NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger | Giants Huddle | New York Giants

NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger | Giants Huddle | New York Giants

Welcome to another edition of the Giants podcast brought to you by Citizens, the official bank of the Giants, coming to you from the Hackinack Marine Health podcast studio. Keep getting better. It’s another Baldi breakdown. This is not going to be our typical game breakdown. This is going to be our usually the by-week episodes Baldi is kind of like Giants at midseason like what’s going on mode, but we’re like threequarters of the way through the season because the Giants have the late buy. So, why don’t we start there player? What what is having a a late by week like this kind of like? Well, I mean, uh, you know, if you’re having a better season, I mean, you know, it’s it’s a great feeling. You don’t even want to leave. You don’t want to disrupt things. Um, you know, look, you you get a chance to really freshen up for the final five game stretch, you know, where you can really, you know, whatever Nicks you have that might be able to kind of get as close to normal, as healthy as you can, you could do it. It’s good. It’s the holidays have begun. You, you know, the family guys can spend a little bit more time with their kids and, you know, decorating the house, all that kind. So, you know, you you can be a little handy around the house, but uh you know, ultimately um I never like to get too far away from the game, John. You know, I mean, I I was one of those guys that like, oh, let’s take a trip, you know, that kind of thing. I I I kind of like to stay close, especially five weeks from now, it’s going to be all over. So, you know, I I want to finish strong. Now, this last game against the Patriots, Baldi was not that competitive, but for the most part, the Giants have been in a lot of these games. They played eight straight games where they played teams that were at least two games over 500 or more. They were competitive in the vast majority of those games. So, what do you make of where the Giants are with their record based on how close they’ve played a lot of these games, how they’ve had uh multiple games where they’ve had double digit leads. They’ve had multiple games, I think about four or five, where they’ve led in the fourth quarter and let a game slip through their fingers. So, how do you analyze exactly what this team is given the dichotomy of their record and how close these games have been against some of the better teams in the league? Well, I mean, you know, Detroit, Green Bay, Denver, I mean, they had the lead in all those games. Um, I would say that they’re a lot closer to becoming a competitive team than what the record shows. Two and 11 does is not an indicator of how competitive they have been. and they’ve gone through three quarterbacks, you know, and so I feel like, you know, you you beat the Eagles, um, you know, and you beat them, you know, pretty good. Uh, you know, you score five touchdowns in that game against the Eagles who have eight wins and probably going to win the division, whatever. You take Dallas to the brink. They’re a very good football team. I mean, you know, you’re not very far away. It’s a question of can you get the, you know, certain positions solidified and can you stay reasonably healthy? you know, losing young star players is really hard when you don’t have people of that caliber replacing them. What do you have to do to get over that hump to take that next step that you’re talking about? I think you have to um I feel like there is a big step defensively this team needs to take to be able to deliver knockout punches when you’ve got a lead in the fourth quarter. And it’s whether that’s an individual play, whether that’s a collective thing where they’re just not going to let the other team go down the field and score uh you know way some of these teams did. I think you know to see Jir Gibbs do that in overtime that’s just not what a playoff team does or a team that hopes to be in the playoffs. Like you just don’t let that happen. So I I feel like defensively there’s some knockout punches they have to throw and they have to learn how to do that. Maybe it’s the type of person type of player they need in here so that doesn’t happen. Um, and then on offense, like there’s just some poor decisions I thought from a coaching standpoint, a quarterback standpoint where there’s better ways to finish games, to play the clock better, to who know who the enemy is. I think there were some ingame decisions that have to be better at those times. All right, let’s stick on the offense. They’ll finish that, John. is once you do that once or twice, then you really gain the confidence that this we know how to do it. They don’t know how to do it right now. And that’s not a knock on anybody. This is they they just haven’t demonstrated that ability. But you can see watching the Patriots last night, that’s a confident football team. They don’t beat themselves. They know what dumb penalties do. They don’t do those things and they do the little things well. If if Marcus Jones is going to field the ball at the six, the only reason why he feels the ball at the six last night is because they have done a great job of doubling both gunners and so he’s got he’s got 10 12 yards in front of him where he can, you know, create a good return. All right, so let’s look at the offense. Bald, obviously everything depends on your quarterback or at least a lot of it does and the Giants feel pretty good about what they see from Jackson Dart. Just came back after missing a couple games with that concussion. What is your status report on where Jackson Dart is, how you’re thinking about him, and what his future looks like? I look, if you put Jackson and Drake May side by side, I don’t think there’s a big difference in any in talent, arm strength, how they processed, I don’t think there’s a big difference. They both played a lot of college football. Um Drake went through a rough season last year like like you know, he got sacked a whole bunch. He’s been sacked a bunch this year. Um, but I feel like the only thing I want to see I like I feel like Jackson plays the game the right way. He’s fearless. He makes he made two great throws last night for touchdowns. The slant to Sllayton was a perfect throw where he could run with it after the catch. Split the defense. The the touchdown to Theo. Like he plays the game fearless. I do. He does need to protect himself. And it isn’t well that’s how I played in high school. That’s what I did at Old Miss. No. like he takes another shot like that from Christian Ellis, he’s he’s going to be in protocol. It’s just going to happen. Like he’s gota there’s got to be a way that he can still extend plays, take his shots, and not take the shots he’s taken. Aside from that, in terms of the art of playing quarterback stuff, what to you is the next step for Dart? Think the one thing that jumped out to me, Baldi, watching Jamus in the offense for a couple of weeks now, different players, everything Jamus did is quick foot hits on time, ball out. And I think to me that’s the next step for Jackson, as good as he is off schedule and creating and moving around. I think if you can get some more of the easy stuff in rhythm, foot hits, ball out, I think that’s kind of the next step for him. At least for me. What do you think? I agree. And I I’ve seen it from Caleb this year with a different coach, different system. like he’s not that frenetic guy that Jackson is at times. We did see that we we did see an offense that moved with Jamus without him having to be a runner, you know, and I think there’s an offense for Jackson just the way Drake has run for first downs this year. There’s times to run. Um certainly when the defense turns their back to you, man coverage, get a first down, extend the drive, but you know, Jamus uh has been around long enough to know uh when to get rid of the ball, where to go pre- snap. So, I do think there’s an evolution and another step for sure that he needs to go to and it will help to get better talent around him, guys that can win quicker, you know, separate faster where you could get the ball out. You know, where you want to go with this ball and cuz I think his ball placement by and large is really pretty good. Huddle up, get in here. If you’re lined up here, you got to go over the middle with it to score. Great. 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. And now you’re trying to build an offense around him, right? You hope you get Malik Neighbors and Cam Scataboo back. Let’s start. Let’s stick with the skill position players first. We see some really good moments from Theo Johnson. We’ve seen some not so good moments from Theo Johnson, like the drop on Monday night against the Patriots. What do you think about this group of skill position players around Dart? And what do you think the Giants should look to add to that group in the offseason to try to make it more complete? All right. So, let just take a guy like Wandell, okay? Um there’s a place Wale and here’s the thing. Most players, John, they either give your team energy or they take energy away. We know the difference. Juanale, I feel like, is a guy that gives like he’s just an upbeat, outgoing kid. He loves to play. He plays bigger than his size. I think there’s a place for Wale. Theo has got to be He’s got to catch the ball better. He just does. He’s he’s got too many drops. is and a lot of tight ends are going to get contested catches. How to use your body, how to catch the ball away from your body better. He’s got to show me that he’s a better catcher. He runs well. I think he runs decent routes. He’s got size where you can be covered and still be open. Uh like like he could be like Hunter Henry. Like I think, you know, I I don’t know if he could be as good a blocker as Hunter was early in his career, but that’d be a pretty good comp. You’d be okay if he could become Hunter Henry. like a very dependable guy that could have a long career. He’s got to catch the ball better. Um Sllayton has has had a little renaissance here. Um I’d like to see more I’d like to see a a more competitive person with the ball in the air down the field than sometimes he is. I don’t know that he runs quite like he did when he first came onto the scene. Um I don’t think he runs as I don’t think he’s as explosive as he used to, but there might be a place for him. I haven’t seen anything outside of one game from Jayen. I don’t know if there’s a future for Jaylen here, but you know, Malik is uh you know, you’re going to put a lot a lot of stock in that right now. And you know, Bellinger has got a role. I think everybody’s got three tight ends on the roster that they’re playing the way that teams are running the ball and protecting the quarterback. So, there’s a place where you need three, you know, three tight ends. And then in terms of Robinson, why do you think he’s taken the jump this year, Baldi? Heading into that uh week 13, he was top 10 in the NFL in receiving yards. He’s taken D to playing outside more with the Giants going to more 12 personnel. He’s been on the perimeter a lot more. Why do you think he’s taken the jump he has heading? Well, I think the injury the injury to Malik, you know, took a lot of that attention away that the balls he was getting. Uh the fact that he could play inside or outside, I think helped, you know, because now you’re not really slotted into certain routes and route combinations that you can win outside on comebacks and and quick slants. Um and then he’s been very dependable. You know, he’s he’s caught the ball well. He’s been good after the catch. Um, I think he’s won everybody, whether it’s Russell or Jameus or Jackson. I think he’s won everybody’s confidence in what he can do. And then for once, Baldi, we’re not talking about the offensive line as a weakness. In fact, we’re talking about it as a strength. This group’s done a great job. Uh, they’ve leaned on teams in the second half. Even they haven’t run well in the first half, they run it well in the second half. And then the pass protection, especially from the two tackles out there bookending um a veteran group inside. I mean, I think this is as well as I think either of us in our even most optimistic hopes could have thought this group would have played together this year. I agree. I agree. And the fact that uh they’ve been out there the majority of time, there’s been a few guys in and out and obviously and you know, Andrew didn’t start the first two games, but you know, once he’s And the thing I like about both Germaine and and Andrew right now is they play every snap. You know, I don’t know if Germaine’s missed a snap this year. Like I I I know he started every game, but I think he’s played every game ever since. No, no, I think he I think he missed one game with the PC. That was it. He missed one game with the PC when both stepped in. I think it was week eight or nine. Okay. All right. So, uh yeah. All right. Uh but for the most part, they’ve been very healthy. Uh they get through the games just fine. Uh the protection against elite guys, Hutch, Parsons, for the most part, the guys that they have seen, they’ve they’ve battled those guys really well. And so when you when you can protect the edges as well as they have protected the edges by and large you it allows you to get five guys out quite a bit. You know if you just want to flood threeman zone over here two man you know over here 3x two set you can get guys out and you don’t have to keep the extra tight end keep the back in do some of the things that limit some of the things you can do uh in the passing game. Yeah. And look, I don’t think we’re at the point where we’re talking about like a Pro Bowl or anything like that, but John Michael Schmidz has certainly played a lot better this year than he played in his first two years, I think, at least. Yeah, I do. I do, too. I, you know, look, I mean, just, you know, they’ve got some big guys inside for the Patriots. They’ve got some huge guys inside for Detroit. And I thought the way that they controlled the line of scrimmage because I always think you’re only going to be as strong as your center. If the center is a weak link, it’s the chain link is going to break. And I don’t see that. I see them being pretty firm and flat in the middle. Van Roen has been unbelievable, you know, honestly, considering his age and his the path to be where he’s at. Like, he’s been very steady. And, you know, John is a fighter in there. So, I I feel like, you know, ideally your pocket, you want to you want it to be flat in the middle and you want it to be wide on the outside so that the quarterback can sit there like Dwight James did to be able to make the throws that he made. Yeah. We haven’t spoken since the Giants chain coaches Baldi. What do you think of the job CFK has done, the decision to move on from Brian Dable and even what do you think next? Well, what’s next in terms of what’s going to happen to head coach position? What should be the priority for the Giants moving forward? Well, I mean, look, Mike has been the team has been very competitive. He threw a lot of, you know, things out of the bag with Jamus, you know, whether it’s a throwback to Jamus. I mean, we saw some of those things to to create big plays, which, you know, they execute. It’s one thing to call them, another thing to execute them, you know. So, obviously, they’re practicing them and working on them. So, I I felt like the operation has been smooth, not burning timeouts. Guys seem to know what they’re doing. They’re in the right places. I feel like they’re very organized and it’s been an organized, you know, you’ve had two different quarterbacks in there. I feel like it’s been an organized process offensively. Um, defensively, obviously, they fired the coach. Um, it they’ve been disappointing, period. You know, and I don’t know what this is. Like I was a big fan of Pulson Adibbo and Javon Holland coming, but neither one of them have played great this year. You know, I I I saw, you know, Kyle Williams run right by Pulson Adbo last night. Like that he it was specialized in man coverage in New Orleans. He was good. And I I I just don’t feel like maybe it’s the change, maybe it’s the culture, I don’t know, but I don’t feel like we’ve seen the best of those players. 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. Yeah, Baldi. And this is what it comes down to for me. We haven’t spoken since the Giants changed defensive coordinators either. You mentioned Shane Bowen out, Charlie Bowen in, and I think we saw them do a little bit of a different different stuff on certain downs and distances against the Patriots. They try to let out double mug stuff. They would drop out of it into the zone defenses. Uh they did send a couple of corners and safeties. They got a couple unblocked pressures in the game, but Tiki Barber and I were talking on the postgame show. You can do all that funny stuff and try to confuse teams and do all that stuff. If eventually your guys can’t cover one-on-one on the back end and your guys can’t win one-on-one at the on the front and you can’t get after the quarterback consistently, I don’t care what scheme you’re running, this thing’s not going to work. No, you’re true. I mean, you have to be able to do those things. But even like last night, little things bothered me, John. Like they they ran two quarterback sneaks on third and one and they gained two yards and three yards. Like there was no I mean I could have gotten a quarterback sneak like they didn’t take it away, you know? It’s that that was like you know I mean make that hard that yard a lot harder to earn. And you’re right. I mean if you can’t cover on the back in this league then you got to find new cover guys because you’re going to see elite athletes out there every single week that you have to defend. You got to play the ball in the air better than they played the ball in the air. But it was disappointing. Like that’s Vidyarian low at left tackle last night. I’m sorry he’s not a frontline guy, John, but he didn’t give up a pressure last night. Maybe Abdul got one on him, but like for the most part, they didn’t really beat him, you know, and I know the ball’s out quick and all that, but still like you want to get to the quarterback and he was if they played in a mud puddle last night, Drake May wouldn’t have gotten dirty. Giants podcast is brought to you by Citizens, the official bank of the Giants. From 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. And how about Dexter Lawrence’s year? He’s been, I’d say, impactful in terms of pushing the pocket in the past game. Uh maybe not as impactful as he was in the past with the run. He’s been dealing with the elbow injury now. Not the production we’ve seen from him in the past. Baldi, what do you think of Dexter season? I mean, I I’ve been disappointed. I mean, I don’t know how you could look at it any other way. Like, he hasn’t like Garrett Bradberry should not be able to block him. I’m sorry, John. He shouldn’t. like Garrett Bradbury. He’s not in Minnesota because he’s not a big guy. He’s not physical. He can run. He can, you know, wheel block on you, that kind of thing. He’s uh, you know, but he’s not a physical player. Like I Dexter should be throwing him, tossing him. And I just haven’t seen enough. I’ve seen him push the pocket. I know the ball gets out. I’ve seen him there at the end of some plays, but not enough. I haven’t seen enough. He just I I I don’t know what it is right now. like his stance is so wide he can’t really move well enough in the running game. He’s getting hook blocked. Um he’s a better player than what he’s shown this year. He’s a better player. Now Brian Burns on the other hand has been very productive Brian and and Baldi. He’s been all over the field run game, pass game. Even I remember a player on the year he got caught inside on a on a quarterback read option outside and even though he messed up at the start of the play, he’s sprinting his way down the field to try to catch up to knock the guy out of bounds. Uh, you know, it’s been frustrating for him as I know he’s been really playing a a complete game most weeks. Do you think this is the best year of his career? And do you think he should be a a Pro Bowl Allp Pro candidate? Oh, yeah. No, not just because 13 sacks. He he plays the game the right way. He plays with max effort. He has an ability to escape. He knows where the ball is going and has a plan to get there. Uh he’s been he almost had a sack the other night. I mean, he’s got his hands around Drake May. Uh, you know, he slipped off him, but he was there behind the line of scrimmage. He’s been a great player. He’s been the Giants’s best player. He’s been the most consistent player. He’s been He’s made the biggest impact offensive and defense of any player. Uh, he’s This is It’s encouraging because if he had somebody opposite him right now that could really bring it, you know, I think he could even have be better numbers. Um, they might be able to move him around. Like I don’t think we ever saw Kavon Abdul and Bernie really impacting the thing together for any great time because of different things, but I I feel like that’s I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future here with Kavon, but um I felt like if he had a little bit more help with guys flushing and because really it you you sacked the quarterback as a group, you celebrate as a group and Brian’s got the majority of it, but I felt like if other guys were pulling their weight better, they would have a whole lot more sacks because what Brian could do just by himself. What do you think the ideal scheme is for this defense, Brian, with with the with the guys they have on the roster? Do you want to see a high pressure pack where there’s a lot of press man? Do you think playing more of a a too high like Vicio style defense is best given the guys on the roster? If you were to design a defense from scratch with this group of players, how would you do it in an ideal situation? Well, I don’t think they’re a three- four defense. Like, I don’t think Burnsy and Abdul Carter, like I don’t think they’re true outside linebackers. Burns can do it better than than the other guys. Um, but I feel like they they should be a fourman front. They should um be red playing a reduced front with three defensive linemen uh against teams that want to run the ball or first down runs. And then I feel like they should doing what a lot of other teams are doing right now, putting seven up there at the line of scrimmage in every passing situation and trying to get them to figure out who’s coming, who’s not coming. If you can if you can get them to max protect and you drop four out and you rush four and you can still drop seven into coverage, um, with them packing it in, like you’re winning. You’re winning in this league when you could do that. And I feel like that’s the scheme that a lot of team that the Bears did that to the Eagles and the Eagles had no answer for. All right, Baldi, final question. The Giants will embark on a coaching search after the year. You have to based on NFL rules. Mike Cafka will be in that mix. I think a lot of people in the building are rooting for him. He’s a good guy. He’s a good coach. But what do you think their priority should be? Is it finding the right offensive guy to be with Dart? is just finding a guy that’s going to set the right, you know, a quote unquote culture setter, whatever that means, where you try to get things right in the building and you do you like like a coordinator, a guy with former experience. What are some of the aspects you try to prioritize when it comes to the Giants figuring out who the next full-time head coach is going to be? Well, I mean, honestly, like just watching Mike Vrabel last night lead that team, like I know he’s an ex coach that had success as a coach. They were lucky to get him. Like that’s if if there’s a clone to Mike Greybel where he’s he is not not that everybody’s played a game at his level and then becomes a coach that that that those are rare. But a guy that sets the vision and holds each guy accountable that’s interactive with the players on and off the field the whole game. Like I want a guy he doesn’t have to call the plays. He doesn’t have to call the offense. There’s guys that can design offense. Ben Johnson was a great coordinator. Detroit had a lot of success. There’s guys that can design offense and design defense. I want my coach to be a CEO that manages the whole thing. When a player screws up, like they got to know it right now and you got to fix it right now. Like I want a guy that Coughlin obviously was like that. Parcels was like that. I mean, you know, those what those who were the successful coaches of the Giants. That’s what they did. They acted like that and they didn’t just let things go on. And so, um, and and and Brabel is like that. He holds those guys accountable when they screw up. I’ve seen him bench a guy to start a game because he screwed up during the week. Like you just and you don’t hold the grudge on him. You just do what you have to do in front of the whole team. All right, boy. I’m going to ask you this because we got about this the home stretch about five games left for a lot of these teams. Giants only have four left. Who are your favorites coming out of each conference right now? Because this is as wide open an NFL season as I’ve seen in quite a while. Well, I mean like you know Chicago right now is playing great football. the the way that they take the ball away and the way that they run the ball and the way that the quarterback is protecting it. They’re they’re a a very competitive team. The the Patriots, are they a great team? I don’t think so. But I haven’t seen anybody really, you know, I saw them in Tampa. They took Tampa apart. I saw them up at Buffalo. We’ll see them against Buffalo in a few weeks. But Tampa is on that run right now. They they’re going to be hard to beat. I thought the Rams were invincible until they went to Carolina, got beat this weekend, you know, but I don’t think anybody wants to see the Cowboys right now. I don’t think they want to see it. Like they’re they’ve they’ve fixed a lot of things that weren’t good and offensively nobody could cover George Pickkins in this league right now. And CD is a you know, and if he catches the ball like they they’re pretty unstoppable right now. The offensive line is young and playing really well. Clayton Adams came in from Arizona has done a good job with that line. Do you think the Eagles hold on in the NFC East? I think they hold on, but I I I don’t think they’re going to come out of this tail spin they’re in. I don’t I I I don’t see it like the They have too many flaws on offense right now. And they don’t play they they stop being nasty. Like they just I haven’t seen them just smack people around like Chicago pushed them all over the field. Like I don’t feel good about that team right now. Yeah. I don’t I I don’t know how you can. Baldi, you’re the best. Um, thank you so much. We’ll catch up with you next couple of weeks or right after the season’s over as we wrap up the Giant season. Hopefully, we get a couple wins. We’ll talk to you. Hopefully, John. Hopefully. I appreciate it. Strong, man. Stay tuned healthy. I want to see him finish strong, get some wins. God, God willing. That’s all the time we have for the Baldi breakdown edition of the Giants podcast brought to you by Citizens, the official bank of the Giants. For the Giants podcast studio brought to you by Hackin Sack, Marie Health, keep getting better. For Brian Baldinger, I’m John Schmunk. We’ll see you next time everybody.

John Schmeelk sits down with NFL Network’s, Brian Baldinger, to discuss the state of the Giants team going into the bye week, the goals for the last five games, and the Giants offensive line in 2025. Presented by Citizens.

0:00 – State of the team through 13 games
04:40 – Jaxson Dart and the offense
07:35 – Giants skill position players
10:30 – Offensive line
13:00 – Mike Kafka
14:40 – Giants defense
20:35 – Giants coaching search

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