Is Smith healthy? Would he come back to New York? Is this the logical choice to put Victor Cruz outside with Smith reclaiming the slot role?  Smith said some things on the way out the door that were unnecessary, would the fans welcome him back?

A player that is sure to be linked to the New York Giants is Steve Smith. Smith signed on with the Philadelphia Eagles last year after Reese and co. “lowballed” him according to Smith. Reese was right in this manner because Smith was coming off a micro-fracture surgery to his knee and was expected to start the season on the PUP list. The Eagles medical staff thought differently and brought him in.

The Eagles staff proved to be knowledgeable as Smith did not start the season on the PUP list. Ultimately, Smith only played in nine games netting only eleven catches for 124 yards and a touchdown. He was placed on injured reserve on December 12 due to a bone bruise in his knee. His only touchdown came against who else, The New York Giants.

Smith was once known as the premier slot receiver in the NFL. Before his injury, he was a pro-bowler and a Super Bowl champion. Would Giants fans welcome Smith back with open arms if Mario Manningham bolted via free agency? One can only wonder, but we should know more in the upcoming weeks.

For more news, updates, and analysis follow me on Twitter (@ERobertsNY):

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We have landed at the halfway point of the 2011 season. Every team in the NFL have played out their first 8 games. Only two teams have played into the second half of a 16 game schedule, the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. The second half is upon us and the playoff brackets are beginning to take shape.

The NFC East has always been a competitive division, in and of itself and outside of the conference/division. The first impressions that many had of the NFC East have been blown out of the water. Regardless of record, any team in this conference is capable, at any time, of making the opposition sorry for mistaking a losing record for terminal weakness. We’ve got the grades and projections for the remainder of the season right here. Welcome to the NFC EAST Midseason Report Card! Check it out!
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They were without their leading receiver. Their starting running back, full back and center all missed the game due to injury. Their 1st pick overall in the 2011 NFL Draft made the trip, but did not play.

Of the six categories (ten positions within each slot), not one…NOT ONE single member of the New York Giants earned themselves a slot in the NFL Weekly leader board. They were shutdown for the entire first half. Just how did Big Blue pull off their biggest upset of the season? We’ve got answers. Join me on this incredibly inspiring fact finding recap.
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Welcome to week 3 in the National Football League. The shapes of each conference are being to take form. The divisions themselves match up quite well at this stage of the season. But this week will begin to separate the men from the boys. Those professional pickers over at ESPN have cast their ballots and the results are in!

As usual, I have made my predictions right long side the likes of Mike Golic, Ron Jaworski, the two robots and the rest of the ESPN panel of pundits. Last week was a wild wind up of football. There were upsets along with easy pickings. How did I fare against the ESPN machine? Who am I picking this week? You just might be surprised. Read on.
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I’ll give you fine GMEN HQ readers a quote and you have to tell me who said it. Your options are:

• A)  Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride
• B)   A disgruntled New York Giants fan

All right, are you ready for this? I sure hope so…

Quote #1: “The powers above me made that decision [that] we needed to add this additional receiver.”

Quote #2: “We had wanted all along Steve Smith back, and that was the objective, that was the hope and the expectation…”

Quote #3: “…But when that didn’t happen, then we have two young guys [Cruz and Jernigan] that we think can do it.”

Quote #4: “I think [Stokley] will bring something to the table that we are looking forward to having and what we were really in need of since Steve Smith’s injury.”

Okay, ring the bell, the game is over. Now let’s get to the scorecard.

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The talent is there. I know we lost Steve Smith, Kevin Boss and Barry Cofield in the offseason, but that doesn’t change that fact. (honestly, I think everyone is freaking out WAY too much about this. Aside from Steve Smith I don’t think we lost any player that was above average. And in Steve Smith’s case, we lost a player at a position that we have an abundance of talent)

Focusing on the defense, I think we can all agree that the Giants showed how dominant of a unit they could be at times last season. Remember, for a while they were ranked as the number one unit in terms of total yards allowed, and they finished the season with the most takeaways in the league. So why don’t we remember how dominant they were? Because they choked down the stretch and gave up a billion points in the time it took to blink. (those numbers were only slightly exaggerated)

This season the Giants will have the same defensive system and coordinator for the first time in three years. A system and coordinator that the players like and respect. If they can keep themselves motivated they have a chance of replicating what the Ravens did back when they terrorized Kerry Collins for 60 minutes. (and subsequently made us forget how magnificent he was against the Vikings a game before)

Now I could bullet the reasons why the defense should be dominant, but I think they showed that at times last year. Instead let’s look at the reasons this defense could fail to live up to these lofty expectations.

1. Poor depth in the secondary

This is something that troubled me last season, as I thought they only had three starting caliber corners (Webster, Thomas, and Ross) and a single injury would leave them exposed. Luckily the Giants did not have a single significant injury in the secondary last season. The problem is, with Prince injured the Giants are in the same predicament. Bringing back Deon Grant helps stabilize the safeties, but the corners are once again an injury away from getting torched on a weekly basis.

2. Lack of talent at linebacker

Right now the three starting linebackers are Michael Boley, Jonathan Goff and Mathias Kiwanuka. While Kiwi spent some time at linebacker before, he is more a defensive end than a linebacker. Boley has been with the team for two seasons and has failed to make a big impact. Finally, Goff was average at best in his role, and did so little to impress the coaches last season that his spot hasn’t even been guaranteed.

3. Without Osi and Cofield the defensive line won’t be as dominant

Osi recently elected to have surgery (so he gets a second opinion, is told he is cleared to play. tells everyone he is going to play so he doesn’t let his teammates and coaches down, then has a surgery that will keep him off the field for weeks, and let his teammates and coaches down. I don’t get it. Either say right after the second opinion I’m going to have the surgery, or don’t have the surgery. Don’t claim you are going to be the bigger man, then a few days later act like a child in a pissing match with your parents) and Cofield left in free agency. Those two players were two of the most productive players on the line, how do the Giants replace their production?

Now that we’ve outlined the three biggest problems surrounding the Giants defense why don’t we show why they aren’t a big deal. Let’s start with the easiest one. The Linebackers:

This is another issue I think is talked about way too much. With the way the Giants like to play defense, the linebackers are not impact players. For starters, teams almost always trot out three wide receivers, which means three corners and two linebackers. Keith Bullock was the third linebacker last year and he barely saw the field. Secondly, the Giants prefer to play with three safeties than three linebackers. For those two reasons, it is rare to have more than two linebackers on the field, and there are plenty of formations with just one. But what about the lack of talent? Michael Boley is a better player than people give him credit for. He was hurt his first season, and actually played pretty well last year. Boley, combined with the play of Grant and the safeties, were the reason why the Giants defended the tight end position so well. For Kiwanuka, he looked fantastic in this same role early last season. He had four sacks in the first three games before getting injured. I remember I was so excited about his development last season, and it was a huge blow when he was injured. I am not worried about his play at all. For Goff, he had a solid season. I’ll admit it wasn’t great, but it was leaps and bounds better than what I thought he would do. With a season under his belt I expect him to play even better than he did last year. In short, I am not saying the Giants have amazing linebackers. What I am saying is I don’t see the position as this great weakness that will hinder the Giants potential to be a dominating defense.

Now the second easiest question, the defensive line:

Yes, Cofield and Osi played well last season. No, their contributions won’t be impossible to replace. For one, I don’t see Cofield as being anything special. He is a good player, but good players are replaceable. Linval Joseph and Marvin Austin are more talented than Cofield was. Will they be able to showcase those talents on the field? We’ll see. I strongly believe at least one of them will, and let’s not forget, we still have Chris Canty, who has played well for the Giants. For Osi, he will be back with the team probably before the midpoint of the season. In the meantime, JPP has looked great. (While I say this I am terrified he is going to have some freak injury that costs him the season. It seems to happen every year with a player that is about to breakout. Kenny Phillips, Victor Cruz, Kiwanuka…twice) While it would be ideal to have Osi in the rotation, I don’t think it will destroy the team to be without him for part of the season.

Finally the hardest question, the secondary depth:

This is probably the thing that worries me the most. If there is an injury to Corey Webster or Terrell Thomas, I have no idea how the Giants will fare. I guess we’ll have to watch the rest of the preseason to see if someone emerges, but for now it worries me. Prince should be back at some point this season, so hopefully he can come back and add some much needed depth. (or perhaps his injury appeased the sports gods enough that we don’t need to lose another player to injury?) I am worried about a corner coming in without any training camp and having a screw in his foot, but on the bright side, how well do you need to know the playbook to play man-to-man, and if he is cleared to play hopefully that injured foot isn’t bothering him. Still I can’t help but think of this issue as the biggest problem the Giants face.

Still, looking back on these issues and last year’s performance, I think it is fair to say that if the Giants can stay motivated, they can be a top 5 unit in the NFL. Basically, just like Dan said in his article, the biggest thing keeping the Giants from being a top unit is themselves. So this season will tell us one of two things: the coaching staff is incapable of motivating these players, or the Giants have a bad locker room and need to completely overhaul their roster. Something tells me the coaches will go first.

I get that fans are upset about losing players such as Boss and Smith but I also have to look at it from the business side of things. Boss and Smith took the money and ran. Can’t blame them for for that. They waited around hoping to get an offer from the Giants of what they thought they were worth but those offers never came.

Boss was made an offer he didn’t like, found a new home and more money, and will now be playing for Al Davis’ corpse out in Oakland. He wanted to be a Giant and it didn’t work out for him. The Giants knew what they were doing with him and didn’t see any advantage of retaining him for a higher price than what they wished to pay him. That’s there prerogative too. I wish the Bossman well and hope he has a fine career.

Smith was also made an offer. But his situation is a little murkier. From all indicications it looked like he would be a Giant in 2011, no matter how long it took for him to recover from microfracture surgery performed on his left knee. The Giants were banking on making him a relatively small offer in order to entice him to play for a better contract if he were to come back healthy and perform and the level a healthy Steve Smith can play at during 2011, basically they wanted him to play in 2011 for his 2012 contract.

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Steve Smith could never take a snap for Philly and still be a solid signing. The reason for this is because they snatched him away from the Giants. Game, set and match.

Smith was awarded a 1 year 4 million dollar deal with 2 million guaranteed. Chump change for the Dream Team Eagles. With this signing, the Eagles created an uproar in Giantsville, took away Eli’s security blanket, and made experts question Jerry Reese’s motives. I am sure Jeff Lurie and Andy Reid are on two la-z-boy recliners right now laughing at the media circus surrounding the Smith signing.

Even if Smith does indeed get cut by the Eagles later on in the season, you know for sure he is not going back to the Giants with all the facebook and twitter uproar that has occurred.

My personal, trying to remain professional and unbiased thoughts to all this, you ask?

Touche’ Eagles, touche’.

For more updates, thoughts, and news follow me on Twitter:

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Jeff Lurie laughing at the Smith signing

– Smiths number 12 has been given to rookie Jerrell Jernigan.

– Giants are having discussions with both T.J.  Houshmandzadeh and Jerricho Cotchery

– Osi is getting checked out in Atlanta today — if  cleared he will practice on Monday. His agent said there will be no stunts or acts, Osi will be back with the Giants if he can practice. Looks like this soap opera will be cancelled, was looking forward to seeing it on CBS.

– Giants will hold practice today at 1:30 pm. Sun is shining, birds are chirping, and you know quotes will be flying about the departure of Steve Smith.

For more updates and news follow me on Twitter:

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Smith is coming off major knee surgery and his health is still in question. Many believe that if Smith does indeed re-sign with the Giants that he would start the season on the PUP list.

Smith has always been known as a fan favorite, and if he jumps ship like other fellow free agents Kevin Boss and Barry Cofield it could mean a major morale blow for the team.

With Smith unsigned, Victor Cruz, Domenik Hixon, and surprisingly Darius Reynaud have emerged as potential 3rd wideout options. The Giants have shown no interest in outside help for the wide receiver position.

Source: Sean Kerr

There is a lot of buzz around the internet praising the New York Giants for having a great draft. The surprise, for many, is how a player that was so highly ranked and regarded like Prince Amukamara ended up wearing a Big Blue uniform given the fact that the Giants had a second half pick in the first round.

The fact of the matter is that it was virtually impossible for the G-Men to have a bad prospect in the first round, regardless if Prince was available come the 19th selection or not. Of course, that is not to say that the Giants could not have SELECTED poorly. Clearly they did not. What the Giants did was pick the highest ranked player that was available at the 19th selection when their turn came around. He just happened to play a position that the Giants needed reinforcement in. He also happened to be the second smallest athlete, (6′ 0″ 206 lbs) that was selected in the first round, Mark Ingram being the smallest (5′ 9″ 215 lbs).
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The last of the regular season games is upon us folks. 2010 has been a tumultuous journey for the New York Giants to say the least. We’ve had our ups – some glorious ups and we’ve had our downs. Boy, were there downs! But we’re not done yet Giants fans!

The Giants’ playoff hopes are alive and well, despite a multitude of missed opportunities. It is going to require a tremendous performance by the Chicago Bears to shoot us into the race for the Lombardi Trophy. Oh yeah, it is also going to take a Big Blue victory over the Washington Redskins this Sunday. We have the analysis and numbers right here. get ‘em while they’re hot!
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Two weeks ago I wrote an article about the “New York Giants And The Roman Numeral V.” Five has been a recurring number throughout the Giants’ season and this week is no exception. The Philadelphia Eagles have won five straight games against the G-Men. They have also won their last 5 consecutive games. Big Blue looks to end these streaks on Sunday.

By now, most readers know that Steve Smith is out for the season. After being sidelined with a pectoral injury for four weeks, Smith returned back to action against the Minnesota Vikings. He was targeted 3 times but only caught 1 pass for 12 yards. The Giants have gone 2-2 in his absence. Being down a Pro Bowl receiver certainly doesn’t help matters much for a team that has had to grapple with injuries all year long. Can they pull out their biggest win of the season without Steve Smith? Let’s crunch some numbers and find out.
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The injuries that the New York Giants have had to contend with this season have passed over the borderline and into the territory of the obscene. Before the start of the preseason, and at the very first practice, their “Plaxico Burress successor”, Domenik Hixon, suffered a season ending accruciate ligament injury. From that practice up until the game against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night, the Giants’ receiving corp continued to be depreciated by a nasty little injury plague.

There was a glimmer of hope on Monday night though. David Diehl, Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks all made it back into the starting lineup only to find the injury plague back in full swing. Steve Smith was Big Blue’s second leading receiver before his pectoral injury. In the 3rd quarter of the Vikings game, Smith suffered a hamstring injury and is likely to miss at least one game.
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Source: Sean Kerr

Tis’ the season is the popular saying this time of year; the season for giving. Christmas in New York City is truly a magical time. Perhaps I am a little biased, being a native New Yorker but if you are looking for that Yule Tide feeling, you wont have to look very far in the Big Apple. This past Thursday night was one of many nights, I am sure, that New York Giants Defensive End Osi Umenyiora was feeling the Christmas spirit.

Perry Ellis sponsored Lord & Taylor’s, “Guys Night Out” last night. To say it was a huge success would be an understatement. On hand to meet and greet the fans were New York Jets LB – Bart Scott, the New York Jets Flight Crew Cheerleaders and our very own Osi Umenyiora. The Lord & Taylor flagship store was brimming with holiday shoppers and Giants fans alike. While most in attendance of the “Guys Night Out” couldn’t wait to meet their favorite New York Giant, some just wanted to play video games.
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Welcome to December Giants fans. Forget what you knew. Forget the last 11 games. This is a NEW season, a 5 game season and one whose road is not paved to perfection. In fact, buckle up. It’s going to be a bumpy ride!
I am by no means a numerologist. Yet, I could not help but notice that the number 5 has reared its mysterious head throughout Big Blue’s 2010 season. The New York Giants went on to win 5 consecutive games after losing 2 straight earlier in the year. What every Giants fan is hoping for is DEJA BLUE. That has already begun – another 2 straight losses and the beginning of another possible 5 game winning streak. Last Sunday’s victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars brought in the first of this very hopeful winning streak.
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Through the draft the Giants added two players, fourth round selection Phillip Dilliard and sixth round pick Adrian Tracy. Add that to the current linebackers on the roster, Chase Blackburn, Michael Boley, fan favorite Zak DeOssie, Jonathan Goff, Brian Kehl, Clint Sintim, Gerris Wilkinson, and Kenny Ingram (who has never entered a game). None of those names ring out like those old Giants linebackers of lore. But who knows what we will think of them after this season?

The race for the Mike or Middle Linebacker boils down to 4 players: Goff, Dilliard, Wilkinson, and Blackburn. Whoever wins the competition will be expected to quarterback the defense the same way Antonio Pierce did under previous defensive coordinators, which could be too much to throw on rookie Dilliard’s plate immediately. Many fans were playing Rolando McClain was going to fall to the Giants in the first round, but that obviously didn’t happen. The Giants obviously expect a lot from Dilliard, but how much they can realistically expect from a first year player remains to be seen. Of all the races profiled thus far this one seems the most wide open. Jonathan Goff has been getting most of the reps so far with the first team, with Dilliard mostly with the second, but really none of the four options have been ruled out yet, and while it could very well be Goff’s to lose, it would be just as easy for Dilliar for even Blackburn or Wilkinson to win it.

Michael Boley spent parts of last season hurt, but when he did play he did so servicably. He should remain as the starter at one of the outside linebacker spots. The other outside spot most likely belongs to Clint Sintim, who has seen a few reps in the middle himself. If the season ended today, it would most likely be Boley and Sintim on the outside with Goff anchoring the middle. The Giants know more or less what to expect from Boley, as long as he stays healthy. It is Goff and even more Sintim that are the players to watch. Of course, if the front four do their job, they will help cover up any weakness in the young linebacking corps.

James Butler (hamstring) is still out and on the sideline.

Gibril Wilson (knee) is going to try to practice.

Aaron Ross (hamstring) missed Wednesday’s practice.

Michael Strahan (team decision) missed Wednesday’s practice.

Plaxico Burress (ankle/knee) missed Wednesday’s practice.

R.W. McQuarters plans on taking reps at safety incase he is needed.

Antonio Pierce (ankle) has been removed from the injury report.

Brandon Jacobs (hamstring) has been removed from the injury report.

Steve Smith (hamstring) has been removed from the injury report.

80 Jeremy Shockey
Shockey (stomach) is listed as active at Philadelphia.

58 Antonio Pierce
Pierce (ankle) is listed as active at Philadelphia.

27 Brandon Jacobs
Jacobs (hamstring) is listed as active at Philadelphia.

17 Plaxico Burress
Burress (ankle, knee) is listed as active at Philadelphia.

In the News:

• Eli knows he can make the big play against the aggressive Philly defense.

• The Giants need to hold the ball and create long drives if they want a win in Week 14.

• Steve Smith is ready to perform the way Coughlin and Co. know he is capable of.

• The G-Men can enhance their playoff chances and ruin the the Eagles’ with a win this week.

• New York needs to play to win today, more than any other game of the season.