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What will the Giants do? All of the WR’s are vertically challenged!

April 7, 2009 by MarkM · Leave a Comment 

burress barber fighting What will the Giants do? All of the WRs are vertically challenged!

The New York Giants do not have a lack of speed and big play potential when you look at their Wide Receiving core, regardless of what some morons think and write. With the speed and explosiveness of Mario Manningham and Sinorice Moss, and Ron Hixon you would have to be crazy to think that. The Giants may have some of the fastest receivers in the NFL, in truth. The only big problem for this team is the glaring shortness of these Wideouts! Without Plaxico the tallest of Eli’s targets is Hixon at a generous 6′1. And that is the one thing they had been missing all last season and still now. They need a tall athletic target to go get jump balls in crowded spaces, which was Plaxico’s specialty. Before Burress they always had the WR skilled TE, named Shockey! What the Giants need is a WR who is over 6′1 who can make some big catches in some big spots. If he can get up and catch the ball in certain situations the Giants will only need to secure a role playing wideout, in the draft. Now, there are 3 options for this team, as far as I see it.

1. They could just attempt to draft a WR with their number 1 pick and pick up a free agent who has the ability to start and garnish some respect on the field. (My choice)

2. They could trade up picks in the draft to secure Crabtree or Maclin, which is what all of New York is hoping for. Personally I am not convinced, that would be the right move, but hey I’ve been wrong before.

3. They could also decide to just go for broke and trade a good helping of players and picks over several years for Boldin or Braylon Edwards. The Giants need receivers and without a doubt Jerry Reese has his eye on these two. So much so that someone had released the story specualting Reeses’s interest to the media about Edwards, who plays a very similar game to Plaxico and seems to have less of the character flaws.

As far as I see it the GMen are in great shape if they can keep their young talent, therefore I am believe they should keep Steve Smith, Sinorce Moss, and Mario Manningham and just sign a Veteran WR who can make plays in traffic during jump ball situations. There are several great fits for this role playing type (TALL) WR out in free agency right now:

Torry Holt:

NFLF Torry Holt 100304 What will the Giants do? All of the WRs are vertically challenged!

Torry Holt, is a getting a litter bit older and has had some extensive knee surgeries and problems, yet if the Giants can sign him for a short deal they can bring up their draft pick wideout the proper way  letting him mature under the tutelage of a true leader, which is what Tory Holt is. The Young Giants recievers could use the Veteran leadership this signing would bring, considering they have lost Amani Toomer.

Matt Jones:

Matt Jones 7 What will the Giants do? All of the WRs are vertically challenged!

Matt Jones is 6′6 and is a super jumper and a great athlete, yet his off field issues make him a cheap buy in free agency. The Giants are notorious for taking a chance, and over the past couple of years Matt Jones has had very sub par seasons. Make no doubt about it this guy is a risk, but it could pay off if you sign low and he plays high, and I don’t mean on cocaine!

Reggie Williams:

ReggieWilliams What will the Giants do? All of the WRs are vertically challenged!

This 6′4 physical monster can put any DB out of a position when he gets rolling. He also has had some issues over the past couple of years, and had seemed to play his way out of the 1 spot in Jacksonville. The Jaguars have however counted on Reggie for big plays and countless jump balls and his stats show it. In 2007, Reggie put up 10 TDs in only 6 starts, while only catching 35 passes for the season. He has brake away speed and he is very young and looking for a fresh start. He has low value because he just didn’t mesh well with the Jacksonville coaches and management!

Drew Carter:

340x What will the Giants do? All of the WRs are vertically challenged!

Is a wide out known for his jumping ability, he was supposed to be the replacement for Johnson in Carolina, but it just didn’t work out. He has made some great plays over his career and still is relatively young. Yet the game may have passed this guy over. He is my least favorite possible free agent as I see it now.

Miles Austin:

 What will the Giants do? All of the WRs are vertically challenged!

Miles Austin has had some pretty strong showings over his short career. He had played along side TO and Roy Williams in Dallas. Miles Austin, last year would sometimes seem to out play both Owens and Williams. At 6′3 this player has the potential to be a big catch WR, who could really help replace the loss of Toomer and Burress. He has done great things in Dallas and it’s funny to think they just cut him. His knee issues must be pretty severe for Dallas to have dropped him, but if he checks out good with the doctors, I am all for this guy!

Joe Jurevicius:

 What will the Giants do? All of the WRs are vertically challenged!

I want to cry when I think about how many times this big guy has saved me from losing money. No matter what I will always bet on this guy. Joey is coming into his final seasons as a pro and I can’t think of any other wide receiver who has made as many HUGE catches as this guy without producing any real gawky stats. My friends and I have a saying, “Joey Jurevicius, the man-child from Penn State will always give you 1 big play every game for the rest of his life. Even though he might only record one catch, in the end it is going to matter”. I think the Giants would be nuts not to want him, Joey brings an positive and inspirational aura and an attitude wherever he goes. Jurevicius is a motivational figure that the Gmen may need in that Offensive huddle this season. I know he isn’t fast anymore, but he has height and great hands, and a history with the New York Giants, which could make him an easier sign!

No matter what, I cant wait to see big blue fix the issues with this WR core. I think Jerry Reese has some an up his sleeve, so lets see what cards he decides to play on draft day!

Undefeated Teams in the NFL look to Remain Unscathed

September 16, 2008 by sportsroids · Leave a Comment 

By Alex V

Lots of teams start off 2-0 and then don’t end up virtually doing crap the rest of the season. Take the 49ers from last year for instance; they began last season a promising 2-0, and then proceeded to, dare I say, “rip” off eight great losses thereafter before finishing their season 4-12. So let’s find out who this year’s 2-0’s are last year’s 49ers, and who looks to get it goin to 3-0 when all is said and done this coming Sunday.

The first team on the docket is the 2-0 Arizona Cardinals. They are coming off a convincing

Arizona Cardinals

victory over Miami last weekend, when, perhaps, the new Greatest Show on Turf (Boldin, Fitzgerald and Warner) blasted the Dolphins for a 31-10 final, and a rocky start but strong finish in week one against… you guessed it, San Francisco! They won that game 23-13. Their opponent, the Washington Redskins, found some life this weekend pulling out a come-from-behind win against the Saints while putting up 29 points. But the Cardinals with a healthy Kurt Warner are looking like locks against the lower-tier teams. However, Washington has seemed to have this team’s number, even since the days when they used to be in the same division. Plus beating the Saints kinda takes them to that level between lower-tier and competitive. I’ll go with the Redskins to continue that tradition for at least one more match up since they play at home, and the Cardinals beat two teams that finished a combined 5-28 last season.

The next match up to go over is New England against Miami. They play at home against Miami… I honestly do no want to say anything else about this game, but for the sake of professionalism, I’ll utter a few words. Miami does not look like they’re rebuilding with Chad Pennington, and New England is too savvy, minus the inexperienced, if not promising, Matt Cassel, to let one slip against the Dolphins. New England moves to 3-0.

The New York Giants are looking great overall as a team with every phase being above average; the passing game is spreading the ball around, running game is getting great yardage out of its starter in Brandon Jacobs, as well as Ahmad Bradshaw and Derrick Ward, plus the defense is stopping the run, and disrupting the opponents passing game while the special teams

New York Giants look Tough this year.

New York Giants look Tough this year.

play is solid. The Bengals offense has managed to produce 17 points in two games culminating to an average of less than ten per outing. Their defense has been average, which isn’t terrible, but when you aren’t scoring because your run game doesn’t scare anyone, and your Quarterback plays like he knows his team stinks, well then it’s hard to win games. But that’s not even it. The Bengals just flat out don’t even look like they care. Giants win and remain undefeated. Plus they’re at home this weekend… ‘nuff said.

Houston is at 2-0 Tennessee this weekend. Houston has played one game, and lost. Tennessee has played two games, and won them both. Although Tennessee and Houston are both looking to improve from promise they showed last year, the Titans showed higher promise finishing 10-6 and making the playoffs, while the Texans finished 8-8. This game could be close because of the obvious division rivalry, but I give the edge to the Titans who will remain unbeaten.

Carolina has been pulling off last minute victories the past two weeks like it’s their damn job. They’re becoming the “Cardiac Cats” of their 2003 Super Bowl run once again. This weekend they play against the Vikings in Minnesota. Although you shouldn’t overlook the Vikings (if you’re a smart football enthusiast) because of their hard-fought losses versus Green Bay in week one and Indianapolis last week, I still gotta go with the Panthers experience and return of Steve Smith. They are on the road, but aside from getting to Minnesota, they’ll get to 3-0 as well. What a sweet destination that is!

The Buffalo Bills are 2-0 as well and have the privilege of facing the Oakland Raiders at home this weekend. The Raiders actually looked like a little like a football team last week in smashing the Chiefs 23-8. But… Jamarcus Russell was a dismal 6 for 17 passing with only 55 yards. The Bills have improved enough to where a loss to the Raiders this weekend would look to be an upset. Bills go to 3-0.

The Broncos snuck a win out against the Chargers with that bullshit no-call on the fumble by

Jay Cutler, but a win is a win. The Saints must prove not to be the Aints. But, they’re going a

Denver and Jay Cutler look great.

Denver and Jay Cutler look great.

mile higher into Denver. I gotta pick the Broncos, and not cause they’re at home, but because with Cutler in the line-up they’ve improved steadily from last year up until this point. The Saints have been up and down since the beginning of last season and now 2008 as well.

Pittsburgh is 2-0. Philly scored like crazy on Monday Night Football putting up 30 points on offense (with the other seven coming off a Tony Romo fumble that turned into a recovery in the End zone by the Eagles). The Steelers have to go into Philadelphia to remain 3-0. When it comes to evading tackles and chucking the ball for big gains and/or crucial 3rd down conversions, the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger and the Eagles’ Donovan McNabb are two of the best. But, the Steelers are more consistent with their running game, and are usually un-phased on the road (scrap any indication of their 3-5 road record from last season meaning anything for this season. As far as I am concerned, they lost four actual meaningful road games as their fifth road loss came in week 17 against the Ravens when the Steelers had locked up a playoff spot and were playing for nothing. The Steelers did what playoff teams do… win at home, where they were 7-1, and perform decently on the road.). Donovan McNabb is, at times, flustered when playing against a 3-4 defense, so I give the edge to the Steelers to improve to 3-0.

The last teams with a chance to go undefeated are the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers. This is one of the toughest games of the week to call. It would be a lot easier for me to call if it were at 1:00pm or even one of the 4 o’clock games. If that were the case I would pick Dallas as they have everything Green Bay does; solid defense, playmakers in the running game and passing game, except… Romo is a more proven quarterback than Aaron Rodgers. However, due to the fact that this game is on Sunday Night Football in Green Bay, I go with the Packers to be 3-0 and the Cowboys to be 2-1. But there is one more reason I have to go with Green Bay; Aaron Rodgers has been playing with a chip on his shoulder in the two games this season so far. I have no doubt in my mind he knows that losing this game, or at least a bad performance, could quickly raise any doubts that he had erased with his wonderful performances in weeks 1 and 2. That psyche is enough for me to say that the Packers will win again this weekend.

So there you have my predictions for who will remain undefeated after week 3. There are 10 teams with the chance to improve to 3-0, and two of them, the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, barring a tie, are guaranteed to lose. The interesting thing is that based on the match ups, many of them could remain unbeaten. Can’t wait to see what happens!