I am doing my last version of my off-season thoughts before I go on leave late next week.

Here is my latest offseason plan for the Giants (5th december 2009)

I am surprised that while I do have quite a few changes, they are not so extensive as I originally thoughts. The Giants do have a good core of players.

The biggest problem this team has is the failure of the trenches on both sides of the ball. We aren't dominating like we should and we aren't winning our battles consistently. Defensively, we must get a pressure from the front 4. The old adage is so true for the Giants, it all starts up front.

I think generally our other units have done reasonably well. They are trying to make up for the poor line play, but aren't the kind of dominant units that can do that by themselves. This included our much maligned running game. I think we have the players, but they are not getting downhill consistently. On both sides of the ball we are losing the battle at the point of attack. One this happens, I think alot of things will fall into place.

Here is what I would do to fix the Giants current thoughts for the 2010 offseason. Significant changes are certainly needed.

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Team Needs

The biggest shock to me this season is our offensive and defensive lines. To often we are not winning the battle of the trenches, where previously we had been dominating.

The top priority is to bolster the trenches (on both sides of the ball). We also should upgrade our secondary depth and otherwise look at BPA.

Key needs

1. Improved Coaching, systems and schemes; particularly coordinators who can make effective adjustments to dynmaic game situations

2.Substantially strengthen both the offensive and defensive lines

3.MLB - This weekend Goff gets his shot at MLB. If Goff can perform over the back half of the season, this position is set. Goff is that true thumper inside that we have not had for many years and has good range and mobility.

4.S – Aaron Ross looks to be moved to FS for the rest of the season. If he performs well, this could become his regular gig.

I am assuming both Goff and Ross do well with their opportunities. Reese will want to continue getting younger and faster.

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Coaching

The players buy into Coughlin's system and team focus. That discipline and work ethic is what is needed.
Our attitude is strong, we have the work ethic, commitment and team focus. No-one works harder than Coughlin but it seems at several points this season, we have been out-coached. It makes alot of sense to keep Coughlin at the helm.
Note - While I am currently in favour of retaining Coughlin, it will depend on how the team performs down the stretch

Fire Kevin Gilbride, Bill Sheridan and Tom Quinn
Actually I don't think we will need to fire Gilbride, I think he will get the head coaching gig in Oakland.
The schemes and systems simply aren't getting the best out of players. This may be a little hard on Sheridan as he is in his first year as DC, but the buck stops here.

New Offensive Coordinator – Charlie Weis
I think Weis gets fired at Notre Dame, the results just aren't on the board (for whatever reasons).
Weis is a very good offensive minded coach, and he has history with this team. He develops very good schemes and more importantly, can make in game adjustments (which is my main criticism of Gilbride). We know he can feliver explosive offenses (often without super star players). Being head coach at Notre Dame is excellent experience of being under the media spotlight in NY.

New Defensive Coordinator – John Fox
We need an experienced guy to handle the defence, particularly someone who is experienced with 4-3 defenses. I can’t see Fox surviving the annual end of season coaching purge. But there is no doubt that Fox is a very good defensive coach, particularly with defensive backs. Fox has an excellent defensive mind, particularly the secondary and has had success with the Giants and is a good fit. I think Fox will build on the excellent groundwork we have from Spagnuolo and Sheridan and take it to the next level.

New Special Teams Coordinator – Brian Polian
Currently Weis’ special team coach at Notre Dame; Brian is a very good coach and comes from the famed Polian family who have had much success in the NFL. Special teams has been a problem for some time for us, changes are needed.

Other coaches
For the most part I would keep the rest of the coaching staff. They are very good at what they do and have strong relationships with the players and know them well.

Note

I am assuming Coughlin maintains the overall management of the team, but that he gives alot of autonomy to Weis and Fox to get the job done.

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Salary Cap
I expect the Giants will be in pretty good salary cap shape, particularly with alot of big contracts now off the books (ie Burress, Toomer, Pierce, Robbind etc). I think we will we will be able to bring in a few veteran guys to reasonably priced contracts.


Trade

Trade Osi Umenyiora to San Fransisco for a first and third round picks (#12, #79)

This is similar to the deals done for Roy Williams and Jared Allen and is reasonable value.
I have a ton of respect for Osi, but he isn't effective against the run and is pretty much a pure pass rushing DE for us. We have Tuck and Kiwanuka who can fill the role well. This also frees up cap room so we can retain Kiwanuka long term.

Osi is fast, young (28), proven pass rusher (46.5 career sacks) with experience in dropping into coverage. Osi came back from ACL surgery this year and should be 100% next season.
Osi's contract is a lot less than the free agents, San Fransisco has the luxury of a first round pick from the Panthers (#11). Getting a dynamic pass rusher on the outside is the one thing the 49ers defense lacks.


Trade Mario Manningham to Oakland for their second round pick (#37)

The Raiders need another receiver to team with Murphy. Manningham has proven he can get the job done and has the speed and deep ability that Al Davis (and Gilbride) loves. We all know Al Davis has not had a lot of success in the draft or free agency. The Giants have a lot of receiving talent and Manningham is arguably the most expendable. I expect Kevin Gilbride to be get the Raiders top job this time round.

With Mario Manningham and Louis Murphy as the starters, Zach Miller and the hopeful development of Heyward-Bey, the raiders have the makings of a very good passing attack privided they get QB sorted.

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Free Agency

The first step of the season will be free agency. I expect the Giants to be in pretty good cap shape

Giants Free Agents
Carr, Hixon, Moss, Whimper, Cofield, Robbins, Clark, Wilkinson, Dockery, CC Brown, Feagles

1. Resign – Hixon, Cofield and Carr to moderate contract extensions (I assume Feagles will retire).

2. Consider reasonable contract extensions for Kiwanuka , Alford, Bradshaw. Smith, Boss and maybe M Johnson

Release Antonio Pierce, Rocky Bernard

He proved he still has ability, but he is declining. The big reason is to save $ 4.75m against the cap. There is a lot to like about Pierce, but his contract far outweighs his performance.

Rocky Bernard has not performed as expected so far, and his status will be reviewed during the off-season. But Robbins will be gone and Bernard does provide solid veteran depth (he will at likely at least make training camp). If Cofield can be resigned then Bernard is likely on the way out particularly if we upgrade the position in the draft. This is a numbers game, Cofield isn't a super star, but he is young, experiences and is a very solid run stopper, particularly on running downs and complements Alford and Canty well; plus he should be reasonably priced. Dominating the trenches up front will be a priority particularly at DT.

This means Pierce, Moss, Whimper, Robbins, Clark, Bernard, Wilkinson, Dockery and CC Brown will be plying their trade elsewhere in 2010.


Free Agency Signings

Here are the free agent signings I would ideally like to make for the team:

NT Vince Wilfork, New England
We have not been physical enough up front. Wilfork gives us that solid anchor for our defenseive like. This is much like we had with Keith Hamilton and the Panthers had with Kris Jenkins. This plays huge dividend in the run game particulalry and helps keep blockers off our LBs.
*Other options include Casey Hampton, Ryan Pickett

CB Richard Marshall, Carolina
A good young (24) CB on a bad team. Marshall is the type of CB we like and gives as a very good group of corners. Marshall also has more speed than Webster, Ross or Thomas giving us better match ups against quicker receivers (which have caused us some problems).

I think Ross stays at FS, I think he will do well, he gives us similar deep coverage to what Godfrey does for the Pathers. Fox is a defensive secondary guy, that is the strength of the panthers defense. Marshall also gives us someone who is very experienced with the kind of system Fox will use. Marshall gives us 3 legitimate starting calibre CBs, which is important with the prolific passing attacks this year. The Giants give Marshall the chance to play on a legitimate play-off team with his former head coach.
*other options include Dunta Robinson and Marlin Jacskon

TE Jeff King, Carolina
King is a good blocking TE with some ability as a receiver. Boss and Beckum are good receiving Tight Ends, but we need that blocking TE to complement them.
*other options include Anthony Fasano, Alge Crumpler.

I would also consider cheap free agents to compete for our backup roster spots

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Draft

Going into the draft we don't have a huge amount of needs and can generally take the best player available. We do need to upgrade DL and secondary depth at some point. All draft numbers are based off the draft order at gbnreport.com

12 DE Derrick Morgan, Georgia Tech, 6-4, 270, 4.75 (from San Francisco)
Morgan is a proven pass rusher and is also very stout against the run. With Osi's departure extra DE depth is needed. Morgan will quickly work his way into the rotation.

21 OT Anthony Davis, Rutgers, 6-6, 325, 5.25
Davis is a stud left tackle prospect, both in the running and passing games. Davis will be groomed as an eventual starter, most likely on the left side, with Beatty eventually moving over to the right side to replace McKenzie.

37 DT Brian Price, UCLA, 6-2, 300, 5.05 (from Oakland)
Price is a very quick, very strong and extremely disruptive DT who makes a ton of plays in the backfield. The rotation of Canty, Cofield, Alford and Price will solidify the center of our defense and get pressure up the middle. Price is probably limited to playing 4-3 UT, but that is exactly what we need.

49 OC Stefen Wisniewski, Penn State, 6-3, 303, 5.15
A 3 year starter on their oline, (2 year at guard, 1 at center). Wisniewski gives us a quality center prospect to groom as O'Hara's eventual replacement. Wisniewski is also very versatile and can equally play guard. His father played DT for Baltimore Colts and his uncle Steve was an 8 time probowl guard for the Raiders.

79 WR Golden Tate, Notre Dame, 5-11, 195, 4.45 (from San Francisco)
With the departure of Manningham there is a roster opening. No-one knows Tate better than Weis and Tate has proven ability to make the deep plays and get into the end zone. Tate also has experience returning kicks.
The WR group is really deep and Tate is smaller than idea. Ironically Tate does the same kind of things as Manningham, but better. Weis gets the guy he really wants and knows.

83 WLB Rennie Curran, Georgia, 5-11, 225, 4.55
The LB group is deep and Curren is limited to playing 4-3 WLB and is smaller than ideal. However, Curran is a legitimate playmaker and can do similar kind of things to Michael Boley. John Fox has had success with similar style players like Beason and Davis. Curran ensures there quality WLB depth/rotation and gives us a stud special teamer.

115 DE Lindsey Witten, Connecticut, 6-5, 260, 4.75
Witten is a good DE with geuine ability to get to the QB. The Dline class is incredibly deep this year. Witten gives us a DE rotation of 4 genuine pass rushers.

148 S Major Wright, Florida, 6-0, 204, 4.50
The safety class is very deep. Wright doesn't put up the huge numbers, but he is a very good open field tackler and has decent coverage skills. Wright improves our depth at FS and gives us a stud special teamer

171 P Zoltan Mesko, Michigan, 6-5, 231, 4.75
Mesko is a quality punter with exceptional distance. With Feagles gone, Mesko will be a huge asset in the field position game.

209 K Aaron Pettrey, Ohio State, 6-2, 199, 4.95
Tynes hasn't gotten the job done. Pettrey is a quality strong legged kicker

(note I have not considered any compensation picks)

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Positional Moves

David Diehl to LG
Diehl is a solid LT but consistently has had a lot of difficulties with edge rushers one on one; often needing alot of additional help which hampers our schemes. Beatty has shown a lot of potential. he should should be ready to start at LT, we also have a quality rookie in Anthony Davis ; this will allow Diehl to slip inside to LG and allow Seubert to be the versatile backup at multiple positions.

Note: I did originally have O'Hara being replaced, but he is still a decent player and should be solid with improved play either side of him. The quality young talent should also motiate and pressure the starters to perform.

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Possible Roster

With this offseason in mind, my 2010 depth chart would be something like:

Offense (25)

QB (3) Eli Manning, David Carr, Rhett Bomar

WR (5) Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, Golden Tate, Ramsees Barden, Domenik Hixon or Derek Hagen

RB (4): Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw, DJ Ware, Aaron Brown

FB (1): Madison Hedgecock

TE (3): Kevin Boss, Jeff King, Travis Beckum or Darcy Johnson

RT (2): Kareem McKenzie, Adam Koets or Kevin Booth

RG (1): Chris Snee

OC (2): Shaun O'Hara, Stefen Wisniewski

LG (2): David Diehl, Rich Seubert

LT (2): William Beatty, Anthony Davis


Defense (25)

LDE (4): Justin Tuck, Derek Morgan

RDE (2): Matthias Kiwanuka, Lindsay Witten

NT (2): Vince Wilfork, Barry Cofield,

UT (3) Chris Canty, Jay Alford, Brian Price

SLB (2): Clint Sintim, Brian Kehl

MLB (2): Jonathan Goff, Chase Blackburn

WLB (2): Michael Boley, Rennie Curran

CB (5): Corey Webster, Richard Marshall, Terrell Thomas, Bruce Johnson, DJ Johnson

SS (3) Kenny Phillips, Michael Johnson, Aaron Rouse

FS (2) Aaron Ross, Major Wright


Special Teams (3)

LS (1): Zak DeOssie

K (1): Aaron Pettrey or Lawrence Tynes

P (1): Zoltan Mesko

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Notes

I did want to upgrade TE depth, but there either was more important positions needing attention or wasn't any stand outs substantially better than the players we currently have.

I expect to see alot of underclassmen (likely substantially more than the 50 we have had in recent years). I don't think you can separate the draft from the rest of the offseason process, they are very much interlinked imho

I am assuming there is a new collective bargaining agreement in place before next season. I think the NFLPA and the NFL will make an agreement, probably at the last minute in early January.

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after last weeks game, I am convinved that Canty can get the job done for us as a 3-4 NT. With that in mind I have made some adjustements