Here is my early look at the 2010 Giants

It looks like there will be no collective bargaining agreement in place for next year.

An uncapped year means:

an uncapped year:

• The top eight playoff finishers from the previous season would be allowed to sign free agents only at the rate at which they lose them.
  
• Players would need six NFL seasons to be eligible for free agency, rather than four.
  
• Each team would be allowed to restrict two eligible free agents with "franchise" or "transition" player tags, rather than one.

For the Giants that means:

1. Gerris Wilkinson, Domenik Hixon, Barry Cofield, Sinorice Moss, Guy Whimper, Kevin Dockery, Derek Hagan and CC Brown will not become free agents.
   
2. The Giants free agents will be Fred Robbins, David Carr and Danny Clark

Similarly assuming that we are in the top eight teams; we could only sign new free agents as our free agents sign elsewhere.

I don’t think that any of our free agents will be back, but at the same time with a much smaller free agent pool, it is unlikely there will be any free agency signings of note.

Pierce will be entering his contract year, his leadership is extremely important to the team but think he stays around for what would be one more campaign..

In many cases we have great talent across the team, with another year under their belt, they will continue to improve.

Perhaps the biggest issue will be the possibility of having to replace Feagles,.who is going to have to hang up the boots eventually.



My Mock Draft

Please note that I am expecting at least 50 underclassmen to declare as in previous years. The potential lockout in 2011 could prompt more juniors to declare.

1 - Arthur Jones DT Syracuse
Robbins is likely gone and Bernard is up there age-wise. It is great time to brng in a stud DT to develop for the future. Jones is a very active, disruptive and very strong 4-3 NT who will work into the rotation and be the future anchor of our Dline.

2 – C Matt Tennant, Boston College, 6-4, 294, 5.15
Tennant is a quality Center from a very good program. Tennant will be groomed to become O’Hara’s heir apparent

3 - LB Sean Lee Penn St, 6-2, 236, 4.75
Lee is simply a playmaker at LB. We do have good talent here and this is a luxury pick to some extent, but Lee is a great leader, can play MLB or WLB for us and is too good to pass up here.

4 – S Nate Allen, South Florida, 6-2, 206, 4.50
Safety depth is thin; Allen gives a physical safety with good speed and coverage. Allen will also be a quality special teamer.

5 – DE Alex Carrington, Arkansas State, 6-5, 284, 4.80
Carrington is very good DE with excellent physical tools and ability to get to the QB; he is just too good a talent to pass up here

6 – P Zoltan Mesko, Michigan, 6-5, 231, 4.75
A very good punter prospect

7 – TE Jeff Cumberland Illinois 6-5, 255, 4.50
A TE prospect with excellent physical tools and ability to get deep

7 – RB Ben Tate RB Auburn, 5-11, 218, 4.50
A good RB prospect to compete for our rotation

Please note that I am expecting around 50 underclassmen to declare for the NFL


Offense (26)

QB (2): Manning, Bomar

RB (4): Jacobs, Bradshaw, Brown, Ware/Johnson/Tate

FB (1): Hedgecock

WR (7) Nicks, Hixon, Smith, Manningham, Moss, Barden, Hagan

TE (3): Boss, Beckum, Johnson

OL (9): Diehl, McKenzie, Snee, Seubert, O’Hara ,Beatty, Tennant, Koets, Boothe/Whimper

Tennant’s addition means there is one less roster spot. With Boothe and Koets both being able to play RT as well as inside it looks like Whimper becomes the odd man out

Defense (25)

DE (4): Umenyiora, Tuck, Kiwanuka, Carrington/Tollefsen

DT (5): Cofield, Canty, Alford, Bernard, Jones

SLB (3) Sintim, Kehl, DeOssie

MLB (3) Pierce, Lee, Goff

WLB (2) Boley, Blackburn/Wilkinson

There is a lot to like about Wilkinson, but I think he is the guy who will miss out. We are loaded with talented young LBs, I can’t see us adding another in the draft.

CB (5): Webster, Ross, Thomas, Dockery, Johnson

SS (2): Phillips, Brown

FS (2): Johnson, Allen


Special Teams (2)

K (1): Tynes

P (1): Feagles/Mesko




Coaching

Unless things improve significantly and dramatically with our red zone offense (which seems to be getting worse rather than better), someone will have to carry the can and Kevin Gilbride (with his play calling) is the top candidate. Lets be honest, our green zone offense has been poor for some time, we are leaving far too many TDs on the field. With our power running game and physical receivers we have the players to get the job done. It has to come back primarily to schemes and play calling and that means Gilbride and Coughlin.

I think Gilbride will (right or wrong) carry the blame with Coughlin probably being a little more hands off

As far as candidates for offensive coordinator go, at the top of the list will likely be Charlie Weis. I think Notre Dame will not quite get there again this year despite having an explosive offense; whether right or wrong, I think Weis will carry the can in the college coaching carousel. Weis could also have an assistant head coach role.

This is also good timing for Weis as he would have a time in the Giants system before Coughlin retires; and we know that the Giants don’t mind hiring from within

I get a chance to watch Syracuse football quite a bit.
I would be happy with Arthur Jones. He's one of the only bright spots for the Orange in quite some time.

Arthur Jones is a stud DT no doubt, and he regularly attracts double teams as well. There is alot to like about Jones, he is strong, disruptive and has a great work ethic.

Next years DL draft is loaded

One guy to watch out for is Lindsay Witten (Connecticut), this is his first year as a starter replacing Cody Brown (drafted 2nd round), Witten has 7 sacks in the two games so far this season.



The biggest thing to consider is that next year will very likely be uncapped, so that will impact the Giants, particularly if we finish in the top 8 teams.