Tag: Bobby Johnson

Jon Feliciano excited to play his ‘best position’ with Giants

Jon Feliciano says he’s been angling to play center for years and is excited to finally get that opportunity with the New York Giants.

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Jon Feliciano has spent the vast majority of his professional career taking snaps at guard. That comes on the heels of taking most of his college snaps at tackle.

But in 2022 with the New York Giants, Feliciano won’t see time at either position. Rather, he’ll be converted to center — something he’s been clamoring for dating back to his days with the Oakland Raiders.

“Going back to my Oakland days, I had a guy, Rodney Hudson, who’s a top-tier, one-two center the last 10 years. I got to pick his brain and learn from him, and Mike Tice and Tim Holt,” Feliciano told reporters on Wednesday. “I took those four years of being a rotational guy, a back-up guy, to learn a position that I didn’t play in college.

“In college I played tackle, I played both tackles and then left guard. So, from those first four years, I got to learn center and I really fell in love with it. Just the responsibility that is on your hands to come in every week and everything is basically on you. You’ve got to know the defense. You’ve got to make all of the calls for the guys around you. I take a lot of pride in knowing that stuff.

“I’ve been in a lot of people’s ears for a lot of years trying to get into the center position. I honestly think it’s my best position, and I’m just really excited to finally get to show what I’ve got.”

The Giants were certainly in need of a center entering the offseason. Nick Gates suffered a horrific leg injury a season ago and there’s no guarantee that he’ll be able to play in 2022, so Feliciano made sense. He’s got obvious familiarity with head coach Brian Daboll and understands his offense, plus he’s got past experience with offensive line coach Bobby Johnson.

“It started when I was a rotational guy and Bobby did the goal-line plays, so every week he would draw up the goal line plays and he started looking out for me and putting me in as a fullback, or tight end, basically just looking out for me and putting me in anywhere he could. Even went out in motion and ran a couple of routes. It’s every fat man’s dream,” Feliciano said with a laugh. “But our relationship started from there.”

With the Giants, Feliciano will be in control of the communication and blocking assignments. It’s a tall order but one he’s taking seriously, especially given his thoughts on quarterback Daniel Jones.

“when I went to Buffalo the first time, they were struggling up front — the offensive line was,” he said. “Our 2019 free agent o-line group, we understood going in that this team had potential if we had the quarterback upright. I believe the same thing watching Danny Dimes play. I believe he’s going to be a really good quarterback, especially if he has some time.”

Time has been a persistent issue for Jones and something the Giants knew they had to correct entering the offseason. Feliciano is just one piece, but he’s an important piece who will play a major role in determining Jones’ long-term fate in East Rutherford.

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Giants sign OL Jon Feliciano: 3 things to know

The New York Giants have signed OL Jon Feliciano, so here are three quick things to know about the team’s newest center.

The New York Giants have signed veteran interior lineman Jon Feliciano on the first day of the NFL’s “legal tampering” period on Monday.

Here are three quick things to know about the Giants’ newest lineman.

Giants to sign OL Mark Glowinski: 3 things to know

The New York Giants have agreed to terms with OL Mark Glowinski, so here are three quick things to know about the team’s newest guard.

The New York Giants agreed to terms with veteran guard Mark Glowinski on the first day of the NFL’s “legal tampering” period. He is a name that many Giant fans are unfamiliar with.

Here’s three quick things to know about the Giants’ new guard

Could Giants make a run at the recently released Jon Feliciano?

The Buffalo Bills released veteran OL Jon Feliciano on Wednesday and he would certainly make sense for the guard-needy New York Giants.

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The New York Giants began retooling the depth along their offensive line on Wednesday, signing tackle Matt Gono to a one-year deal. Gono had been released by the Atlanta Falcons in January.

Given the team’s lack of cap space, do not expect that to be the end of their bargain bin shopping.

With only a week remaining until the new league year, salary cap cuts will continue to trickle in across the NFL. And as new players shake loose, new opportunities potentially arise for the Giants and general manager Joe Schoen.

Another such option became available on Wednesday as the Buffalo Bills parted ways with veteran guard Jon Feliciano.

The 30-year-old Feliciano immediately makes sense for the Giants on a multitude levels. First and foremost, he’s a trusted veteran guard and New York is in desperate need of those. Secondly, he obviously has familiarity with Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, as well as Daboll’s offensive system.

Finally, Feliciano has an extended history with Giants offensive line coach Bobby Johnson. The two were together in both Oakland and Buffalo, totaling six seasons side-by-side.

Feliciano, a fourth-round pick in the 2015 NFL draft, has appeared in 82 career games with 36 starts. He’s taken reps at both right and left guard, and only lost his starting job after going on short-term injured reserve a season ago.

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Giants hire Laura Young, announce partial coaching staff

The New York Giants have hired Laura Young as director of coaching operations and officially revealed a portion of their coaching staff.

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The New York Giants announced some additions to their coaching staff on Friday.

Big Blue officially named their coordinators under new head coach Brian Daboll: Mike Kafka (offense), Don “Wink” Martindale (defense) and Thomas McGaughey (special teams).

The team also subsequently announced the hiring of some key assistants:

  • Quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney
  • Running backs coach DeAndre Smith
  • Wide receivers coach Mike Groh
  • Tight ends coach Andy Bischoff
  • Offensive line coach Bobby Johnson
  • Asst. offensive line coach Tony Sparano, Jr.
  • Defensive line coach Andre Patterson

In addition, the Giants announced that Laura Young has been hired as the team’s director of coaching operations. Young will be involved in “every aspect of football operations, including coordinating/organizing practice, as well as game day operations.”

“(Young will) have her hands all over the organization in terms of the coaching side,” Daboll said. “She’s with me every step of the way. She’s a rock star really, and I feel very fortunate that I get to work with her each day because she provides just a tremendous amount of support and value to really everyone, but myself the most, I would say.

“She’s smart, there’s really not a job she can’t do and a job she won’t do. That’s her mindset. Very humble, egoless, but driven, smart. I just think she’s the best.”

Daboll took a unique approach to assembling his staff. He leveraged several relationships from his time as offensive coordinator in Buffalo, but also hired coaches he had no prior relationship with.

“I think what you try to do when you’re putting together a staff, whether that be an offensive staff in a smaller form or the entire staff, you try to put together a group of people that will complement one another, whether that’s experience, whether that’s energy, whether that’s detail, whether that’s passion,” Daboll said. “You don’t want to have a cookie cutter approach and hire everybody that’s exactly the same. I think that you have to offset blind spots.”

Daboll will continue to add to his staff over the next week or two as the Giants prepare for the NFL combine later this month and free agency which begins in mid-March.

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Giants to hire Bobby Johnson as offensive line coach

The New York Giants are expected to hire Bobby Johnson, previously of the Buffalo Bills, as their next offensive line coach.

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The New York Giants have cycled through multiple offensive line coaches in recent years, but hope to find some stability with the next. And in keeping with recent trends, they’ll task a former Buffalo Bills guy with the job.

Multiple reports, including one from Mike Silver, surfaced on Monday indicating that the Giants have hired Bobby Johnson as their next O-Line coach.

The 49-year-old Johnson has more than 25 years of coaching experience between the NFL and NCAA. He broke in with Akron as a graduate assistant and defensive line coach in 1995, but also spent time with Miami (Ohio) and Indiana before reaching the pros in 2010.

Johnson was initially hired as the Bills’ assistant offensive line coach but departed for Jacksonville in 2012. After one season coaching the Jaguars’ tight ends, he joined the Detroit Lions as tight ends coach and assistant offensive line coach. From 2015 through 2017, he coached tight ends for the Oakland Raiders and then spent one season with the Indianapolis Colts.

In 2019, Johnson returned to the Bills as an offensive line coach. Since then, Buffalo has gone on to assemble one of the better O-Line’s in football, surrendering just 27 sacks during the 2021 which was the second-fewest in the NFL.

Since 2020, the Giants have gone through three different offensive line coaches: Marc Colombo, Dave DeGuglielmo and Rob Sale.

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Report: Bills lose OL coach Bobby Johnson to Giants

Report: #Bills lose OL coach Bobby Johnson to #Giants:

The Buffalo Bills have reportedly had their first coach follow Brian Daboll to the New York Giants.

According to multiple reports including The Athletic, the Bills have lost offensive line coach Bobby Johnson:

Johnson has held his position as Buffalo’s offensive line coach since 2019. Prior to joining the Bills, Johnson was the Indianapolis Colts’ assistant offensive line coach.

Last weekend, the Giants hired Buffalo’s offensive coordinator in Daboll as their head coach. Since then, speculation has surfaced surrounding Daboll’s coaching staff. Will he poach employees of the Bills?

It appears there will be at least one in Johnson. His contract expired in Buffalo.

The other with a spotlight on him is quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey. He appears slated for an offensive coordinator job, it just remains to be seen if it’s in Buffalo or New York.

Stay tuned to Bills Wire throughout the winter as we will provide all updates regarding Buffalo assistants and front-office members that are connected to other NFL teams.

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Throwback Thursday: Giants lose heartbreaker to Browns in 1985

In the latest Giants Wire Throwback Thursday, we go back to 1985 when the New York Giants lost a heartbreaker to the Cleveland Browns.

The New York Giants and the Cleveland Browns were once fierce NFL rivals. Going back to the 1950s, players such as Jim Brown, Sam Huff, Frank Gifford and Lou Groza were fixtures at two iconic venues, Yankee Stadium and Municipal Stadium.

As part of a merger, Paul Brown took his powerful Browns team from the All-America Football Conference to the NFL in 1950 along with the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts and made an immediate impact on their new league, winning the NFL championship in their first season and then playing in the championship game in six of the next seven years, winning two more titles.

After a five-year playoff drought, the Browns returned to the playoffs in 1964, winning their last NFL championship to date. The Browns remained relevant throughout the 1960s under new owner Art Modell, making the playoffs in each of the next eight seasons, but never got back to the championship game.

When the NFL and AFL merged in 1970, the Browns were one of the three NFL teams (along with Baltimore and Pittsburgh) to join the AFC in order to even out the conferences at 13 teams apiece. That’s when the Giants and Browns, who had played 41 times over the 20 years since Cleveland joined the NFL, became estranged. And both franchises went into the tank for the better part of the next decade and half.

But in the mid-1980s, both clubs were ascending. In 1985, the Browns were in their first full season under head coach Marty Schottenheimer and the Giants were beginning their run as an NFC heavyweight under Bill Parcells. Both teams entered the game vying for first place in their respective divisions.

In Week 13, the 8-4 Giants hosted the 6-6 Browns at Giants Stadium. The calendar had turned to December that day, and it was a typical North Jersey afternoon with temperatures in the mid-30s and winds whipping in all directions.

The Giants opened the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run by Joe Morris. Cleveland answered with a 42-yard touchdown run by Kevin Mack. Giants quarterback Phil Simms was picked off by Hanford Dixon, leading to another Cleveland score, a 2-yard dive by Earnest Byner. Al Gross returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown, giving the Browns a 21-7 lead in the second quarter.

The Giants then scored 14 unanswered points — on a 58-yard touchdown run by Morris and a 29-yard touchdown strike from Simms to Bobby Johnson — to narrow the score to 21-20 at halftime.

The Giants opened the second half by scoring 13 points on two Eric Schubert field goals and Morris’ third touchdown of the game. Those drives were set up by an interception by safety Terry Kinard and a fumble recovery by linebacker Byron Hunt.

The Giants had a 33-21 fourth-quarter lead, and with their defense, the game seemed over. But Cleveland wasn’t done. They rallied behind their powerful running game and rookie quarterback Bernie Kosar, who was dealing with a shoulder injury.

The Browns scored two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to pull ahead, 35-33 (Kosar was replaced by veteran Gary Danielson in the third quarter but then was reinserted in the fourth when Danielson was injured).

The Giants had one last drive in them and ended up attempting a 34-yard field goal to win the game in the final seconds. But Schubert’s line-drive attempt went wide to the left, sealing the Browns’ victory.

The Giants went on to finish the season 10-6. They defeated the 49ers, 17-3, in the wild-card game before getting embarrassed by the Bears in Chicago, 21-0, in the divisional round the next week.

Cleveland won the AFC Central with an 8-8 record. They lost in the divisional round, 24-21, to Miami.

In 1986, the Giants steamrolled through the NFC and into the Super Bowl. The Browns went 12-4 and had the top seed in the AFC. They beat the Jets in overtime in the divisional round and then were victimized by John Elway and the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game by “The Drive” — or they would have faced the Giants in Super Bowl XXI.

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