Giants 2007 Offseason Thread

[Giants/Jets Legend]

Post all your opinons on the Giants offseason here. If you want to comment on a new aquisition post in here. I'll try to add new stuff now and then.

[Giants/Jets Legend]

Giants hire former Eagles linebackers' coach Steve Spangnuolo as defensive coordinator.

From NJ Star-Ledger:

Monday, January 22, 2007

It's official: It's Spagnuolo
The Giants have now officially announced the hiring of Steve Spagnuolo as their new defensive coordinator. Spagnuolo and coach Tom Coughlin both addressed reporters during a conference call that just wrapped. A few highlights:
Coughlin said he expects all of the current defensive assistants to remain on the staff.
Coughlin said there Уwould be a variety of opportunities for frontsЕbased on personnel.Ф He wouldnТt commit to a 4-3 or 3-4 front and neither would Spagnuolo. WeТll see. Perhaps theyТll continue to run a hybrid the way Tim Lewis did. Spagnuolo said he coached a 3-4 in NFL Europe, but most of his experience has been with four-man fronts.
As for personnel, Coughlin said, УThose discussions are forthcoming. We have not really gotten into all the detailed discussions on personnel. With Jerry Reese just being named the general manager, those discussions are really forthcoming.Ф
Coughlin said Spagnuolo was the only candidate he Уinterviewed, as such, as my first choice. I did a lot of research on any number of guys.Ф When asked if he had spoken to anyone else over the phone, he said, УI spoke to many people over the phone, yes.Ф
Spagnuolo downplayed any advantage heТll have over Eagles coach Andy Reid, saying he might know some of the Eagles personnel better than any other team but he wonТt know what the calls are on any given play. Then again, Reid wonТt know exactly whatТs in SpagnuoloТs head, either.

Breaking news: Giants hire defensive coordinator
According to a league source, the Giants have a new defensive coordinator -- Steve Spagnuolo, the Eagles LB coach. Announcement later.
Steve Spagnuolo, the GiantsТ new defensive coordinator, has been with the Eagles for the last eight years. He joined PhillyТs staff in 1999 as a defensive quality control assistant. In 2001, he began working with the safeties and eventually took over the entire secondary. So he was a factor in an Eagles secondary that was among the best in the league for the early part of this century.

Spagnuolo, 46, switched to linebackers coach three years ago when Jeremiah Trotter returned to the Eagles and recaptured his Pro Bowl form. Spagnuolo has been with the team for all of defensive coordinator Jim JohnsonТs time in Philly.

Before joining the Eagles, Spagnuolo was a college coach for 15 seasons, including two years with Rutgers

Spagnuolo drove up the Turnpike yesterday to interview with coach Tom Coughlin. He impressed Coughlin enough to get the job practically on the spot.

In talking to two Giants defensive players this morning, I heard the same word used right off the bat: aggressive. ThatТs what they hope Spagnuolo will be. Recently fired defensive coordinator Tim Lewis, who has since landed with the Panthers, was often timid in his schemes last year and that didnТt sit well with the players.

http://www.nj.com/giants/ledgerblog/index.ssf?/mtlogs/njo_sl_giants/archives/2007_01.html#228015

[Giants/Jets Legend]

15 Year vetern Bob Whitfeild Retires.

From ESPN.com:

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Giants offensive tackle Bob Whitfield announced his retirement on Thursday, ending a 15-year career with three teams that was highlighted by a Pro Bowl selection and a Super Bowl start.

"I always had a lot of fun," Whitfield said. "Even in the rough and tumble times, it was always a good feeling. The positive side of making a turnaround, that was what I truly enjoyed about the sport -- overcoming adversities, especially when people don't give you a chance.

"That's the emotional roller coaster people don't recognize in football. Your heart is broke one week and you have a picnic the next," said Whitfield, who made nine starts and played in every game with the Giants over the past two seasons.

The eighth overall choice in the 1992 NFL draft after playing at Stanford, Whitfield played his first 12 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, going to the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl in the 1998 season. He played for Jacksonville in 2004 and then joined the Giants.

Whitfield appeared in 220 regular-season games, making 176 starts, including 123 consecutive games for the Falcons. The streak started in 1993 and ended in 2000.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2767256

In my opinion, the Giants need to re-structure there offensinve line. With Whitfield's retirement and Petitgout's release, the Giants have to either sign a good free agent or consider drafting an O-lineman high in the draft.

[DoubleX]

Hi everyone, this is my first post here. I needed a place to vent about the Giants offseason thus far. I can only describe it as terrible. It's very early in the Reese era, but conservative is definitely the first word that comes to mind. The second is rebuilding, in that he's hoping to build through the draft and reshape the team over the next couple of years. I don't really see the sense in that as the team has a ton of talent, just some bad luck with injuries and some terrible coaching, IMO (with injuries perhaps being related to some of the coaching, as Tiki Barber somewhat eluded to in his NBC introduction speech).

Putting stress on the draft in his first year isn't surprising because Reese was the draft guy before becoming the GM, still, I feel he's really bombed by not landing anyone in the free agent market. Some solid veterans would be useful in several places, such as linebacker, the secondary, the offensive line, defensive tackle, wide receiver, and backup quarterback. That's just too many positions to rely on the draft - some experienced depth is needed.

I also think cutting Luke Petitgout was a mistake. He was overpaid and his cutting did free up cap room, but what exactly has the team done with that cap space? Nothing. Petitgout was a very solid left tackle and he was having perhaps his best season before he was injured this year. His going down seemed to exacerbate Manning's struggles. A team really can't underestimate the importance of a blindside tackle. It can be tricky to find someone reliable at that position, and the Giants just volunatarily gave themselves that onerous task. I think Diehl could handle the job and Seubert should be great at guard, but now the depth is completely gone and the team has thus far done nothing to address that.

I think letting Jay Feely go was also a mistake. He was dependable, and probably one of the better kickers in the league, though certainly not in that top echelon. I doubt the team will find anyone better. I hope the cutting of Petitgout and not resigning of Feely is not a sign that the team is again taking for granting the offensive line and special teams. Those were continuous issues that seemed to plague the team throughout Fassel's tenure. Accorsi seemed to finally have fixed the problems in the past few years, but Reese might now be undoing that and we could get back to that unreliable line and special teams play that was a hallmark of the Fassel years.

I also think the team should have held onto Lavar Arrington. Given his injury history, I doubt that he could ever come back and be an impact player again, but the team is still pretty thin at linebacker, and we saw at the end of the '05 season how much that can hurt the team. If Arrington could come back and just be reliable, that would have given the team valued depth, and I don't believe his cap number was that big for this year. Plus, there's always the chance he could come back and be an impact player, just like Julian Peterson and Jeremiah Trotter have done in recent years.

Finally, the Reuben Droughns trade. I like it and I don't. The team needed another runningback, and Droughns came at a great price, especially given his experience. But I think the team really needed a change of pace back. Droughns and Jacobs are both power runners.

Anyway, that's all I got for now.

[Giants/Jets Legend]

DoubleX, I have to say I agree with a lot of this. The only thing I might comment on is Petitgout. He's good and was reletively injury free but the false start and holding penalties really killed us.

[DoubleX]

DoubleX, I have to say I agree with a lot of this. The only thing I might comment on is Petitgout. He's good and was reletively injury free but the false start and holding penalties really killed us.

You're right about the false start and holding penalties. But the whole line seemed guilty of them, even Kareem McKenzie who in his previous two or three seasons with the Jets had just a very small handful of penalties, and then he comes here, and we seem to hear his name called about every game. I think it's a coaching issue.

The bottom line for me is that Coughlin was brought in to fix certain things, namely injuries, discipline, and special teams play. I think the special teams play increased markedly with Coughlin, though I fear the letting go of Feely could be a sign that the team might be beginning to neglect that area again. However, injuries and discipline seem just as bad, if not worse under Coughlin than under Fassel.

I had some problems with Fassel's coaching too, but the players liked playing for him and he seemed to be able to light a fire under his players. The play calling under him was also a little more imaginative, whereas under Coughlin is has been dreadfully predictable and woefully unable to adapt.

I'm not sure who the coaching answer is at this point (though part of me would like to see Fassel come back - not going to happen). I was on board with Coughlin when he was hired as I thought he'd give the team what they needed, but I was wrong. I think the team has largely gotten as far as it has the past few years on its talent, and I think the coaching staff has held the team back from there. I think with the weapons the team has on offense, and the pass rushing weapons the team has on defense, with proper coaching that better utilizes those weapons, the Giants could have gone much further this year.

[DoubleX]

Here's a question for everyone - do you think the Giants should consider trading for Lance Briggs? It would cost them quite a bit, likely their 1st round pick this year (though they might be able to get a later round pick back from the Bears in the deal). Would that be worth it? I'm conflicted on the issue right now. You don't want to give up your 1st round pick, but then again, will they get anyone better who will make more of an immediate impact that Briggs likely will? Age shouldn't be much of a concern with Briggs given that he's just 26.