Loading ...Now that the New York Giants and Osi Umenyiora have ended their year-long standoff, the team is ready to turn the page and focus on the task at hand: defending their Super Bowl championship. And no player appears more excited and anxious to do exactly that than safety Antrel Rolle, who feels the 2012 Giants are a force to be reckoned with.
"With Osi there, it just makes [the defensive line] that much more better," Rolle said at David Tyree's Charity Bowl on Tuesday night. "I think we have a great team all the way around. We are stacked right now at each and every position. As long as guys stay healthy, it is going to be a great run."
Health will be key for the Giants, who were crippled in 2011 after a series of devastating season-ending injuries to players like Jonathan Goff, Terrell Thomas and Marvin Austin. Already in 2012, they've lost cornerback Brian Witherspoon for the season with a torn ACL and wide receiver Hakeem Nicks for up to 12 weeks with a fractured 5th metatarsal of his right foot. In addition to those injuries, offensive lineman William Beatty has been dealing with a back injury, while tight end Martellus Bennett has been sidelined with a hamstring injury.
All that said, Rolle is spot on in his assessment of the team; they are incredibly deep at nearly every position. In fact, if the team is to stay healthy, they may be forced to cut players at the end of training camp who will immediately go on to fill important roles for other teams. It's a testament to the job done by General Manager Jerry Reese, who focuses on talent and not flash.
As far as Umenyiora and his contract situation goes, Rolle insists it was never a distraction to the team.
"There were no distractions," Rolle said. "Osi had to do whatever it is he had to do. Osi has never been a cancer or one to cause any controversy within our defense or organization. I'm glad that it is behind him now and he is smiling like a kid in the candy shop and I am also smiling."
Sounds like the Giants are preparing for Round 2 of "All In."
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Except at TE, OT, OG, DT, S and CB.
Of course if he means we have bodies, then, yeah, sure we’re stacked.
I understand that you can’t have back-up PBer at every position, but stacked ? C’mon !
As of right now we have one CB that’s both proven and healthy. Our #3 DT is either Shaun Rodgers or a basicaly rookie 3 years removed from meaningfull football. We have one real TE.
The back-up C is our LG.
We’re stacked (hopefully) at WR and we have our LBs.
Of course I wasn’t at the OTA so maybe Amukamara is ready and healthy. Maybe Brewer is set to start. Maybe Austin made up for 3 off years in a week.
That’d be awesome.
They aren’t stacked at CB? Please explain that.
Well unless I missed something Thomas and Amukamara are still hurt right ?
What’s the depth behind ?
- Tryon, a guy I like as a back-up
- Coe, 80 snaps over the last 2 seasons
- Hughes, who was let go from SD secondary …
- Molden, we saw 1st hand what he’s worth
- Hosley, rookie.
For CB both of those players are expected to be ready for the season. You counted Canty who’s also sitting out now. We have Cweb, TT, Prince, Hosley, Tryon, Coe and several other NFL caliber players like Johnson, molden, bing, etc. How is that not deep?
And stacked as oppose to who another 2012 NFL team or the 90s cowboys? In terms of the NFL in 2012 we are stacked. Of course we have some questions and some young guys that need to step up. But this is a deep roster with some depth at every position and lots of depth at a few.
I guess we just have different definitions of NFL caliber then :)
I am 100% in agreement with GOAT. The Giants’ CB’s are incredibly stacked. Over-stacked even. You have Webster, T2 and Amukamara right out of the gate. Then you add Bruce Johnson, who is a quality guy, Molden (good enough to play in the Super Bowl for a Belichick coached team), Tryon (extremely impressive a year ago prior to injury), Coe and Hosley (a very talented rookie), Bing and Hughes (who has 53 games of NFL experience).
That’s pretty friggin deep and very talented.
On paper, it might be the best overall group of Giants CBs in a long, long time.
What is you definition of NFL caliber then? Remember guys like Will Blackmon and Derrick Martin were in our secondary last year and we won the SB.
Wow! Hey, this is the Salary Cap Era. If you don’t think this defense is stacked then you’re just not looking hard enough. Just based on the defensive front this team is comparable to the best defenses ever put together. And the ONLY one that compares in the Salary Cap Era is the 2000 Ravens, who admittedly are a very high standard to meet.
I’m with Rolle. This defense is stacked. And we may only be a year away from saying the same thing about the offense.
The next few years look awfully good for the Giants. All that does is guarantee that if they can stay reasonably healthy they can compete for the Lombardi. But that’s a lot better than most teams can realistically aspire toward.
re-post because I absolutely agree with ‘Trel in regard to this defense…..
Oh, and speaking of defensive ends, a few days ago someone (I think it was rlhjr) contended that Craig Marshall will be the #4 DE this season. I really don’t think so. I liked the progress I was seeing from Justin Trattou in last year’s preseason games. If I recall correctly he made a big contribution to JPP’s block of that last-second field goal attempt in Dallas (those kinds of plays never leave the memory of the coaches). He is fast off the line. And according to rumors he has gained weight and is up to around 265 pounds. I think he was a bit light previously and that was a detriment in the run game. If he can anchor himself better and hasn’t lost any speed in the course of bulking up, I think he’s “the guy”. Especially because it appears Kiwi is really getting comfortable over at that SAM position, the #4 DE is likely to get 7-10 snaps each game. It’s a very important spot on the defense.
I’m going with Trattou as that guy. I’ll be very surprised if someone beats him out. If it happens, so much the better because that player will have to be very good. But I wouldn’t bet on it. A group that includes Tuck, JPP, Osi, a portion of Kiwi and Trattou would be way too much for most offenses to handle. Add canty, Joseph, Rogers and Austin and I’m not sure there is ANY offense that can handle that. Add our outside linebackers and our defensive backs (and at least the possibility that we have a solid group at MLB) and I really expect to see the kind of Giants’ football I grew up loving: a defense that has the fans at The Met howling for blood and offenses completely intimidated.
I’m expecting to see the ghosts of Robustelli, Modzeleski, Grier, Svare, Huff, Tunnell, Lynch, LT, Carson, Marshall, Banks, et. al out on that field in 2012. I honestly think this could be the best defense the Giants have ever had in their franchise history, and perhaps the best anyone has ever seen. They just need to stay relatively healthy and find a means to cover the middle zone. Do that and there’s really nowhere to attack against this group, and even if you found one, you wouldn’t have a lot of time to try.
Assuming everyone is healthy here are my defensive concerns:
1) Our starting LBs vs the pass. This is assuming that Kiwi, Herzlich/Blackburn and Boley start. Neither MLB is overly fast and neither is Kiwi. I don’t think this group will play a ton but against base sets teams can take advantage of this group.
2) Assuming health out top 3 CBs are likely Cweb, TT and Prince. With TT our nickel slot CB. So my only concern would be pure speed. Players like Djax, Garcon, Mike Wallace, Torey Smith etc. Our CBs are physical and can cover but a concern that I have and still would have is cover true speed WRs.
3) 3rd Safety. I don’t have confidence in Sash. I think he’s nothing special and if we play anywhere near the amount of 3 safety looks Sash will likely have to play a big role.
Look I’m high on the defense too. I think this can be the best defense in the NFL but there are some holes and I don’t think it’s an alltime defense. Though I would love to be wrong on this.
1. I think this basically applies to any team. That base you’re looking at is a run-stuffing group. Williams, or a DB will come on the field for the MLB (and possibly Kiwi too depending on situation) in passing situations. These days that means our 5th DB or Williams may very well wind up with more snaps than any of our MLBs.
2. I don’t think this a concern for our defensive personnel in particular. Those guys present that problem to every defense. There aren’t many guys in the league that can handle those guys 1-on-1 if they don’t get hands on them at the line. You simply have to give help over the top.
3. I’m probably a little more confident that Sash will look good than you, but regardless our depth at CB and LB this year means that we will not be forced into that 3 safety look constantly. We’ll run it a lot I’m sure, but it will be when we want to vs. out of desperation.
We ran a 3 safety look last year for 2 reasons. First, we had no nickel CB so ‘Trel had to play it. Second, we had no LBs capable of coverage besides Boley. Both of those problems, barring injury, have been addressed in the form of Williams, Rivers, TT, and Tryon. When Sash plays, it will either be because Rolle or Kenny need a breather or because Perry Fewell WANTS him on the field for a certain package.
This defense is stacked. Dan, FF55, et al are correct.
I do think where I’ve seen a misstep today, though, is the irony of pot/kettle comments about Osi’s lone commentary on his cross-hallway rivals on a site that’s featured much commentary on his cross-hallway rivals.
If you have to nitpick at the quality of player you have at the 4th, 5th and 6th cornerback spot, yes, you can say that you are “stacked.”
Not “dream team” stacked, but certainly loaded with young, hungry players with more potential than we’ve had in a while. Same goes for LB, OT, TE and WR. The only areas I see as relatively thin are interior OL, safety and QB. But that will work itself out.
I agree.
The guy that could change those interior OL thoughts is Mosley. If he can show some promise a guard then we have enough depth at the interior OL.
I think Will Hill is the key to depth at safety. Horton is decent and an upgrade from Martin. Sash is also decent with some promise to be an average starter type. But Hill can provide us with a possible very good starter doen the line and kind of replace what we lost with Chad Jones.
Are we talking about the same defense ?
What additions are gonna make this D one of the greatest ever ?
Are you guys expecting Fewell’s unit to allow 13 ppg ? 14 ?
Yes, that’s what they did at the end of the season, but they didn’t for the 1st 14 weeks (26ppg).
Let’s hope you’re right.