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This isn’t Rocket Science: What New York Giants Fans Want

by Shane Sharkey

The three months leading up to the draft is fun.   

The twitter debate rages on and I’m already sick of hearing how Baker Mayfield is not short and how he’s the next Drew Brees and Russell Wilson.  I am also tired of hearing that Saquon Barkley is not an elite running back.  Unrealistic fans sometimes just spoil the fun of this process.   

With that said…let’s agree to put our cards on the table.

  • We want:  Pick someone in the NFL Draft who comes in and makes an impact from day one.   Draft a position of need.  Bag the best player available (Jerry Reese).  Give me Barkley or Quenton Nelson.  Let’s have fun again!
  • We wantDown field production.   Throw the rock downfield, Eli to OBJ on deep routes…stretch the field.   No more check downs and dink and dunking. Throw the deep crossing route to Shep.  
  • We want:  Nasty Offensive Lineman who can pancake Defensive Tackles and Defensive Ends when run blocking.   Open up the holes.  A franchise Left Tackle, a perennial Pro-Bowl right guard.  No more defending or paying average lineman.
  • We want: Linebackers Van Pelt, Carson, Taylor, Banks, Pepper, Reasons, Armstead, Barrow, Pierce.  These guys hit you in the mouth.  Enough with being friends with the opponent, give me a fast, hungry, physical LB willing to do his job every damn play.  Sideline to sideline player.
  • We want: Creativity – roll outs, play action, screens, pitch backs, guards that pull on a sweep.   We don’t need 3 run plays and a cloud of dust.   OBJ, Shep, Engram, and Ellison should be able to keep a Defense on their heels if we have creativity. 
  • We want:  Sacks.   Pressure is nice, but enough with the BS PFF stats.   Sacks change the game.   Stopping whining to me about pressures, we are sick to death of the excuses.  Hitting the QB changes the game.   In the 2007 Super Bowl the Giants sacked Tom Brady 5x and had 9-QB hits.  JPP and OV combined had 15 sacks in 2017.  It’s not good enough.
  • We want:  300 yards passing/3 TD games.  Whether the Giants win or lose, everyone knows the signs of a productive, efficient offense.  Do you need 300 yds/3 TDs to win…NO.   Production is the point.  Eli in 2017 had 2 games of 300 yards passing and two 3 TD games.  Both against the Eagles.
     
  • We want:  A Ball Hawk that can tackle.  In the modern-day of football, no Giants safety or corner has had more than 6 interceptions in a season.  DRC (6/2016), Rolle (6/2013) CWeb (6/2011) and Sehorn (6/1997).    If you don’t understand the concept of a strong safety…please look it up.   Landon Collins is not a linebacker, nor a ball hawk.   Thompson was supposed to be a ball hawk…nope.  And his tackling skills are absolutely atrocious.  
  • We want:  A kicker.  Can we just sign a guy who can kick?  Not sometimes…all the time.   A guy who can kick field goals and extra points.  A guy who can kick the ball…in bounds. Is that really too much to ask. The Raiders just cut their kicker after…18 years!   
  • We want:  Special Teamers that want to knock someone out or take the rock to the house.   No more lame special teamers.   We need ballers.