Category: Giants

Eli Manning awards Penn State walk-on punter Barney Amor scholarship

Eli Manning makes the day and year for a Penn State walk-on punter

A special day in Happy Valley Thursday as Head Coach James Franklin introduced Eli Manning to his Penn State football team.

And the day when from special to incredible for one player.

Watch as the former New York Giants great quarterback and two-time Super Bowl champion makes an inspirational speech that concludes with him requesting the presence of walk-on Barney Amor.

Actually, make that former walk-on as Manning lets the redshirt senior from Doylestown, Pa, know that he is on scholarship.

For a little history, Penn State is the third stop in Amor’s college career:

Awards: 2020: Named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll. 2019: Earned Phil Steele All-Patriot League second team honors…Named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll. 2018: Named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll.

Season: 2020: Fall season did not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2019: Appeared in all 12 games as Colgate’s primary punter…Averaged 42.1 yards per punt with a long of 60 yards, 11 punts of 50-plus yards and 17 punts landing inside the 20…42.1 yards per punt was a program record for a minimum of 40 punts. 2018: Did not see any game action. 2017: Redshirt season…Did not see any game action.

Rankings: 2019: Ranked second in the Patriot League and 22nd in the FCS in punting average (42.1).

2019: Villanova (8/24): Averaged 50.2 yards on six punts, including a long punt of 60 yards. at Air Force (8/31).

Have to love the good news for, um, Amor.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChseXo4gLNA/?hl=en

Looks like Amor has his own clothing line, which can be checked out by clicking here.

Why Thaddeus Moss’ block on Kayvon Thibodeaux wasn’t ‘dirty’ or against the rules

Thaddeus Moss’ block on Kayvon Thibodeaux had most people thinking that Moss violated NFL rules. As it turns out, Moss did not.

The New York Giants had a hearts-in-their-throats moment in their Sunday night preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals when Bengals tight end (and son of Randy Moss) Thaddeus Moss crossed the formation and executed a low block on first-round edge-rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux. The rookie was helped off the field by Giants personnel and returned to the sideline in good spirits. Per Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, initial reports indicate that Thibodeaux’s injury is not thought to be as serious as it looked.

Here’s how it looked.

Moss looked to go for Thibodeaux’s ankle, which had a lot of people thinking that this should have been a penalty.

“They dragged the tight end across the formation, and everybody runs this play,” former offensive lineman Brian Baldinger said on the NFL Network. “They seal the backside with the tight end, and almost every tight end goes low. They can’t stay up and take on these defensive ends. They go to cut-block, which is legal, okay? It’s really up to Kayvon here to just drop his shoulder on it, and it went below his shoulder. It’s kind up to Kayvon to protect himself a little better, because that’s how these tight ends are going to block him in this league.”

Former cornerback DeAngelo Hall, on the NFL Network set with Baldinger and Colleen Wolfe, agreed.

“Absolutely, Baldy. That’s one of those sift-back blocks, and… in the NFL, we see it a lot. Maybe in the college game, you don’t see it as much. So, fr Kayvon Thibodeaux, these are some of those reps we talk about. It just gives him that game-time experience. He either has to get lower, or you see those defensive linemen give a little ground with their hands, and push away. That’s going to be a coaching moment for him.”

Other blocking experts agreed — Moss wasn’t trying to be dirty; he blocked the way he had been instructed to.

So, while it looked really bad, and we certainly hope Thibodeaux will be 100%, Moss did nothing wrong by the letter of the rules, and it’s Thibodeaux who will undoubtedly learn from this.

Kayvon Thibodeaux ruled out after knee injury against Cincinnati

Giants rookie pass rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux suffered a right knee injury in preseason action against the Bengals.

New York Giants fans are holding their collective breath Sunday night, as one of their first-round draft picks, pass rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, suffered a right knee injury in New York’s preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Thibodeaux stayed down on the field after a cut block, and initially waved off attention. He was then taken into the medical tent for evaluation.

The injury occurred on this play, with Thibodeaux coming into the backfield after rushing from the right edge of the offense. You’ll see the blocker come across the formation, and execute the block on Thibodeaux’s lower body:

Here is another angle of the block:

As noted by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Thibodeaux initially waved off the medical cart, but then went into the tent for evaluation. Thibodeaux was then quickly ruled out by the team:

After being ruled out, Thibodeaux returned to the sidelines, and appeared in good spirits:

Perhaps this is a sign that Thibodeaux avoided injury, and was ruled out as a precautionary measure. Giants fans are hoping this is the case.

 

Daniel Jones underwent offseason neck surgery for a ‘non-football procedure’

Daniel Jones told the media that the scar on his neck was the result of a “non-football procedure” he underwent in the offseason.

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones disclosed on Thursday that he underwent neck surgery during the offseason for a “non-football procedure.”

Speculation grew after a photograph of Jones meeting with the media earlier this week displayed a scar below his jaw, at the base of his neck. When people began to wonder if the scar was an indication Jones underwent surgery during the offseason because of a neck strain he suffered last regular season, the quarterback addressed the questions.

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t at all,” Jones said when meeting with the media on  Thursday. “I had a non-football related procedure done on my neck. I saw there was some [speculation] about it [online]. But it was completely unrelated. I feel good. Neck’s great.”

Jones suffered the injury in a Week 12 game against the Philadelphia Eagles, and did not play the rest of the season.

The Giants declined to pick up his fifth-year option, and added veteran Tyrod Taylor this offseason. Recently, new head coach Brian Daboll indicated that Taylor will get some snaps with the first-team offense, but that such a move was part of New York’s offseason “plan.”

 

Secret Superstars for Week 1 of the 2022 NFL preseason

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar has scoured preseason tape, and here are his Secret Superstars for Week 1 of this NFL preseason.

Those party-poopers who tell you that “It’s only the preseason” have never tried to make an NFL team, or grab a starting role, by the skin of their teeth. For more players than not, the three-game stretch before the regular season begins is their best way to prove that they belong on an NFL roster once things get “real.”

Now that Week 1 of the 2022 preseason is in the books, here are the players we think have done the most to create — or enhance — those favorable impressions when they matter the most.

The players on this list are not the obvious names — there are no first-rounders, or players who came into the new season with advanced amounts of hype based on their collegiate or previous NFL exploits. These guys are either trying to stake their claims, or save their careers.

So, let’s take a look at the Secret Superstars of Week 1 of the 2022 NFL preseason.

(All metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus unless otherwise indicated).

Quincy Williams levels QB Jalen Hurts with cheap shot as Jets face Eagles

The Jets’ Quincy Williams with a total cheap shot on Jalen Hurts

There are risks in playing first-stringers in preseason. Nick Sirianni had to see the Philadelphia Eagles’ season flash before his eyes Friday against the New York Jets.

Jalen Hurts was impressive in his series, going 6-for-6 for 80 yards and a TD.

That will not be what is first up on highlights or on the mind of Eagles fans.

Check out the cheap shot delivered by New York’s Quincy Williams, a 5-foot-11, 225-pounder, on the Philly QB.

Good on Jordan Mailata for defending his quarterback.

And what was Williams thinking?

Touchdown Wire’s NFL power rankings podcast with Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield get you ready for the 2022 NFL season through the view of Doug’s recent power rankings.

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield get you ready for the 2022 NFL preseason and regular season with a look at every NFL team through the view of Doug’s recent power rankings, and where every team stands as they come into the new campaign. We have separated teams into tiers:

  1. Total rebuilds: Falcons, Bears, Jaguars, Panthers, Seahawks, Giants, Lions.
  2. Feisty, but not there yet: Jets, Texans
  3. WTF? Patriots, Cardinals, Dolphins, Commanders
  4. Possible playoff teams with major concerns: Steelers, Vikings, Colts, Titans, Saints
  5. The Deshaun Watson category: Browns
  6. Great, if everything goes right: Eagles, Raiders, Cowboys
  7. One potentially fatal flaw away: Chargers, Ravens, 49ers, Packers
  8. Have to take them absolutely seriously: Chiefs, Buccaneers, Bengals, Broncos, Rams
  9. Who’s going to stop them? Bills

Check it out in the link below, and enjoy the new season!

On BlogTalk Radio:

Preseason power rankings: Is this finally Buffalo’s season to win a Super Bowl?

Doug Farrar’s preseason power rankings have the Bills headed to (and winning) Super Bowl LVII. Which teams could knock them out of that dream?

Legendary head coach Marv Levy is justifiably in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and one primary reason is that, from 1990 through 1993, he led the Buffalo Bills to four straight Super Bowls. No other coach has ever done that.

The problem, of course, is that the Bills lost all four of those Super Bowls. The Bills capped off the old millennium with a handful of wild-card and divisional round losses under Levy and then Wade Philips, and then entered a postseason drought that started in 2000. and lasted until 2017.

Now, things are different. With perhaps the most stacked roster in the league and a superstar quarterback in Josh Allen, there’s little doubt that the Bills are Super Bowl-ready. They may have been last season were it not for a heartbreaking loss and defensive implosion in the divisional round to the Kansas City Chiefs, but in our preseason power rankings, we have the Bills as the NFL’s best team — and 2022 as the season in which the Bills win their first league championship since 1965, in the old American Football League.

Of course, there are all kinds of teams who could knock them from that dream. On the other side of things, there are NFL teams rebuilding, just trying to tread water, confident but with concerns, and on the precipice of something special.

As the 2022 preseason begins, here are our first power rankings of the new NFL campaign.

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Sports Info Solutions, Pro Football Focus, and Football Outsiders unless otherwise indicated).

Why history is not on the side of Daniel Jones’ fourth-year redemption

Can Daniel Jones turn his NFL career around in his fourth NFL season? History weighs the odds severely against him.

With new head coach Brian Daboll, the New York Giants are trying to see what they can extract out of quarterback Daniel Jones. Daboll, fresh from his stint as the Bills’ offensive coordinator in which he turned Josh Allen from a toolsy prospect out of Wyoming into one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks, is now in charge of trying to extract a similar turnaround from his new alleged franchise quarterback.

So far, Jones — selected sixth overall in the 2019 draft — has not given a lot of hope as to that level of improvement. This seems to have extended into the 2022 preseason.

Throughout NFL history — or, at least more recent NFL history — the ability of quarterbacks to reverse course when they’ve played down to Jones’ low level is not great. Per Football Outsiders, quarterbacks since 1981 who have posted DVOA (FO’s opponent-adjusted play-to-play efficiency metric) of -10.0% or lower in each of their first three NFL seasons do not turn it around in their fourth.

Jones’ Passing DVOA of -10.6 in 2021 ranked 26th in the league, and that’s the best DVOA he’s posted in a season. There was his -22.4% DVOA in 2020, which ranked 32nd, and his -19.2% DVOA in 2019, which ranked 30th.

So. Per FO, there have been four quarterbacks who posted Passing DVOA of at least -10.0% in each their first three NFL seasons. DVOA currently goes back to 1981, so there’s a pretty decent sample size. Jeff George (1990-1992), Rick Mirer (1993-1995), Tim Couch (1999-2001), and Sam Darnold (2018-2020). Only George was able to redeem himself later in his career, and that was because (like Josh Allen), he had ridiculous tools, and the light eventually came on to whatever degree. Mirer and Couch are legendary draft busts. Darnold, like Jones, is trying to buck the “bust” label, and it’s not going well.

So, whatever level of optimism you may hear from Daboll and his staff regarding Jones’ ability to turn his career around, remember that history — and Jones’ own limitations — tend to err sharply in the opposite direction.

One stat that matters for every NFL team

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar brings forth one stat that matters for every NFL team coming into the 2022 season.

When you ask NFL coaches, executives, and scouts about analytics, you’ll get all kinds of answers which tend to reveal which teams value them — and which teams are paying lip service, because they don’t really consider advanced metrics, but they don’t want to be pilloried on social media as dinosaurs.

The teams that don’t value analytics, or don’t want you to know that they do, will tend to give more generic answers. Teams that are all in will be more specific.

Whether you believe that analytics can help your player evaluation process or not, the simple fact is that they represent a tool that can be helpful in the right hands. In the wrong hands, it’s just statistical noise.

We’re not sure if my hands are the right ones or not, but in this article, I have endeavored to find one specific metric for each NFL team that reveals a larger strength or weakness each team will either benefit from, or must address, in the 2022 season.

So, get your tape-repaired glasses, dust off your pocket protectors, and let’s nerd out with one stat that matters for every NFL team!

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Sports Info Solutions, Pro Football Focus, and Football Outsiders unless otherwise indicated).