It’s Chase in the Middle for the Giants, for Now

The Giants announced that Chase Blackburn will be the starting Middle LineBacker in their base set on first and second down, when training camp opens this summer. Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell however di make it clear that that is where the competition will start, and not necessarily end.  Mark Herzlich, Greg Jones, and Keith Rivers will all get the opportunity to compete with Chase for the job. Fewell went on to state:

"I don’t think college football allows you to have a big, anchor middle linebacker anymore because of the way college football plays,” Fewell said. “And I don’t think the NFL requires that as much anymore because a lot of things change with one-back spread teams that throw the ball all over the place.”Fewell went on to say, “We don’t have a third-down middle linebacker. What is a two-down Mike? We may have to redefine that a little bit as we continue to evaluate what offenses are doing in the National Football League.”Fewell said the linebacking corps will be “an area of interest” for the team this summer in large part because it has so many potential personnel combinations."

The position of linebacker continues to evolve in the NFL, and the Giants will look for creative ways to adapt ahead of the curve.