This season was a familiar story for the Giants. They started at 6-2 and still missed the playoffs at 10-6 after a late season collapse. Last year they started 5-0 and finished 8-8. In 2008 they started 11-1 and finished 12-4 and didn’t win a playoff game. In 2006 they started 6-2 before finishing 8-8 and not winning a playoff game. In 2004 they started 5-2 and finished 6-10. Even in their Super Bowl winning yeear, they started 6-2 and finished 10-6 before, obviously, rebounding. The only year they haven’t had a second half swoon since Tom Coughlin took over in 2004 was 2005.

There have been Giants players questioning Tom Coughlin’s leadership publicly and I do agree that Coach Coughlin has has overstayed his welcome. He did win a Super Bowl which is probably the main reason he’s still got a job, but they’d be better off with a better coach. He’s not very popular in the locker room and his teams can never close out seasons. He’s had 5 huge collapses in 7 years (from Super Bowl contender to not winning a playoff game) and only won playoff games in one year.

This year’s second half swoon had to hurt more than most. They sat at 9-5, tied with the Eagles for 1^st in the division, leading the Eagles 31-10 with 8 minutes left, in position to take control of the division. However, they let it slip away and the Eagles miraculously won 38-31 on a last second punt return by DeSean Jackson. They next week, still in control of their destiny to make the playoffs, they came out flat against the Packers, giving up 500+ yards of offense and turning the ball over 6 times in a 45-17 loss.

They won the next week against Washington (and even that wasn’t pretty), but the Packers had already taken control of their destiny and with a win over Chicago took that 6^th seed. A closer look at all their second half games show that these struggles were not limited to those 3 games. At 6-2 through 8 games, with talks of another Super Bowl run surrounding this team, they lost back to back games against Dallas and Philadelphia, before barely eeking out a victory over Jacksonville the next week, in a game that the Jags dominated for 2 and a half quarters before taking their foot off the gas. They then beat the Redskins and Vikings, by scores of 31-7 and 21-3, before collapsing in those last 3 games.

The cause of their second half swoon, turnovers and big plays allowed, which always seems to be the cause. Their 42 turnovers led the league. They were even struggling with turnovers before they started swooning, but it just got worse and at worse times. Even in their two “dominant” wins over Washington and Minnesota, Eli Manning threw more picks than touchdowns. Eli led the league with 25 picks this year.

Overall, they didn’t play badly, minus the turnovers. For the first half of the season, they ranked top 10 in passing offense, rushing offense, passing defense, and rushing defense. They finished ranked 8^th in passing offense, 7^th in rushing offense, 13^th in passing defense, and 13^th in rushing defense. All of this made it very hard for me to come up with needs for this team, other than maybe some glue so they don’t cough up the ball so much, and of course a new coach.

 

 

 

2010 Record: 10-6

Draft Position: 19

2010 Season Recap: Click Here

Offseason Needs: Click Here

Free Agents/Team Transactions: Click Here

Draft Grades: Click Here

Key Offseason Moves: None

 

2010 Posts 

 

Giants/Titans Preview, Shaun O’Hara Might Miss Sunday’s Game, Antrel Rolle Criticizes Team, Colts 38 Giants 14, Game Preview: Giants @ Colts, New Giants Stadium Review, Giants 31 Panthers 18, Game Preview: Giants vs. Panthers, New York Giants Preview: Defense, New York Giants Preview: Offense

 

Wide Receiver

Arizona State

6-4 229

Draft board overall prospect rank: #78

Draft board overall wide receiver rank: #14

Overall rating: 71 (3^rd rounder)

40 time: 4.62

Games watched: Arizona State/Missouri, USC/Arizona State, Boise State/Arizona State

Positives

·         Physical freak

·         Plays with physicality

·         Fearless

·         Willing and able blocker

·         Works the middle of the field incredibly well

·         Finished 2011 season on fire (58 catches for 1095 yards and 4 touchdowns in 8 games)

·         Incredibly productive 2011 season overall  (77 catches for 1397 yards and 7 touchdowns)

·         Didn’t quit on Arizona State during 5 game losing streak

·         Much improved player in 2^nd half of 2011 season

·         Great size (6-4 229)

·         Can catch ball in traffic

·         Good body control

·         Big, strong, reliable hands

·         Dangerous in open field

·         Breaks tackles

·         Heavily recruited in 2008 (4 star) as an athlete (wide receiver/safety)

·         Pro Style offense experience

Negatives

·         Didn’t do much of anything in his first 3 years at Arizona State (combined 58 catches for 674 yards and 5 touchdowns)

·         Underachieving one year wonder who woke up when he smelled the money?

·         Lacks breakaway speed

·         Slow off the line of scrimmage

·         Route running needs some work

·         Questionable football intelligence

·         Tends to be a body catcher sometimes

·         Tight hipped, straight line athlete

·         6-4, but only 7 touchdowns as a senior?

NFL Comparison: Poor man’s Anquan Boldin

At his best, Robinson reminds me of Anquan Boldin in his prime in Arizona. Boldin didn’t have breakaway speed or anything, but he was incredibly physical and fearless and reliable as a possession receiver, especially over the middle. When he was traded to Baltimore to be the main guy, he began to struggle, but he really thrived in Arizona, in a pass heavy offensive, working the middle of the field and the short part of the field with Larry Fitzgerald drawing coverage away from him.

Like Boldin, Robinson is incredibly fearless and physical. In his bowl game against Boise State, he had an incredible 13 catches for 241 yards and a touchdown. Most of those catches were over the middle. He took a huge hit on one play, held on, and then went back over the middle for a catch on the next play. He also proved himself to be a physical and willing run blocker and incredibly tough to break down in the open field.

He’s a lot to bring down and a big target at 6-4 227 with good body control. He’s also got big, strong hands that are fairly reliable, though he needs to work more on being less of a body catcher and more of a hands catcher. He’s not going to blow the top off the defense and he’s slow getting off the line and for some reason he only had 7 touchdowns at his size in his best season, but I still think he has a ton of upside as a #2 possession receiver and an end zone threat.

However, as a prospect, he’s going to be a bit boom or bust. He’s not necessarily going to be Boldin. It’s a bit concerning that he did next to nothing in his first 3 years. In his first 3 years, he was basically just a top recruit that never lived up to the billing, a physical freak who couldn’t put it together. He was recruited as an athlete and was looked at by most teams as a safety, so there were questions about whether or not he had enough knowledge of the wide receiver position to ever live up to his billing.

However, midway through his senior season, the light seemed to click and he turned into Anquan Boldin, only bigger. In his last 8 games, he had 58 catches for 1095 yards and 4 touchdowns. He had more yards in those 8 games than he had in his first 3 and a half seasons. The question is whether or not this will continue into the pros.

As a prospect, he reminds me a bit of Denarius Moore, though they are very different style receivers. However, Moore had all the tools, but didn’t turn it on until midway through his senior season when the light clicked. In his last 6 games, he had 29 catches for 721 yards and 5 touchdowns. He was a 5^th round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft and had a strong rookie season for the Raiders. Robinson will probably be drafted in the same range and will likely outperform the round he was drafted in, maybe even immediately as a rookie. I have a 3^rd round grade on him, though I acknowledge that he’s somewhat boom or bust.

 

 

Sensabaugh has quietly emerged into one of the best safeties in the league so the Cowboys are getting him very cheap at only 2.5 million over 1 year.

Grade: A 

 

 

 

Defensive Tackle/3-4 Defensive End 

Oklahoma

6-4 298

40 time: 4.96

Draft board overall prospect rank: #5

Draft board defensive tackle rank: #2

Overall rating: 96*

1/20/10: If it weren’t for Suh, we’d all be singing McCoy’s praises right now. He would have been a lock first round pick last year and he came back and followed up his 6.5 sacks in 2008 with a repeat performance this year of 6.5 sacks. He is a top ten pick lock and could go in the top 3, along with Suh, the first time a defensive tackle has gone in the top 3 since 2000. He would be an ideal fit as a 4-3 one gap penetrator in a zone scheme defense but he can play the 3-4 as a defensive end and all 4-3 schemes.

            7/31/09: Gerald McCoy has that size, speed combination that defensive coordinators and NFL scouts love out of defensive line. He’s about 6-4 295 pounds and could run a sub 5 40, but that doesn’t tell the whole tale. He has great upper and lower body strength and a great repertoire of pass rushing moves. He’s a great pass rusher for a defensive tackle and is strong against the run. He’s got a great initial burst through the middle and is very hard to keep out of the backfield. Ideally, you’d like him to put on 10 pounds without losing the quickness, but that’s really just being nitpicky. He’s an elite prospect and probably the best defensive line prospect since Glenn Dorsey. He’s most valuable as a 4-3 under tackle, but he can play 3-4 defensive end as well. However, teams looking for 3-4 defensive ends will probably take Ndamukong Suh over him because he’s a better fit. He’s not a 3-4 nose tackle because of his lack of size, but Glenn Dorsey wasn’t either coming out and that didn’t stop the Chiefs from putting him there. He’s really a guy with no flaws in his game. He’s still young, 21, and won’t be 22 until February 2010, so he’s got room to grow. He’s been an impact every since he stepped field in 2007 as a redshirt freshman. It’ll be interesting to see if he can still put up great numbers on a defense with less talent. He’s played on the very talented Oklahoma defense for the last 2 years, but its hard to knock him for that. In fact, the fact that he’s been able to stand out as a big time playmaker and NFL prospect on a defense so good is a huge plus. He plays with a mean streak, but isn’t overly aggressive and is a very sound tackler. He’s an elite prospect with big time talent and should be a top 10 pick lock.

NFL Comparison: Kevin Williams

*=For a breakdown of what this means, click here

Spotlight #1: Georgia C Ben Jones

Spotlight #2: LSU QB Jordan Jefferson 

1^st quarter

14:27: LSU goes deep to Rueben Randle, covered by Brandon Boykin, Boykin makes a great play

13:07: Claiborne slips and allows a 43 yard completion.

9:52: Ben Jones with a hold.

8:57: Morris Claiborne called for defensive holding on a deep route on 3^rd and 1.

6:58: Boykin with another explosive play to get a 2^nd pass deflection.

5:56: Jones seals a big hole for the Georgia running back to get at least 10 yards.

3:12: DeAngelo Tyson didn’t start with an injury and I haven’t seen him yet, so I’m going to be spotlighting Jordan Jefferson instead. Jefferson is 0-4 with 3 carries for 1 yard at this point. That’s bad. Let’s see what he does from this point out.

2:31: Jones with another good block. Ben Jones is doing a great job run blocking against LSU’s defensive tackles. It’s worth noting that Alabama’s center William Vlachos, projected to go around the same point in the draft, struggled with these same defensive tackles a few weeks ago.

2^nd quarter

10:41: Ben Jones with a nice run block and then good instincts to fall on the ball and recover the fumble after the back coughs it up.

8:51: Jefferson completes one for a 2 yard loss.

8:28: Jefferson inaccurate to Rueben Randle. 5 three and outs for LSU to start the game.

6:16: Sam Montgomery with his 2^nd sack of the night, his 9^th of the season. Cordy Glenn is having real trouble with him just like he had with Shea McClellin in the opener. He’s probably be a guard at the next level, maybe a right tackle in the right scheme.

3:55: Claiborne plays a deep route perfectly, almost has a pick, but the receiver plays defense and is able to get a hand in there and bat it out at the last second.

3:16: Jefferson able to lateral it at the last second before he can be sacked. Very strong to hold on with the 350 pound John Jenkins trying to pull him down.

0:41: Jefferson incomplete deep, Boykin in on the coverage.

0:34: Jefferson with intentional grounding, bad penalty.

 

3^rd quarter

13:24: Randle catches’ LSU’s first 1^st down of the game on a slant from Jordan Jefferson, 6 yards.

12:51: Boykin misses a tackle on an LSU touchdown.

?- (game clock doesn’t work so I don’t know the exact time) Jefferson with a passing touchdown, overturned, incomplete. It was trapped.

?- Jefferson gets a first down on 3^rd down with a designed quarterback run up the middle. Pretty good gain.

?- Jefferson with a quick, short slant to Rueben Randle, who takes it for a few.

5:06: (Clock back) Jefferson throws deep, very overthrown, inaccurate.

3:46: Jefferson dumps off to the back, who breaks a tackle and takes it for a touchdown. Boykin misses a tackle on this touchdown. The back was too strong for him.

4^th quarter

14:10: Jefferson holds the ball too long, gets sacked, luckily for him he draws a horse collar penalty on the defense.

5:12: Jefferson has a long completion dropped.

4:21: Morris Claiborne with a pick six, great open field moves to score, and, of course, great ball skills to get in position and catch it.

2:19: Claiborne allows a completion, though he is playing prevent defense.

0:00: The Georgia Bulldog led this game at one point. No I’m serious, they led 10-0. They lost 42-10, but they led 10-0. LSU actually didn’t have a first down until the 2^nd half and they had 21 points on 44 yards at one point. How did this happen? Well, one Tyrann Mathieu punt return for a touchdown, another Mathieu punt return deep into Georgia territory, and a fumble recovered deep in Georgia territory led to 21 points. Georgia’s defense played well, but they just couldn’t hold it that long. They only allowed 237 yards all game, but there was no way they were going to win making mistakes like that.

Georgia was missing DeAngelo Tyson, a late round pick, at 3-4 defensive end on defense, but they didn’t seem to miss him. They have a very young defense with juniors like nose tackle John Jenkins and safety Bacarri Rambo and redshirt sophomore rush linebacker Jarvis Jones. All 3 could declare early for the 2012 NFL Draft, but it’s likely that all 3 stay, which makes Georgia could have a very good defense next year.

With Tyson out, cornerback Brandon Boykin was the lone senior standout starting for Georgia’s defense. He was tasked with covering LSU’s Rueben Randle, which, on paper looked like a bad matchup for Boykin. Boykin is 5-10 and Randle is 6-4 and coming off 9 catches for 134 yards against Arkansas last week. However, Boykin won this matchup. He had 2 pass deflections early on deep balls. Randle caught two passes all game, for 15 yards, both of which were short and not against Boykin.

Randle has all the tools, but this was his 5^th game of 1 or 2 receptions this season so consistency is not his strong suit. He needed to dominate this matchup and he didn’t, which will hurt his stock. He’d be best off returning for his senior season. Right now, he’s probably a 3^rd round pick. On the season, he has 50 catches for 904 yards and 8 catches on a conservative offense. He’s big, physical, and a great run blocker, but he’s been consistent.

Of course it didn’t help Randle that his quarterback, Jordan Jefferson, didn’t play well. Jefferson was 0 for his first 6 and finished 5 of 13 for 30 yards and a touchdown. There was talk by the broadcasters about LSU potentially switching back to Jarrett Lee. This game won’t help Jefferson get drafted. LSU won in spite of him, with good defense, special teams play, and running game. LSU rushed for 207 yards and 3 scores, giving 4 different running backs at least 6 carries.

Even Jefferson’s touchdown pass was on a check down to the back, who made a great play to break a tackle and score. The tackler on that play was Brandon Boykin, who didn’t tackle well all game, missing two tackles on two separate LSU touchdowns. This is to be expected at 5-10 180. However, he’s having another great season in coverage and looks like a 3^rd rounder.

Georgia center Ben Jones had a tough matchup in this one. He came in as a 3^rd or 4^th rounder and was facing an LSU defensive tackle group that gave Alabama center William Vlachos, another 3^rd or 4^th rounder, a lot of trouble a few weeks ago. Jones played well. He didn’t surrender a sack or a pressure and run blocked well all night, though it won’t show up in the stat sheet. Georgia didn’t run the ball well, but that had more to do with their injuries at the running back position and poor blocking by Georgia’s guards.

Georgia left tackle Cordy Glenn didn’t block well either. He was matchup by with Sam Montgomery, LSU’s stud sophomore defensive end. Like he did against Boise State in the opener, Glenn struggled with Montgomery’s quickness. Glenn surrendered 2 sacks and overall lost the battle with Montgomery. Glenn surrendered 3 sacks to Boise State’s Shea McClellin in the opener. He’s been solid in between in his first season at left tackle and he has all the tools, but I don’t think he has quick enough feet to stay at left tackle at the next level. He’s probably a guard or a right tackle at the next level and a 2^nd or 3^rd rounder.

Georgia tight end Orson Charles had another good game. He posed matchup problems all game for LSU’s linebackers. The 6-3 240 pound tight end caught 4 passes for 42 yards, leading the team in receptions. He’s not much of a blocker, but he has 44 catches for 572 yards and 5 touchdowns on the season. He’ll be a 3^rd or 4^th rounder and will benefit from the league’s growing shift towards two-tight end sets.

Last and definitely not least, LSU’s Morris Claiborne had another good game. Of all the prospects in this game, Claiborne will probably go earliest in the 2012 NFL Draft. Claiborne will probably be the first cornerback off the board and a top-10 pick. He had another good game here. He allowed a 43 yard completion early when he slipped on the route. He slipped on a couple routes against Arkansas last week, allowing a 20 yard completion and a drop, but he really played well after that. He allowed a garbage time completion in prevent defense as well, but overall played very well once again.

He had one interception which he returned for a touchdown. He mirrored the route very well and then went up and caught the ball at its apex like a receiver. He could have had another pick when he mirrored another route well and went up for the ball, but the receiver did a good job of playing defense and getting his hand in at the last second to break it up. He’s still the top cornerback in the country and a likely top-10 pick.