Newsday’s Kim Jones on Giants Offensive Line | Giants Huddle | New York Giants

Newsday’s Kim Jones on Giants Offensive Line | Giants Huddle | New York Giants

welcome to another edition of the Giants hle podcast brought to you by citizens the official Bank of the New York Giants I am John schmel pleased to be joined by friend of the program The One and Only Kim Jones who covers the Giants for news day Kim how are you I’m awesome shokei which is what I have called you forever shokei everyone calls me shul it’s okay where when what airport were we in where we ended up having dinner because the the flight was Vegas I was in Vegas and I had to stay late I had to stay late to to do the game show and then we had a trick to the airport and delays and all that a couple of us in that group and yes that California Pizza Kitchen if I remember correctly right exactly now we get to actually have another conversation I love it yes we do and we’ve had a lot happen since that conversation and today so I guess let’s just start with basic Kim what do you think of overall what the Giants have done this offseason trying to kind of get their team back on the right track here well there are things that remind me of other things with the Giants for example you know Malik neighbors has a real chance here a real chance here to put not only a stamp on you know his receiver room but on this entire team because he has every gift it seems um you don’t want to rush him you don’t want to do any of that but naturally you watch him play it’s not unlike the feeling I got watching Odell play and you know what got me most excited when we talked to Drew lock I guess when this airs it’ll be two weeks ago M and he said what gets me excited is that he’s studying and he’s trying to figure out and he’s in his book because you can have the guy that’s a super athlete he doesn’t know where the hell he’s going it doesn’t matter as much but the fact that Drew lock went he was even asked that he went out of his way to point that out to me that was just as important as any of the physical stuff you’re talking about well and important for a room where you know wide receiver wise you can’t Darius Slayton to do everything you know he is an important leader in my opinion for this offense especially now and he’s been a good leader throughout but especially now with the makeup of the offense but when you look at neighbors and the gifts and the the the way he can stress a defense for one thing how many how many teams and it might be it might be more than I’m thinking but how many teams play after play can keep up with him he’s incredibly fast he catches everything when you talk catch radius when the fans are here at training camp you’re going to hear oo and O from from the the folks who are here to watch practice I heard him from the media two weeks ago when he made those two catches well the one was absolutely remarkable because it looked like he had to extend his his arm six inches to even get to the ball he and so there’s hope like that’s what I’m talking about when when when people ask me about the Giants is there hope there they don’t ask me if there’s hope but I like the word so I use it there is hope here they have some good players some really good players and some emerging rookies and I also wonder this can can Neighbors being just being Neighbors which looks pretty darn good can he help lift the entire receiver room is he a force multiplier right exactly exactly I’m with you Kim and I think the exciting thing for me and let’s talk about the wide receiver room first then neighbors I love Malik neighbors I thought he was pretty close to morvin erson Jr thought he was that good of a player in terms of coming out I thought he’s just he’s wonderful maybe in some ways a better fit here yeah I AG we and we can leave that alone just cuz we don’t need to talk about a player that’s not you know corre here but maybe maybe that was actually the better move and it looks to me initially like it was the better move yeah it could very well be we’ll have to wait and see how everything plays out with their careers but it’s not just like jayen Hyatt second year right we know his speed like does he figure it out does he take it big jump W Robinson heading into his third year but in a lot of ways it’s really like his second year because he lost the whole year with his torn ACL so can these guys all emerge a little bit at the same time and you take a position group that you just made the point you kind of has Darius s do a lot over the past four years probably more than a guy that was a day three draft pick should be asked to do it’s not fair to him right can this group emerge all at the same time and turn a position group that really you know we we do our we do a show on big we kick off every year and we rank the Giants position groups 1 through 12 and receivers have been in the bottom three or four the last four or five years can this now become a strength of the team which you talk about neighbors elevating the rest of the wide receiver group can this wide receiver group Elevate the quarterback Elevate the running game can can can they come together and Elevate everything if those other young guys can step up and also kind of work into what the Giants think their potential could be well from what we’ve seen from practices um a lot of these guys are capable pass catchers and they’re going to need to be for obvious reasons but even a Theo Johnson yes he’s a pen stator so I I know him a I don’t know Theo better but I know his game better I watch can he can move he can move people if he needs to um and and he’s and he’s also fast so can the Giants offense stress defenses to a point that perhaps we haven’t seen in a while with we think and and the Giants obviously hope a healthy Daniel Jones it’s going to be fascinating to see I mean that that’s the one thing about going into training camp by then you would certainly think Daniel is clear I mean I’m not a doctor but I mean they’ve been taking him slowly in many ways and he’s playing seven on seven he looks he looks great but I understand them not putting him team why would you put him in team drills in the spring have to be crazy right but like just watching a move like if like like if let’s say the Super Bowls tomorrow would he be healthy of the plan it oh he’s playing there’s no doubt about that yeah yeah no he looks that healthy yes but I also think they’re doing the smart thing but but when you when you look at it’s it’s kind of funny because there are questions about like what’s the defense going to look like right but I feel like we’ve seen some answers on what this offense is going to feel like and look like be basically because of neighbors and what I don’t want to do is say it’s all on this kid he is a kid I mean to me they’re all kids but he’s a kid but it doesn’t seem too big for and can I tell you one thing I loved and no one else who was sitting in this chair next to you would would point this out I loved and was touched by the fact that he made sure he told us I could cry that he already had bought his mom a house first thing he did before he even signed contct right right and that’s that’s obviously with an agent and you know he was going to have the wear of withth all to do that and everything else but that kind of stuff I think and I’ll never not think this tells you just a little bit if not a little bit more about a young person and in that case the moment he said that I thought to myself there’s something to this kid Beyond you you know I I I want to have X number of touchdowns an X number of of yards as a rookie and everything else there’s something motivating him and I think that kind of thing I’ve seen it in my career can be really really positive and and really something that can sustain a young man during the early parts of his career and I hope I’m right about that with neighbors yeah I had a pretty long conversation with him you get to see it on the wide receiver edition of the Giants AO podcast it’s probably not up when this airs it’ll probably be the the next week or something like that and you don’t get the W to you I got more of a sense and I think you know what I mean by this a guy that wants to be a great football player more so than a guy that wants to be a star he doesn’t seem like the guy that’s craving I want to be like a celebrity I don’t get that from him which I think at that wide receiver position we SE they’re Divas usually you know that that’s why the the best ones we call Divas sometimes I don’t get that sense from him at least at least early it’s early I don’t get that I think that’s fair I think that’s I think he I mean he it’s funny to say this about a guy who clearly has so many gifts and great speed and everything he he struck me early on as a lunch bucket guy yeah and that’s what everyone El told me to that’s not always what you hear about the the the real gifted incredible wide receiver you’re ready for a change payday comes early with citizens so go to that Retreat new you moves to the country now you’re raising goats and launching a Lifestyle brand are you ready for all that life [Music] brings so now it comes to the quarterback position yeah can they and we’ve already touched on a little bit both of us think Daniel looks really good he should be back and ready to go I know I want to get your perspective from the media because I know there are some reports out there and people have intimated well you know this is really a competition Drew Locka win that starting job week one my impression and this is not me talking to anybody anyone tell me anything I would be shocked if Daniel Jones is not the starting quarterback in week one and Drew lock beats him out in like summer training camp I’d be very surprised by that how about you I would be shocked okay yeah at this point so we’re on the same yeah no for sure um yeah and I just Daniel for Daniel like Daniel doesn’t let us in a whole lot you know as you know he’s wor than Eli was yeah he’s very different from Eli too in many ways even though they have some similarities but fundamentally especially the way they deal with us a lot different although Eli likes us now he likes well he’s one of us now one of us exactly exactly I like of us I love Eli in the show the Eli show great job um but yeah so with Daniel you know you just and and I don’t I don’t always I mean as a I know I’m a reporter I’m supposed to be objective and everything as a human being I’m rooting for Daniel to at least stay healthy like to at least be able to put together a representative season where it’s oh that’s the best of Daniel Jones because I don’t think we’ve really seen I know we you know stret years stretch a couple years ago with a playoff run and everything but um short run but it was a run and it counts they won a game in the playoffs course it count on the road yeah it counts given how it’s been here the last 10 years course you take it Fe yeah you take it but for for Daniel’s sake and really for Giants fans sake I hope that he has a chance to be you know as Sha McDermot would say the best version of himself I hope that that happens and we’ll see how good that is then and how far that can bring the team exactly and then the Giants have to make decisions to see what happens with that right I’m with you but but I don’t see lock other than in you know A Game’s out of hand or something like injy course an injury but yeah no I’m I’m 100% in agreement with you um and I hope that again and then we’ll bring it back to we talked about how the wide receiver needs the quarterback quarterback need wide receiver they both need the offensive line yeah and you know Kim we had to sit through those games early last year where you know they’re playing the 49ers in week three and well that was a blood B they could have played that game 100 times the ners would have won 99 of them like maybe 100 they had no chance in that game either a week later or two weeks later they played the Seahawks the Seahawks what they have eight sacks in that game nine sacks whatever was some ridiculous number I mean the Giants kep 80 sacks last year 80 sacks that is insane I think and I go back to this I for some reason this commercial sticks in my head there was an old cell phone commercial where there’s an issue and it’s like medieval castle and they put like a huge sack of money in a catapult they shoot it off and they go we’re going to throw money at the problem here and that’s how we’re going to solve it wish someone would look at me and say that I would love that too so well the way I talk about the Giants offensive line this year and the way they handle it they threw numbers at the problem right they just brought a bunch of veterans that have started a lot of games that you know I don’t think they’re looking for one of these guys to turn into like an all pro that’s going to become a Hall of Famer they have the All Pro right and Andrew Thomas can they stabilize this offensive line so you can compete week in week out and function as an offense because last year for a lot of games Kim they could not function as an offense because of the way that offensive line played absolutely there’s that I mean 80 85 sacks whatever it was it was ridiculous um and I know there’s some note about when Tommy was in there he held the ball longer and stuff that you don’t get to 85 sacks that way sorry sorry so you know that was something that had to be cleaned up I will say this like when you talk to a John runan and I remember covering his dad with Michael Strand by the way because I’ve been around a little bit time I was here for that some of that time too um when you talk to him um in a group setting he makes a lot of sense it means a lot to him he cares he wants to do a good job um jumor is the same way about yes he is we just most recently talked with John maybe we’ll get um Germaine this week maybe who knows but again because we had him on the conference call or whatever it was when he signed but um yeah I the offensive line has to be better and I also believe with the new coaching staff on that on that line um Karm James frence from Iowa yeah I’m not a big fan of the Iowa program but that’s my problem not anyone else is here it’s my it’s my pen stator in me um but but it doesn’t mean he can’t be a great coach obviously and he might be one I knows is offensive line right they do they do and Karm is fantastic and and comes with a great resume worked under Dante scaria who one time it was it was the Super Bowl in Atlanta shokei and I got to sit with him by myself for whatever reason Dante or with Dante the the media was all Dante out or offensive lined out and I remember him saying to me well they only talk to Tom Brady right exactly that if you give me effort I can do the rest and I asked Karm if you know he if he thinks the same way and he kind of sort of said yes but it was like the last question he was getting out of there I get it you know but if you’ve worked under Dante scari some of it has had to rub off on you so that’s one of the big reasons I have great hope for this offensive line being better and and hopefully hopefully for the Giants sake staying healthy and look this is the honeymoon period assistant coach com and you talk to people oh he’s doing a great job we love so that’s that’s what they’re going to say but the reviews I’ve gotten I’ve liked and talking to some of the offensive linemen uh when I did my player interviews on the Giants huddle the one thing that I found interesting and more than one guy said this is that he has non-negotiables right every coach has okay sure of course yeah got to but he says look he will talk to us about certain plays and be like well how do you guys want to handle this what are you comfortable with what do you like to do taking player input too and combining it with his non-negotiables trying to to to make this work and you know he knows what Jermaine luminor is that’s the one guy he’s familiar with from his time in Las Vegas obviously and then a lot like the wide receiver room you have two young guys in Evan Neil who’s battled a lot of injuries the first two years and when he’s been out there he has not played as well as they Nam him to play Joe Shane said that this offseason and then John Michael Schmidt rookie Center had and look I talk to him too and he goes yeah last year was a rough year go as well as I wanted to go so if you can get those guys to take a step and you know they’ll be Superstars just play a little bit better cre creep TS average in their second years right again you don’t need to have the 10th best offensive line even if you can have the 18th best offensive line the first best offensive one I think you take it if they’re in the top half oh that’ be huge that would be like uh Karm should be offensive or um you know assistant coach of the year kind of stuff absolutely truly and also uh with you know and with the sacks I mean they’re not all on the o line as we discussed a little so so that that does come into play a little bit but um it can’t be that ugly again like I mean truly like when I’m saying it can’t be like odds would be astronomical that it can be that ugly have two historic seasons in a row camp this it was like the you know people talk about the the the David Carr Houston season yeah like like like it’s some legendary season right last year wasn’t that far off of that for the Giants it was very similar to be honest with you football season is coming and so is the next College semester if you need funding a citizen student loan can help you pay for 100% of your school certified costs get your rate quote in about 2 minutes at citizensbank.com pay forol now they had fun on the defensive line this offseason Kim and this could be fun could be Lawrence Kavon TI um obviously Brian Burn’s a new edition and then maybe without so many snaps maybe a oari can stay healthy a little bit you you have Nao the veteran there you have some young guys too this defensive front I don’t think there’s any doubt if this team’s going to be good this is going to be the strength of this team on both sides of the ball agreed and I’d like to see a little more of Nacho I’d like to see a little more of of oari again if he can stay healthy because you know wink marale and I know he’s from days gone by now but he’s he called him the best natural pass rusher on the Giants the one thing wink certainly knows is pass rushing and I I don’t think in terms of like Ben and athleticism moves I I agree I think when o was healthy he was the best guy I’m with him but let’s face it Dexter Lawrence getting some help yeah was it was incredibly important Burns comes in and schy I would I would I would submit he he is a two two guy solution because not only can he help help Dexter he can help Tibido oh yeah and they can all help each other if that three if that Trio can stay healthy I think you’re talking about an offensive line I love that Andre Patterson is in that room sometimes now he is a wealth of knowledge um he great he’s one of the best assistant coaches in football in football in the history of football probably he’s fantastic yeah so if if they can get a little Mojo going there they might be allowed allow an offense that might come into the season you know a little bit you you’re gonna have Daniel we we suspect we we th we we hope we know whatever um can you edit out my ums and a here okay take care of but but when you look at what this defensive line could be it’s been a lot of Dexter since Leonard left it can now be a lot of Dexter but with complimentary players who are at really really good comp mentary players that’s going to be fun Burns is going to be a real Revelation for this locker room I think and he’s a good dude too talk really he’s he’s real mature he’s patient he’s an adult and you know I think he’s a guy be just because of the team he came from the Panthers have had their own struggles the past four years you know when you keep when you’re losing a lot of games it’s hard to sack the quarterback a lot I think if the Giants play a little bit better they have more leads I think his numbers are going to probably that’s a good point yeah absolutely yeah if they can just unleash yeah if if Dexter can be you know not double teamed every play which I guess would be silly but you can dream about it now because of the pieces around them and if they use those pieces properly I think that that’s a fascinating part of this defense and frankly of Dexter’s career in a way Dexter’s a fantastic player but he can’t do it all alone you love Turf you’re good at it so you start a Turf Biz business grows your savings become the most celebrated name in Turf are you ready for all that life brings correct 100% And then I think the if you take a look at the defense the one weakness you worry about Kim you have a lot of uncertainty in the secondary right yeah you have Deontay Banks who I think we all feel pretty good about head into a second year Jason pakino is a solid safety hope he and hope he stays healthy yep then what like you got a bunch of guys out there you think where you un like Cordell Cordell Flat’s going to be asked obviously to be in thaty role I mean he’s in that starting quarterback spot we got to see if he can hold it I’m sure there’ll be a competition in the offseason and all that stuff you know do you eventually slide your rookie third round pick to be your starting nickel at some point does Tyler nuban your second round pick beat out DNE belon with the second safety spot but you hope that maybe that pass rush is so good it could take some the quarterback’s getting no ball out so quick it can take some of the pressure off that secondary yeah you hope that that’s the case um I think that one thing that I do like about all of this is there is some depth we don’t know how that depth exactly is going to shake out on the depth chart but there is some depth in terms of those and they have some options in terms of those but I love the fact that there’s competition you know you don’t want to play your best ball in training camp necessarily but there are going to be a bunch of those guys vying for those positions who are going to have to really show out to move up depth charts I I like that idea of competition for the New York Giants yeah I think when they play those joint practices against the Lions here right when they see him you see the but against the mon R Brown uh Jameson Williams was got a lot of speed how do these guys do in those type of situations I think that’s going to be really telling that’s a good point I I I hadn’t forgotten about that but that’s a really good point and we get we all get to see Dan Campbell again there’s nothing wrong with that there’s nothing wrong with that no absolutely not and then real quick before we say goodbye you look at the schedule Kim and you have a real tough stretch in the middle right but I have never walked into a season where I’m putting so much importance on just the first two games I know it’s home versus the Vikings and I’m sure the Vikings have that game schedule too oh we’re going to start the season fast we get to play the Giants we’re going to beat them week one and then you’re at Washington who you know rookie quarterback I imagine talking to the people I know that cover the Vikings they think Sam darnold’s probably going to be starting week one not McCarthy they’re not going to rush the young kid right but then at Cleveland Dallas Seattle Cincy Eagles Steelers all those teams either finished over 500 or made the playoffs last year really good teams you have to have to have to get off to a fast start this year have to and like you said there’s that opportunity with the early early schedule so uh I think the Giants and their fans maybe the fans at least as much would have a great um psyche going forward if they saw a game and then another game and you’re starting to build on really competent good play calling the kind of play on the field that you want and the kind of um expertise you’re getting in the locker in the in the meeting rooms that is helping this team really grow because this is still you know they’ve got some veterans and we talked about a bunch of them but this is also a team that hasn’t spent a lot of time together you know and I just I I guess I just wonder if they can if they can get an early Reason for Hope what can that do for this team and we don’t know that but it it has to be good things hey look they started the season fast two years ago and got them to a playoff run right so I mean it’s it’s there are no guarantees but two more things before we go Darren Waller retired that happened a couple days ago we’re recording this the week in mini camp just your thoughts on how that impacts the position group and and the team in general well they they clear my sense is they clearly drafted Theo Johnson knowing that it was unlikely Darren was coming back or at least preparing or preparing for the yeah preparing for the possibility um so there’s that um I wish the best for Darren he’s had a a path that he’s talked about that’s H that’s for him to talk about at this point especially if this is a a retired Darren Waller but I certainly wish him happiness and the best um he’s gone through something that so many of our families have in terms of battling you know addiction and he’s been honest about it um and that’s that’s something that’s part of his story forever and I I certainly wish him wish him well yeah absolutely me too final question what would you consider the Giants to have to do this year to consider this season a success in your mind a winning record what if they went eight and nine would that be okay for you would you say that’s good enough or would you be a little disappointed I’d probably be a little disappointed I I think we’re at a growth point I I say we just cuz I use the word we all the time but but I I think that the Giants are at a point where the the the arrow needs to start pointing up and staying up and then you can say next year perhaps we could sit here a year from now and say well last year was good but this year now really looks like the year that they can come out you know with a lot of Firepower a lot of veterans now because after you’re not a rookie you’re a veteran basically in this league and look what the Giants could do Kim this was fun thanks so much I appreciate it John giant guys was brought to you by citizens the official Bank of the Giants football season is coming and so is the next College semester if you need funding a citizen student loan can help you pay for 100% of your school certified cost get your rate quote in about 2 minutes at citizensbank.com pay forol that’s the John C podcast thank you to Kim Jones we’ll see you next time everybody

On this episode of the Giants Huddle podcast, John Schmeelk is joined by Kim Jones from Newsday, to discuss the changes on the Giants’ offensive line, Brian Burns and the defense, and the wide receiver group.

00:00 – Offseason takeaways
03:19 – Wide receiver room
08:47 – Offensive line
16:41 – Defensive line
20:08 – Cornerbacks

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