Bob Papa Discusses Offseason Moves & OTAs | Giants Huddle | New York Giants

Bob Papa Discusses Offseason Moves & OTAs | Giants Huddle | New York Giants

Hi everybody and welcome to another edition of the Giants podcast brought to you by Citizens the official bank of the New York Football Giants. I am John Schmelk. Hello voice of the Giants Bob Popa. How are you John? I’m doing great. Good to be here. Um good to be with you. What golf tournament did you join us from last weekend? Where were you? I was off last weekend because of the senior PGA Championship. We’ve got the Principal Charity Classic in De Moine, Iowa this week, but I was up for the Giants Foundation golf outing 33rd edition and OTAAS. So, uh, it’s exciting to watch offense go against defense finally. Yes. And make sure you say hello to my family out in De Mo when you cover the tournament. Um, all right. You you mentioned this. Why don’t we kind of start here and then we’ll work our way backwards, you know, through the offseason a little bit. OTAA’s day, it was fun. It was second OTAA technically, but they didn’t do anything competitive yesterday. So, it was really the first time you saw offense going against defense. And it’s just fun seeing the guys out there. So many new players on the roster this team uh this year, Bob, and a lot of new numbers for the guys that were already on the roster, too. So, you just got to figure out where everybody kind of fits in a little bit. Well, yeah. I mean, the the changing of the number thing. I mean, I I understand uh Newan changing his number because Pinch wore 27. The Sllayton one has me completely thrown. Yeah, me too. I don’t need to see Darius Sllayton as 18. I I liked him as 86. Um but yeah, you know, getting a chance to watch them kind of go through this offense. Um and see some of the new pieces on defense. I’m I’m really impressed with the Dline and just the quality of player that they’ve added to this roster and via free agency and with the draft and the size and everything else. I mean, I think it I think they put together a very impressive group and it’s a big group on the defensive line and I’m going to throw the offensive line into that conversation, too, Bob, because you just have so many guys that have played football at a, you know, pretty high level in both of those spots. So, there’s going to be serious competition, not just for playing time, but for roster spots when you look at both of those two groups of front. And by the way, that’s what you want at those two spots. That’s what the Eagles have every year. That’s what the Cowboys have every year. That’s what the, you know, the Lions have every year. That’s what you want from those two spots. Well, I mean, just look at Robertson Harris, like the size of that guy. Oh, he’s monster, right? And then, um, you know, you look at the other additions that they have and then, you know, Chapman is a holdover, undrafted free agent. You know, will there be, you know, room at the end for Nacho at this point in time? I mean, they’re going to have a legitimate competition. And I thought that was one of the things that really hurt them last year was they didn’t really have that depth on the Dline and they didn’t have somebody to pair up with Dexter because if you remember the year before Aan Robinson played really well and I thought last year they were constantly searching and when Dexter needed a blow it really there was a noticeable drop off. I think they’ve protected themselves against that and I think that group is going to be a force as far as this defense is concerned which helps the edge rushers and everything else. Yeah. And led better another veteran they brought in from Jacksonville. He’ll fit in there too. You mentioned Darius Alexander. So Goston who can play inside and out and you have Jordan Riley to his back in his third year. A lot of guys that can go into that mix on the defensive front. I mean I mean Goston’s not Chris Kanty, but Chris Kanty could play inside. Chris Kanty in a 34 could play that end position. And I think Goston brings a lot of versatility for this team. Yeah, he does. And you just look at him standing with the other edge players, Bob. Like he’s big. Like he is a legit, you know, Kon Tibido and Brian Burns are not small guys, but they look smaller next to Goston. just his his arm length, his frame, and his even his weight to to an extent. Just a bigger dude, bigger guy. Uh long armed. I I I just it looks completely different from last year when when the Giants, not even when the season ended because there’s injuries, but just I think back to like their training camp roster as far as what they had up front and uh it’s noticeably different, which is a good thing because now you have Abdul Carter and you have uh Burns and Tibido and you have McFadden and O’ Carrick and I I I think that front seven becomes a super strength and I liked what I saw out of the secondary. today, too. Um, Deontay Banks had a really nice pass breakup. Uh, Pulse and Adu, just watching him do drills and stuff like that. The fluidity that he has, I think, um, I think this defense really could be good. Yeah. And all five of those quote unquote starting defensive backs were out there together working. It is important, Bob. And I, you could tell this was a focus of the offseason for the Giants. They knew they had young talented players in that secondary, but I feel like they wanted to add some stability and some veteran presence and smarts and leadership. So, you can do everything Shane Bowen wants to do with his disguising coverages, moving guys pre and post snap. And I think it’s hard to do that with a bunch of younger guys, but you bring in two smart veterans that have done it in an Adibbo and a Holland. And I think you hope that makes the younger guys better and it allows that defense to work the way it’s designed. And then you think of Drew Phillips who had a very nice rookie season. Now it’s year two under this head under this defensive coordinator. So it’s just it’s another year. He looked very comfortable out there today and you start to see who’s going to lead and who’s not. So, I there were a lot of things that I saw today because let’s face it, the defense had the upper hand over the offense in what we were able to see today for the most part. Um, but listen, I I think there’s a lot of gee, a lot of encouraging factors. Knock the flag off. I think we can leave it off. Yeah, that’s all you put on. I’ll put on my coffee if you want for brand right there. That’s good. There we go. Got to give Hackin Sack M Health their plug. Keep getting better. We’re on the Packin Sack Health podcast studio, by the way. Keep getting better. Thank you, Bob. Um, and Banks had a nice break up early in practice today. And look, a big part of this team’s success this year is whether or not DeAndre Banks can figure it out. And the thing about Banks, and we’ve talked about this, but he doesn’t really get run past, right? Like he’s like guys that are going against him don’t get two yards of separation or wide open deep. He just has to figure out how to get his head around and finish some of these plays where he’s in good position. Yeah. And that’s what they’re doing right now. They’re working on things. They’re pro, you know, a lot of the drills that they were working on, they, you know, the coaches are just challenging them and, you know, nothing’s going to be perfect. You know, we’re at the end of May right now, but I think if this team can stay relatively healthy defensively, all these pieces could come into play because you, you know, even like a guy like Cordell Flat, who I’ve always been, I’ve always liked Cordell Flat. Um the problem with Flat is if he stacks a good game and stacks another good game and stacks another good game. Unfortunately, his career arc has been when it’s time to stack that fourth game, he gets hurt. Yep. You know, and his availability is going to be something that’s important for this team as well. Huddle up. Get in here. If you’re lined up here, you got to go over the middle with it to score, right? How do we make that happen? I don’t know, but Citizens does. Make sense of your money with Citizens. official bank of Eli Manning. Hey, last thing on the defense. I think the other thing that’s important here, Bob, is we need to see the Bobby O’ Carrick from two years ago. And he talked about that today when he spoke to the media after practice where last year did not meet his expectations. He expects to, you know, to fill up the box score like he did in his rookie year here in his first year here, not rookie, uh, compared to what he did last year when he was kind of in Bowen’s system for the first time. But he does think being in that system um for a second year should help him and McFad and you know let’s be honest being better against the run which has been the big problem. Yeah. I mean um Bobby O’ Carrick is one of those guys where I would just defer to the back of his bubblegum card. It’s a thing that as kids we used to talk about as far as our baseball cards were concerned. You know you build up a long enough resume. I believe in Bobby O’ Carrick and what he’s done over the course of his career. Now, I will say this too, John. Last year was an adjustment period, right, with a with a new new coach, um a new scheme and an inferior roster, an in, you know, an inferior roster defensively than what they had the year before. And it kind of all works together. And I think as this roster is strengthened, I think you’ll see the best out of Bobby O’ Carrick. All right. having you mentioned them in passing the pass rusher group when you kind of think about how they might use all these guys in tandem together. How do you see that working out? And but you saw some of the stuff today even where they know Kerake on the edge on a couple plays, they had Burns off ball. It feels like Bowen’s going to really try to move these guys around a little bit. Yeah, I mean a lot of it will be dictated by situation. it’ll be down a distance and game situation and everything else, but I think that Shane Bowen is going to have a lot more versatility. Um, you know, with the with the talent that’s been collected here. Yeah, I agree with you. All right. Um, offensively, I mentioned the offensive line first and foremost. Obviously, in OTAAS, we’re not supposed to report exactly where guys are lined up, but I think we can say this. They’re moving some of the guys around the line, especially some of the younger guys, whether it’s rookies like Amarcus Bo, young veterans at Josh Audu, um Evan Neils at guard, Brian Dable talked about that as well. So, it’ll be curious to see if if you know if some of these young guys can push some of the veterans in front of them for playing time as the spring and and then of course you’re not going to know anything with the with the lines until the summer when the pads go on. This is just kind of getting them into the mix a little bit. But I think it’s exciting to see some of these guys try to fit in in in spots that maybe fit their skill sets. Yeah. I mean, you know, you and I were watching practice or watching the workout today and I was obsessed with Josh Shazudu. Um, and before you shame me fans out there, I mean, the reason why was because this guy has played tackle in the NFL and not very well. And it’s not his natural position. position is was guard. When he was drafted, it was to play guard and because of circumstances, you know, they they tried crossraining him and stuff, but I kind of zeroed in on him today. And you I was laughing because you were laughing. I said, John Patwin wrote this book called uh you know, don’t watch the ball. And I like on these reps, let’s not watch the ball. Let’s just watch Isudu. And I really liked what I saw out of Joshudu today. He was aggressive. Um did not give up a lot of ground. Um finished some things off. So So we can’t exactly say where he was playing. Uh we could say he was playing inside and outside. How about that? Yeah. Well, he did play some inside and outside. Um but watching him, especially in certain spots, I I I liked what I saw. Yeah. I mean, again, there’s no pads. I mean, this is this is OTAAS. This is phase three, whatever they call it. Um, phase three. That’s correct. But I I was I I zeroed in on Josh Audu, and I was pleasantly surprised. Yeah, I thought he did a nice job. I agree with you. U Marcus Bo was in multiple spots, too. Correct. Um, they said this off seasonason trained to tackle, so you could figure that out. Uh, but just moves well. And, you know, Jay Kubas got an opportunity, uh, too, because John Renan Jr. coming off that shoulder, right? Shoulder. injury. Was that shoulder injury? Yeah, I think it was shoulder, whatever it was. Um, he wasn’t, you know, he’s he’s one of the group of the guys with Andrew Thomas and Malik Neighbors is another one that Brian Dable talked about before practice that are not doing everything yet. They’re going to be patient and careful with those guys. So, guy like Kubas who, you know, you go back to the production meetings for the preseason games that we have last year, which, you know, Brian Dable does open the curtain a little bit on those compared to what you get at the press conferences a little bit in the interviews. They like Jay Kubas and I think he’s going to get every opportunity here to earn a prominent role on this team. Exactly. Because he comes at a good price, right, which is inexpensive and he’s a guy that you can develop and um Yeah. And they were moving guys around and I I thought for the most part guys did a pretty good job. I mean, you know, you you take a look at, you know, Stenny got chances in there and they they were working people around and again that’s what this time of year is for. But he loved Kubas last year just like he liked Chapman last year and had that work out for Chapman. Absolutely. John Podcast brought to you by Citizens, the official bank of the Giants and game day celebrations. To your everyday financial needs, big move fans can get the most out of every moment with Citizens. Learn more at citizensbank.com/giants. We got a lot of Jaylen Hyatt today. Bob caught a couple touchdowns, couple plays in the back of the end zone. It was only red zone today. Much like at the start of camp, folks, they try not to have these guys do full field routes and stuff early in the OTAAS. They try to avoid hamstrings, calves, quads, and all that sort of stuff. But Hayatt caught a couple passes, Bob, and it looks like he has gotten a little bit thicker with his offseason training. Yeah, I mean, at least, you know, from OTAAS, he looks a little bit stronger. I I thought there was I can’t remember if it was I think it was Russell Wilson that threw a great kind of anticipation fade to Darius Sllayton who did a great job getting his feet in bounds. That was Russell Wilson. Yep. Um, so yeah, I mean, look, it it started off a little bit sluggish, but again, these are OTAAS from an offensive standpoint, and the reps are very limited. You know, Russell Wilson’s getting his reps. Jameus Winston got his reps. I’m sure people will write about the pick six that Jameus Winston threw to Dane Belton, who, by the way, he hit the receiver like right in the chest on the play. Should have been caught. The ball should have been caught. Turned into a pick six. So, uh, in case you read some misinformation, that’s exactly what happened. And those are Mike McFaden pick that could have went for a touchdown late in practice as well. So, I mean, yeah. And then, you know, Jackson Dart got some of his reps and, you know, he looked like a rookie quarterback learning an offense, right? He did some nice things and then sometimes it looked like all hell was breaking loose. We were laughing because with four quarterbacks, there’s only x amount of reps. So, Tommy Devito gets one snap. Yeah, pretty much. Throws a touchdown pass. Next period comes around, Tommy Devito gets one snap. Throws a touchdown pass. Next set of reps comes around, Tommy Devito gets one snap, touchdown pass. All the bl the undrafted free at wide receiver. And then his fourth rep again, he’s only getting one rep. He throws what should have been a touchdown pass and they hit the guy right in the chest. Baker. Baker. And he drops it. And then Tommy came over and like patted him up and like pumped him up a little bit and like, “Hey, don’t worry about it. Whatever.” Yeah. It’s funny. Bobby was talking after the game. Okay. Okay. After the game, after the practice, and he was kind of asked about the quarterbacks and he goes, “There’s a lot of strong personalities in that quarterback room, but a lot of different personalities.” And all three guys that talked after practice, it was Holland, Van Roen, and Okake, they all spoke to just the veteran presence of Russell Wilson, Bob, and how he’s interacting with everybody in the locker room. There’s leadership there. There’s a comfort level, there’s experience, and I think they all seem to be pretty impressed just by the the vibe that Russell Wilson is bringing to the team in the locker room as a leader. Yeah. I mean, it’s not a fabrication. The guy’s a 10 time Pro Bowler Super Bowl champion and a Super Bowl champion and did go to back-to-back Super Bowls. I know it was a long time ago and I know it was, you know, 11 12 years ago, but you know, he’s been a really good player who’s won a lot of games. you just take a look at his win loss record and it’s a little bit different because you know in previous years you know Daniel Jones even after the 22 season you know there was still this sort of like okay let’s see you validate it let’s see you validate it Russell Wilson doesn’t have anything to validate as part as far as his career resume is concerned his resume is what it is he’s going to go to the Hall of Fame someday so he carries himself very differently and I think Um, that was very much needed as far as this team was concerned. If you want to know how to manage 2 minutes of crunchtime football, I’m your man. But if you’re wondering about a long-term financial plan, you should talk to Citizens. Hey, I can also talk lawn care. I’d like to learn about a mowing routine. Yes, I knew I could help. Make sense of your money with citizens. And it’s funny, a lot of the practice stuff is the eye test, right? And just seeing Jameus Winston’s stature, you could see why he was picked with the first overall pick, right? He’s just so big and tall. Like he stands in that quarter group back group. He literally stands out. He’s got three or four inches, I feel like, on everyone else in that group. Well, yeah. I mean, which is why, you know, he could see over everybody a lot better. And listen, the guy threw for over what, 5,000 yards and had 38 touchdown passes, you know, his last year in Tampa. We all know what the other number was. Ignore the other column. It’s okay. Well, Bruce Arens didn’t ignore it. Um, but that’s why he’s at this point in his career, that’s why he signed to be a backup with the New York Giants. But, you know, his his physical gifts are off the charts. And again, it’s a it’s a quality person to have as far as your room is concerned. It’s an interesting tight end group, Bob. I’m not going to say it’s a great tight end group because these guys haven’t proven it yet, right? But it’s an interesting tight end group. You got Theo Johnson in his second year. Manhertz is back as the blocker. Bellingers heading towards the end of his contract. You know, Doulsich with the flowing locks coming in as the receiving tight end. Then you draft the Dhoni. It’s just kind of like a fun group with a bunch of guys that can all have a little bit of a different skill set. Yeah. And I think um it’s it’s going to be interesting because they’re going to have to make some decisions. So what, you know, does Fedoni develop to the point where then somebody else becomes expendable? Because you’re not talking about big money tied into anybody here, right? Um, Theo Johnson gave you a lot of spark last year, a lot of things that you could be excited about as far as his development would be concerned, but like I think this is a big year for Theo Johnson to take that next step where the production starts to match the potential and upside you see in the player, right? Um, which is why he was drafted where he was drafted. And then, you know, the role that Bellinger has, again, not a ton of money tied up into that group. And I think, you know, which guys also are going to contribute on special teams on the back end of that group will go a long way in determining who makes the 53. Yeah, absolutely. I think it’ll be fun to see. Um, overall, Bob, this off season, what do you think of just the Giants overall strategy? How would you characterize how Joe Shane has gone about his business trying to build this roster up? Well, I mean that listen, after the draft, free agency, you know, we’ve seen all the grades, the people that put grades out for all this stuff, and we won’t find out until they play games for real, what kind of players that they have. But I think the sense I get from a lot of Giant fans, and even the sense you get when you’re in the building here is this draft created and some of the free agent moves they’ve made this year have created a jolt, a boost. Um, there’s an excitement level. Uh, it feels different this off seasonason than it felt last year. Um, and I can’t really put anything tangible on it. That’s why it’s a feeling. It’s It Well, look at you. Whoops. By the way, we got to change this schedule. I know. I got to get I have to do it over there. I got to put it that way. Um cuz I keep looking at it and it’s like it’s 23. Um, so yeah, it it’s one of those situations where there’s a lot of optimism. Can you just get up in the middle of a show and go get a new schedule? I just did. But, you know, all signs are pointed to Washington, right? And September the 7th, that’s where the focus begins. Um, and the work that goes into all of this. But before you know it, that Bills preseason game will be here and we’ll be on our way down this road. Yeah. And that, you know, you could have some joint practices with the Bills, too. I’d be surprised. You know, usually they just do the one joint practice with the Jets. Uh, obviously there’s not enough room space between the Jets and Patriots game. there’s just four days in between. So, you’re not going to have any joint practices probably during that week. So, I think if you’re going if you’re going to do joint practices and Brian Dable said they’re working on it, I got to imagine it would be leading into that Buffalo game. Well, yeah, because there’s no connection between the GM coach and and their first preseason opponent. And more importantly, they also do not play this year in the regular season, which is something they always try to avoid. But the Patriots, the the Giants also play the Patriots on December. Yeah. But that it’s not it’s not feasible because that’s a short week. So, um, yeah, I mean, we’ll see you the I think the joint practices are very important because I think what the NFL preseason has become, um, are you are you getting your guys, your main players, are you getting them sharp enough to get ready for week one? I think joint practices go a long way in that. Yeah, we’ll see. Aaron Glenn, I’m trying to think, he has some, he’s got to have a connection to Dable, right? going back to the PA the Patriots at some point. Maybe at some point Aaron Glenn and Dable. Maybe. No, I would I don’t think so. No. Okay. I was I was trying to think of if there was a connection with Dable and the current Jet staff to work out. They didn’t get the one joint practice in that week like they have the last couple of years. Well, I mean, listen, they’ve obviously know each other. Everybody knows each other, but the Giants have practiced against the Lions a couple times. Aaron Glenn was the defensive coordinator. Duh. There we go. Great point. So they they’ve all comm you know the coordinators, head coaches, they’re all in communication as far as how’s this thing’s going to go. And by all accounts, the Giants and Lions preseason practices of joint practices have gone pretty well. All right. This is probably going to be the last time you’re going to be with us until we get to training camp. What in your opinion? I’m going to be back in a few weeks. Well, I’m going to see you, but I don’t know if we’re going to do a show. Maybe we will. Who knows? But what do you think for the next couple weeks until I see you next that Giants should be Giant fans should be thinking about as they check out all of our great coverage of the OTAAS and mandatory mini camp on Giants.com and all that stuff. What should Giant fans to to keep the right perspective and not get too overboard on things? What should they be worried about and thinking about in terms of what’s going on over the next few weeks? Nobody gets hurt. No. And No, you’re right. You’re right. And I’m not being a wise ass, but like nobody gets hurt because what should they be thinking about? This is just a small piece of a bigger puzzle that will start to be assembled when training camp starts because there’s guys out here practicing right now. They’re going to get released before we even get to training camp. It’s just kind of keep the thing moving in the right direction. the guys that are coming off injury. Make sure there’s no setbacks. Make sure nobody gets hurt doing any of this stuff and get ready for training camp. I mean, I don’t want to overthink this, but like I think Giant fans should just be excited. You shouldn’t be looking for anything specific because again, it’s phase three, it’s OTAAS, and then the veteran mini camp. Again, you’re just going against yourself. I think the pieces are in place for this team to be much more competitive and to be a good football team that will make the fans proud. But I wouldn’t I wouldn’t if I’m a fan, I wouldn’t overthink this. If you’re a Yankee fan, like root like crazy for the Yankees. If you’re a Mets fan, root like crazy for the Mets. Dive into that and just be happy that it looks like your team is football team is heading in the right direction and nobody gets hurt. Bob, enjoy the next couple weeks. We’ll see you back here. All right, John. That’s Bob Papa on the John podcast brought to you by citizens the official bank of the giants from the hackin sack marine health podcast studio keep getting better for Bob papa I’m John thanks for joining us on the john

On this episode of the Giants Huddle podcast, John Schmeelk chats with the voice of the Giants, Bob Papa, to discuss all of the offseason moves, the first few OTAs, and the Giants schedule. Presented by Citizens.

00:00 – Giants OTAs
04:18 – Giants defense
09:05 – Offensive line
12:50 – QBs and WRs
16:35 – Tight ends
20:21 – Schedule chat

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