Since my last post, just prior to the first pre-season game, much has changed - specifically some major injuries, especially to the secondary. Heading into the pre-season, I believed the 2011 Giants defense was headed toward a top 5 ranking this year. However, the loss of Terrell Thomas is just devastating. Sure, the Giants will find a way to replace him. They have no choice. But Webster, TT and Ross at corner is a far cry from Webster, Ross and ? The Giants have toyed with the idea of moving Rolle to fill the nickel corner when that scheme takes the field, but that presents its own problems. It is going to be an area to closely watch and I am not nearly as confident today about the prospects of the Giants defense as I was when I posted just before the first pre-season game.
On offense, I continue to have huge doubts regarding the passing game. I love Nicks and MM but they benefited tremendously having Steve Smith as part of their trio. Without Smith, they are going to get doubled consistently and their production is likely to suffer. Add the loss of Boss and no serviceable replacement, and the passing game could really struggle. Moreover, the loss of Boss is going to impact the running game as well. The Giants simply do not have a TE that can fill both the blocking and passing roles. And if they try to go with a rotation, it will clearly cause problems since it will be such an obvious signal of pass versus run that it simply won't work.
Lastly, on special teams, I thought the Giants looked greatly improved in their coverage units, although frankly that is really difficult to judge during pre-season. The only player I had hoped would be a standout, rookie Jernigan, struggled to hold onto the ball. Beyond his struggles catching punts, he is so small he goes down with just the slightest touch by a defender, but did show some flashes in the last pre-season game when he was finally able to get some open field. But, I don't see Jernigan contributing to the team as anything other than a returner despite his nice TD receiption the other night. And the question at this point is whether Coughlin even risks putting him on the field when the games count.
Here's the "final" roster as of today.
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Quarterbacks: |
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| 10 Eli Manning | |||||||||
| 8 David Carr | |||||||||
Halfbacks: |
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| 44 Ahmad Bradshaw | |||||||||
| 27 Brandon Jacobs | |||||||||
| 28 D.J. Ware | |||||||||
| 34 Da’Rel Scott | |||||||||
Fullbacks: |
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| 45 Henry Hynoski | |||||||||
Wide Receivers: |
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| 88 Hakeem Nicks | |||||||||
| 82 Mario Manningham | |||||||||
| 87 Domenik Hixon | |||||||||
| 80 Victor Cruz | |||||||||
| 15 Devin Thomas | |||||||||
| 12 Jerrel Jernigan | |||||||||
Tight Ends/H-Backs: |
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| 86 Bear Pascoe | |||||||||
| 47 Travis Beckum | |||||||||
| 85 Jake Ballard | |||||||||
Offensive Linemen: |
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| 67 Kareem McKenzie | |||||||||
| 65 William Beatty | |||||||||
| 78 Stacy Andrews | |||||||||
| 73 James Brewer | |||||||||
| 76 Chris Snee | |||||||||
| 66 David Diehl | |||||||||
| 77 Kevin Boothe | |||||||||
| 62 Mitch Petrus | |||||||||
| 64 David Baas | |||||||||
Defensive Linemen: |
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| 99 Chris Canty | |||||||||
| 97 Linval Joseph | |||||||||
| 95 Rocky Bernard | |||||||||
| 73 Jimmy Kennedy | |||||||||
| 91 Justin Tuck | |||||||||
| 72 Osi Umenyiora | |||||||||
| 90 Jason Pierre-Paul | |||||||||
| 71 Dave Tollefson | |||||||||
Linebackers: |
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| 94 Mathias Kiwanuka | |||||||||
| 59 Michael Boley | |||||||||
| 54 Jonathan Goff | |||||||||
| 53 Greg Jones | |||||||||
| 57 Jacquian Williams | |||||||||
| 58 Mark Herzlich | |||||||||
| 49 Spencer Paysinger | |||||||||
Defensive Backs: |
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| 23 Corey Webster | |||||||||
| 31 Aaron Ross | |||||||||
| 20 Prince Amukamara | |||||||||
| 43 Brian Williams | |||||||||
| 37 Michael Coe | |||||||||
| 21 Kenny Phillips | |||||||||
| 26 Antrel Rolle | |||||||||
| 34 Deon Grant | |||||||||
| 36 Derrick Martin | |||||||||
| 39 Tyler Sash | |||||||||
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