Here are my latest musings for the 2010 Giants

We now know Fewell’s general style, plus we recently signed Robert Nunn as defensive line coach.
Fewell likees to attack receivers at the line of scrimmage, which suits Webster, Ross and Thomas well. Also it is very likely Fewell prefers more mobile LBs. This means guys like Pierce, Clark, Blackburn and Wilkinson are not good fits.

We know a new CBA is extremely unlikely and thus there will be limited players available in free agency.

I have been thinking about our defensive line, and we have the talent there, we just need to be healthy and play to our potential. I think Fewell and Nunn will turn it around really fast. Robbins and Bernard are gone.

We will overhaul the defense. the Giants are unlikely to rely on rookies to start as we upgrade positions, I think we will continue the habit of developing rookies behind veteran starters. This means we will need to bring in veterans to start (if the current guys are not viewed as the answer).

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These are my current musings

Positional Moves:

Clint Sintim to DE
Sintim doesn’t play well in space and isn’t the style of LB Fewell prefers, however he could develop into a decent pass rusher at DE.

Aaron Rouse to WLB
Fewell prefers faster LB and we need to upgrade the secondary. Rouse has been a little inconsistent in deep coverage, but he is big (6'4", 230), fast (4.40) and a good tackler, he is a good fit to back up Boley at WLB plus his coverage at would be very good for a linebacker.

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Free Agency

Sign LB Karlos Dansby (Cardinals)
Overhauling the LBs will be the priority this offseason. The cardinals have said they aren't going to franchise him, making Dansby is the best option available (and probably the only legitimate free agency option) and a great fit at SLB. Although he won't be cheap.

Sign George Wilson (Bills)
A restricted free agent, but the Bills will not invest heavily to keep this former udfa. Wilson knows Fewell’s systems and will help the secondary make the transition. He also provides quality depth and special teams play.


Resign David Carr or sign a veteran QB perhaps Daunte Culpepper (Lions)

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Trades (draft day)

Trade 4th round pick for S Kerry Rhodes (Jets)
Rhodes seems to be on the outer with Rex Ryan and reportedly is available for a mid round pick. This gives us two quality starters at safety. Making Johnson a good backup.

Trade 4th round pick for LB Derrick Johnson (Chiefs)
Johnson is on the outer with the Chiefs and wants out. He is a very good fit at MLB in our more mobile LB system and is reportedly available for a mid round pick.

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Draft



1a. OT Bryan Bulaga, Iowa (6-6, 312, 5.00)
Physical blocker with a nasty disposition and well-rounded game. Bulaga would be the eventual replacment for McKenzie, but could also play LT which means he can backup both tackle spots.
Giants trade down in the first round for an extra 2nd round pick; possibly to New England for #22 and #53 allowing them to draft Dez Bryant (New England have 3 second round picks and urgent needs at WR).

1b. DT Brian Price, California (6-2, 300, 5.00)
Powerfull, disruptive and very quick. Price is a genuine playmaker behind the line of scrimmage.
Giants trade up to get Brian Price; perhaps #45 and #53 to Baltimore for #25 and #120

3. CB Syd’Quan Thompson, California (5-9, 191, 4.50)
CB is not a huge need and Thompson is a little shorter than ideal, but he is a tough, physical CB with good coverage skills and increases our CB depth and special teams.

4a. Traded for LB Derrick Johnson

4b. Traded for S Kerry Rhodes

5. LB A.J. Edds, Iowa (6-4, 244, 4.70)
Edds is a good fit at LB fpr Fewell's style of and could likely play MLB for us. He also gives us good special teams play.

6. CB Jamar Wall, Texas Tech (5-10, 203, 4.50)
Wall is a physical CB and special teams player.

7. P Zoltan Mesko, Michigan (6-5, 231, 4.75)
A stud punter with a booming leg and terrific hangtime

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my possible roster would look something like:

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Offense

QB (3): Eli Manning, David Carr/Daunte Culpepper, Rhett Bhomar

WR (6): Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham, Ramsees Barden, Domenik Hixon, Derek Hagan

TE (3): Kevin Boss, Travis Beckum, Bear Pascoe/Darcy Johnson

RB (4): Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw, Andre Brown, Gatrell Johnson/DJ Ware

FB (1): Madison Hedgecock

OT (3): Kareem McKenzie, William Beatty, Bryan Bulaga

OG (3): Chris Snee, David Diehl, Kevin Boothe/Adam Koets

OC (2): Shaun O'Hara, Rich Seubert

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Defense

DE (4): Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Matthias Kiwanuka, Clint Sintim

DT (4): Chris Canty, Barry Cofield, Jay Alford, Brian Price

SLB (2): Karlos Dansby, Brian Kehl

MLB (3): Derrick Johnson, Jonathan Goff, AJ Edds

WLB (2): Michael Boley, Aaron Rouse/Chase Blackburn/Gerris Wilkinson

CB (6): Corey Webster, Aaron Ross, Terrell Thomas, Syd’Quan Thompson, Bruce Johnson, Kevin Dockery/Jamaal Wall

SS (2): Kerry Rhodes, George Wilson

FS (2): Kenny Phillips, Michael Johnson

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Special Teams

LS (1): Zak DeOssie

K (1): Lawrence Tynes

P (1): Zoltan Mesko

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I think this kind of roster is the kind of thing Reese, Coughlin and co are looking for.


the biggest key will be getting healthy and our players (particularly defense) performing better.

I particularly like the strength and depth along the offensive line. This will go along way to restoring our dominant running game.

The Dline looks very strong; Price can do the same kind of things that Tuck did inside. A healthy Tuck and Canty along with Cofield and healthy Alford will go a long way to fixing our run defense; Osi should also bounce back. Price will be a big help in getting pressure up the middle.

Dansby, Johnson and Boley are the mobile kind of LBs Fewell prefers and give us a complete overhaul at LB over the current 2 season. Goff, Kehl and Rouse provide depth and rotation.
Webster, Ross and Thomas give us 3 quality corners, particularly with press coverage

Rhodes and Wilson provide veteran depth in the seconday and Jones gives us a stud S to develop for the future as well as special teams play.

Normally I am not a big fan of trading away draft picks, but this year with out needs, I think it is worth while.

any thoughts?

Nice write-up Pete.

But imo there's zero chance of Kerry Collins coming back to the Giants as a back-up role to Eli. I feel Collins left with hard feelings and would simply retire before he ever came back here.

That being said, I think the Giants should find a decent vet with some real game experience. I doubt Carr gets much interest around the league as a starter and with the possibility of no cap this season, maybe we can afford to overpay a little for Carr's services.

I know it seems easy to say that Bernard stunk it up this past year, and rightfuly so, but we need to remember that Rocky didn't train at all in summer training camp and it was evident he was out of shape.
I might give Bernard another chance to compete in camp.
There's a chance that Cofield will not be back, and for Robbins, almost definately not coming back.

Losing 3 veteren DT's is not the best case scenario for any team.
That would leave us with Alford who's still unproven as a full time starter. And leave us with Canty who is also somewhat unproven as a 4-3 DT

Truth is, we can't afford to let Cofield go and may have to overpay to keep him.

There is almost no chance that Cofield will not be back

he is a RFA, we can put a tender on him where we would get a 1st round compensation

here are the rfa tender amounts for 2007, they will be good approximation

$2.562 million First- and third-round
$2.017 million First-round
$1.417 million Second-round
$927,000 Determined by RFA's original draft status

So if we tender Cofield around the $2million tender, a team would have to give us a 1st round pick to sign him. That isn't going to happen.

I think we sign Hixon to the 2nd round tender, meaning he is likely back as well.

Bernard may make it to camp, but i don't see him sticking



Collins was just a vet option, Carr would be the ideal but there are other options as well like Daunte Culpepper

I did a few tweaks taking on board some feedback from another forum

Big_Pete wrote:There is almost no chance that Cofield will not be back

he is a RFA, we can put a tender on him where we would get a 1st round compensation

here are the rfa tender amounts for 2007, they will be good approximation

$2.562 million First- and third-round
$2.017 million First-round
$1.417 million Second-round
$927,000 Determined by RFA's original draft status

So if we tender Cofield around the $2million tender, a team would have to give us a 1st round pick to sign him. That isn't going to happen.

That's cool then. I was thinking Cofield was a UFA and would get overpaid.
2 million or so wouldn't be bad. I figured in the end the Giants would probably sign him anyways, but there's always that chance.

Copied this from your other thread Pete.

Free agent QB's

Charlie Batch, Kyle Boller, Mark Brunell, David Carr, Daunte Culpepper, A.J. Feeley, Rex Grossman, Josh McCown, Chad Pennington, Chris Redman, Brian St. Pierre.

Not a bad list really when you consider the back-up will hopefully never play.

Heard Chris Redman's named mentioned a lot on another board but really don't remember if I've ever seen him play to comment.

Always thought Boller would be a decent back-up.

TD wrote:
That's cool then. I was thinking Cofield was a UFA and would get overpaid.
2 million or so wouldn't be bad. I figured in the end the Giants would probably sign him anyways, but there's always that chance.

with a CBA, Cofield would have been an unrestricted free agent. However without a new CBA (which is almost certain), players need 6 years of experience to become an unrestricted free agent.

there are 212 players who would have been unrestricted free agents who will now be rfa's because of the lack of a CBA

nice thanks for clearing that up.