Positional Needs For 2007

While a bit early (the 2006 Conference Championships haven't even been played), I find myself with time on my hands and decided to memorialize my thoughts on positional needs the Giants face.

OFFENSE
Although the defensive side of the ball would appear to be a priority, surprisingly there are quite a lot of needs on offense that must be addressed this off season.

Wide Receiver
The Giants need depth at wide receiver. It would be nice to be able to field a legitimate 4 WR set in 2007. The Giants ended 2006 with 6 wide receivers on the 53 man roster: Burress, Carter, Jennings, Moss, Tyree, and Watts. Assuming Toomer is healthy and Tyree continues to occupy a spot because of Special Teams play (a big "if" in my mind), that leaves Carter and Jennings as the spots to be upgraded.

That presents a problem. Carter and Jennings represent 2/3rds of the Giants speed at wide receiver. And speed kills. Having true world class speed at wide receiver is a critical component of any passing attack because of the openings created simply by stretching the defense vertically. While the Giants could decide that Sinorice Moss can fill that role without any backup, it clearly wouldn't be preferable. Finding a legitimate wide receiver with blazing speed who can catch the ball will require either using a very high draft pick or serious money in free agency (assuming such players are even available). Unless they decide to go with Moss as the sole speed option, I am not sure the Giants can afford to replace Tim Carter this year. Indeed, that is precisely why Tim Carter has remained on the team so long already.

Finding a solid possession receiver - a receiver who runs solid routes, finds openings, comes back to the ball, and has great hands, isn't easy either. Everybody wants one. The bottom line is that while it is easy to identify wide receiver as a position of need, it isn't a position that is easily upgraded - at least not without spending "capital" that is probably better spent elsewhere in getting ready for 2007.

Running Back
Everyone seems to believe that Brandon Jacobs is the real deal and heir apparent to Tiki Barber. That begs the issue. In the NFL you need at least two solid running backs to seriously contend for the Super Bowl. The Giants in 2006 were just fine with Tiki Barber and Brandon Jacobs. Without any changes, in 2007 the running backs will be Jacobs and Derrick Ward, assuming he is fully healed. The only other backs on the roster are Robert Douglas, James Sims, and Chad Morton. Jacobs and Ward are both relatively unknown quantities when it comes to handling the full load over an entire NFL season. It would appear foolhardy to go into the 2007 season without picking up a proven running back to compliment Jacobs. If the key is "proven", that would appear to dictate free agency rather than the draft which, of course, would further restrict the Giants maneuverability.

Tight End
Visanthe Shiancoe is an unrestricted free agent. With so many other needs to fill, the Giants can ill afford to add tight end to the list. That fact is probably well known to Shiancoe's agent which gives the tight end quite a bit of negotiating leverage, making signing him even more problematic. The Giants can't afford to be held up for a king's ransom but they can't afford to be in the market for a tight end either. How this issue gets resolved will be critical for the Giants during the off-season.

Offensive Line
Shaun O'Hara, another unrestricted free agent, is reportedly already seeking a king's ransom from the Giants. While many love to criticize O'Hara, the center position is a critical blocking component on the offensive line and, as with Shiancoe, the Giants simply cannot afford to lose O'Hara simply because that would likely mean spending free agency money or draft picks that they otherwise have targeted at other more critical areas of need. One savings grace for the Giants is the versatility of their linemen and Rich Seubert can play center if they can't keep O'Hara. They would still, however, have to replace the loss of depth and that would not be easily accomplished.

Beyond O'Hara, the Giants already have a glaring need to find a legitimate backup tackle. Wily old Bob Whitfield seems to have worn out his welcome but for all the bashing he took during 2006, Giants fans may regret letting him go when they come to realize that offensive tackles are an incredibly rare - and expensive - talent to locate in the NFL. The Giants are already on thin ice carrying Guy Whimper as a project making it all the more important that the one true backup they do carry be a legitimate tackle. Once again, this will not be an easy position to fill.

Backup Quarterback
Moving Jared Lorenzen into the #2 spot behind Manning seemed to signal that the Giants were sold on keeping Lorenzen around as a long term project. The Giants cannot go into the 2007 with Jared Lorenzen as the #2 QB behind Eli Manning. If Manning goes down, the Giants need to have a QB that is ready to take the helm and continue winning. If Lorenzen really is the #2 option ahead of Tim Hasselbeck then the Giants must find a backup QB who moves Jared back to #3.

DEFENSE
While there are a surprising number of issues facing the Giants on offense, it should come as no surprise that their defense needs a serious infusion of talent. An interesting issue will be whether the new defensive coordinator will want to continue playing a 4-3. However because Coughlin knows he must "win now", it is highly unlikely he will allow such a switch next year because of the impact upon the defensive line.

Defensive Line
With Strahan, Umenyiora, Kiwanuka, and Tuck, the Giants are set a defensive end. Defensive tackle, however, is another story. The Giants need defensive tackle to be a strength and that means four players in a very competitive rotation. Robbins had a solid year. Cofield had a good rookie year. In a perfect world the Giants replace William Joseph and Jonas Seawright with two players that give both Robbins and Cofield a run for their money for playing time.

Linebacker
Antonio Pierce is the best linebacker on the roster. Yet 2005 was a better year for him than 2006. I suspect that was more to do with the overall problems of the defense than it was about Pierce himself. The real problem is at both outside positions. Everyone seems to believe Arrington is the answer at one outside position. I am not in that camp. As I've noted here many times, I love the positive energy and attitude Lamar brings to the locker room. However it seems clear that injuries to his knees have seriously limited his abilities. The Giants came out of pre-season announcing that Arrington would have limited practice sessions during the week for the entire season in an effort to keep his knees as fresh as possible. You simply cannot play NFL football if you are so injured that the team has to announce that they are going to restrict your practice sessions all year long.

On the other side the Giants have Carlos Emmons. I stated here at the end of the 2005 season that Emmons had played his last game in a Giants uniform. Clearly I was wrong. I do not believe I will be wrong again. That leaves the Giants with Brandon Short, Reggie Torbor, and Gerris Wilkinson. Short had some good games. Torber was invisible. And it was very disappointing to me that, with all their troubles at linebacker, Gerris Wilkinson didn't force his way into the starting lineup - and worse, ended the year not even being dressed.

Defense wins super bowls (every super bowl winner since 1983 has had a defense ranked no worse than 8th in the entire league - that is almost 25 teams in a row without one exception). And I've always been a believer that a dominant front 7 is the core ingredient to a top ten defense. And, if I could choose between having an awesome defensive line or an awesome set of linebackers, I would take the linebackers every single time. Of course finding big, fast, mean linebackers with the quickness to rush the passer, the strength and meanness to stuff the run, and the speed to cover today's tight ends is the dream of every NFL team. That is why they are so critical to have. And the best the Giants have is Antonio Pierce in the middle. The Giants need to seriously upgrade their linebacking core and for now they need two stud, potential all-pro, outside linebackers.

Secondary
This is where the Giants perhaps need the most help. It is also the position that I believe, player for player, brings the least bang for the buck. Having said that, Madison was a great corner in his day but appears to have lost a step but would appear to be adequate if he was surrounded by otherwise great talent. Webster clearly struggled. He continually gave up too much of a cushion and often seemed lost in space. His much heralded ball hawking abilities certainly haven't seemed to come to fruition. McQuarters played well, as I noted here during the pre-season. He would make a solid nickle back.

As bad as coverage seemed all year long - continuing the trend from 2005, I believe strong physical safeties are more important to a dominant defense than corners. Unfortunately both Demps and Gibril Wilson struggled. I've read that Demps was still recovering from injury and that many have high expectations for 2007. Even if that is true, it would seem to explain his coverage failures more than it would explain his inability to tackle. Before addressing cornerback - despite the obvious needs at that position - I think the Giants need to field two tough, bone crunching, safeties.

Summary
The Giants have more needs than they can be expected to fill this off-season. WR(2), RB, OT, QB, DT(2), LB(2), CB(2), and Safety(2). That list represents 13 players. First and foremost they must make certain Center and backup TE are not added to that list.

I believe the biggest need - the position that would positively impact the Giants the most - is outside linebacker. In fact, I believe the need at linebacker is so great and the position to be so critical that, despite the large number of other positional needs, I would like to see the Giants select linebackers with 3 of their first 4 picks in this year's draft - trading down as necessary to avoid forcing any pick. I've read this draft does not have many, if any, first round line linebacking talent nor is it particularly deep for linebackers overall. Obviously the Giants can't pick three linebackers in the first four picks just for the sake of picking them.

If they can't hit a home run in free agency (and their record in free agency when it comes to linebackers hasn't been great), they need to add an infusion of new linebacking blood via the draft. Indeed, even if they somehow find the money and add a great linebacker via free agency (which I seriously doubt they have the cap room to do), they still need an infusion of new blood via the draft to compete at linebacker. Trade down - maybe give up their first round pick in exchange for a #2 and a #3 and use both second round picks on linebackers. The Giants will not be a legitimate super bowl contending team until they have three dominant linebackers. And I want them to find a way to do that for 2007.