookie year where he only played one game and he (Kafka) got to see that development. And Shea Tierney, our quarterback coach, so three coaches on staff that have been a part of the development of two pretty good quarterbacks in the League right now.”
Ultimately, Schoen said, the fact that the scouts and coaches alike are all in on Dart gave him the confidence to make the trade up for him.
“When they’re [the coaches] are convicted on a player, and the scouting staff’s convicted on a player, typically you have the best chance for success in those situations.”
While Dart’s toughness should feel familiar to Giants’ fans, he does show more of his personality than Giants’ fans are used to seeing from their quarterback. Adams also noted the obvious swag with which Dart plays, and asked Schoen how he feels about it.
“I love it, I love it,” Schoen said.
He added, “You like the competitiveness, and he’s competitive in anything that he does. Anything you do, he’s uber-competitive. We have ping-pong tables, pool, whatever it is, he wants to win and that shows up on film.”
“The way he plays, the energy he plays with, the toughness. You see him stand in the pocket, take hits, and still deliver the ball accurately. And what really stood out was the leadership, and I think some of that moxie can transcend across both sides of the football. Leading not just the offensive guys, but the defensive guys, the special teams, whoever it may be, and truly being the leader of that Ole Miss football team.”
Both Eli Manning and Daniel Jones were pretty famous for their stoicism in most circumstances. Dart, however, is a more emotional player — or is at least more willing to let his emotions show.
Schoen doesn’t mind that Dart is willing to show his passion, and even thinks that it’s an asset for rallying the team.
“Those are all traits that we covet and that we look for, and obviously it spills over. He’s a bit ‘outward’ with his emotion on the field, and I don’t mind that at all, because that can be contagious. Whether it’s amongst your teammates, the crowd, momentum… You love the passion, the toughness that he plays with”
