Once again, the G-men will be working through some defensive back issues. With Thomas gone Prince Amukamara will step into the starting role with Corey Webster playing the other side of the field. Prince Amukamara, 2011 first-round draft pick, is under pressure to perform this year. He missed the first nine games last year and didn’t play with the confidence required to be a NY Giants cornerback. Prince suffered a high-ankle sprain in the first preseason game this year and is expected to miss the season opener against Dallas on September 5. Michael Coe will play the right cornerback position until Amukamara’s return. Safety Tyler Sash is suspended for the first four games of the season for not requesting a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for his Adderall prescription. The current Giants depth chart lists Sash second to strong safety Kenny Phillips.

When Antrel was forced to play out of position at nickel corner he barked a bit.  He wanted to do what he was signed for, and that was to be a run support safety.  Antrel did a fabulous job, but was quick to let people know he was playing out of position and doing the best he could.  Once again this year it looks like Antrel will be asked to play a little corner now and again….but his answer this time was a bit different.

“But when Merritt approached the seven-year veteran this time, he got a pleasant surprise. Rolle said “no problem, Coach” when he was told to switch positions. Then on Monday, when the Giants found out Thomas would be out a while and Merritt told Rolle the switch might be permanent, he said, “Whatever it takes.”

Now that is a Giants answer.  Antrel has seen the light.  Antrel now respects these coaches and sees what hard work and discipline can bring.  Antrel is a champion, and now he is a Giant for life.

Enter training camp…It’s still not clear, to what extent, the severity of Thomas’ injury is. However, news from camp is painting a pretty unfortunate picture. The consensus is yet another tear to his anterior cruciate ligament, the same ACL as last year. It seems that he injured it during some drills while covering, ironically, Giants wide-out Domenik Hixon (Hixon is coming off back to back ACL tears). Tom Coughlin didn’t sound like he knew when the injury occurred.

“He walked up t me after practice (on Sunday) and thought he felt good. Didn’t really seem to have any issues and this morning when he came back in, it was swollen

As if rehabbing from one ACL injury isn’t enough, this actually is the third time Thomas has had damage to his knee. He also tore ligaments when he was still playing in college at USC.

Thomas is slated to be in California for the next couple days, having some “investigative” tests done to determine the extent of the injury.

Whether a Giants fan or not you cant help but feel for a guy, who was entering the prime of his career, with pro-bowl expectations, who was dealt this kind of blow. With not many players, if any, able to come back from 3 similar type surgeries, you have to be pulling for T2 to be the first.

“First we want to let him build himself back up,” Fewell said, a few hours before Thomas’ ACL injury was revealed. “He hasn’t played for a year so we want to let him get his legs up underneath him and get comfortable playing football again. Then we’ll go from there, we don’t want to aim too high for him and definitely not set the bar too low for him. We just want to work with Terrell and where he is football-wise, and then we’ll start to use him as we see fit.”

Obviously, the Giants are a better team with Terrell Thomas, but it seems from those words from defensive coordinator Perry Fewell that they are more prepared for it this time around, especially so early in camp.  Look for Michael Coe to step up.  He has the speed, and the ability, now we need to see if he can put it all together.  Prince, Coe, Bing, Hosley, Hughes, Bruce Johnson, Molden, and Justin Tryon are the other players that will need to step up and play opposite Corey Webster.

The fact that Jerry Reese signed Terrell Thomas to an incentive laden contract this off season with only 1 million guaranteed out of the 28 million also shows the Giants were cautious about his recovery.

Thankfully we have most of training camp to figure it out.

Follow us on Twitter @GMenHQ and Like us on Facebook

Nick Laham / Getty Images

Cornerback Terrell Thomas has re-injured the right ACL, anterior cruciate ligament, that he tore in preseason last year. Thomas visited doctors today where it was confirmed that Thomas re-injured the ACL that was surgically repaired last year. An official statement has not been released but the Giants are not optimistic.

On Sunday, Terrell Thomas fell during practice and then iced his knee for the remainder of practice. Today, Thomas had swelling in his knee and he was sent to the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City for an examination.

This looks to be a major setback for Terrell Thomas and if he has in fact torn his right ACL again, there will be serious questions about his ability to recover and become an effective player again. If Thomas is unable to return it looks like Prince Amukamara would replace him at the starting Cornerback position opposite of Corey Webster.

There was a second high-profile Giants injury today. Linebacker Michael Boley was also sent to the Hospital for Special Surgery to have a hamstring injury examined.

At this point there is not much information available. We will release more information as it becomes available.

“I have no limitations entering camp; obviously (medical staff) will be monitoring me throughout camp,” Thomas said on his website. Giants camp begins on July 26.

The Giants will no doubt bring Thomas along slowly, but will need to see if he indeed is at full strength and game ready by September 5th.

Prince Amukamara was the number one draft pick of the Giants last year and unfortunately missed training camp and the first 10 weeks of the season.  He showed flashes of his athleticism, but like most of his colleagues was playing out of position for most of his games.  ”The Prince” will benefit from a full off season.

Brandon Bing was a rookie from Rutgers.  He will be evaluated again this off season. Mainly a depth guy at this point, but he did turn a few heads in Mini camp this year.

The Giants have added Steve Brown a third year safety out of Michigan to compete in camp along with Will Hill from Florida.  Chris Horton a 5 year veteran out of UVLA will also get a chance to compete for a safety position.

Michael Coe was among the many injured players in the secondary for the Giants.  Michael possesses some great speed and could be a valuable member of this team if healthy.

Kenny Phillips looked more like the guy we drafted a few years back.  His health is imperative, and hopefully he can make it through camp unscathed and continue to get back to his true form.

Antrel Rolle deserves a lot of credit for playing basically out of position since he arrived here.  He should be the strong safety complimenting Kenny Phillips.

Tyler Sash was another of the rookies that contributed greatly on Special Teams and should again benefit from the off season training and preparation.

Corey Webster had a pro bowl season.  He is a top corner in this league and should be even better next season as the Giants and Perry Fewell tweak their defensive system.

Terrell Thomas is a free agent coming off a second knee surgery.  The Giants have met with Terrell and they say they are on the same page moving forward.  Hopefully Terrell can recover fully, he is very talented, has speed, size and is a real fan favorite.

The Giants drafted Jayron Hosley  from Virginia Tech.  A 5’10″ 178 athletic corner.  He should get a very serious look in training camp.

Filling out the roster are new additions and old friends like Dante Hughes (CB), Janzen Jackson (S), Bruce Johnson(CB), Antwaun Molden(CB), Jojo Nicolas (S), Justin Tryon (CB), and Brian Witherspoon (CB).

The Giants will need to add depth to this area again.  The injuries that the Giants suffered, placing 7 DB’s on IR throughout the year was devastating.  Hopefully some of those guys can return, and then be complimented by others.  This is another area of great competition to look for in Training Camp this year.

Thomas stated during an appearance and Chris Canty’s charity golf outing “I’ve said all along I’m ahead of schedule and doing good. My biggest thing is just protecting, keep building strength and to be ready for training camp and the opening game against Dallas.”

The Giants re-signed Thomas to a 4 year contract worth a reported $28 million in march. There is an option for the Giants after year one. After a year where a make shift secondary was exposed. Having Thomas back with Corey Webster on the other side could prove to be one of the better CB tandems in the league. Let’s all hope the knee is 100%.

Regardless, there are still important moves to be made that could impact whether the Giants are able to defend their Super Bowl title against the likes of the rest of the NFL.

As of March 16th, the Giants have made some minor, but important moves:

• Domenik Hixon re-signed 
• Steve Weatherford franchised
• Jake Ballard re-signed
• Brandon Jacobs cut
• Justin Tryon re-signed
• Terrell Thomas re-signed (4 years)
• Michael Coe re-signed
• Martellus Bennett signed
• David Carr re-signed

These are the same moves that Jerry Reese makes each year. He knows which free agents need to be re-signed and which need to be let go. His big signing thus far was that of Martellus Bennett, former Dallas Cowboy, who will serve as the Giants primary tight-end with both Travis Beckum and Jake Ballard expected to start the season on the PUP list.

Ex-Dallas Cowboys tight end Martellus Bennett (80) during the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bennett signed a contract with the New York Giants on March 14th, 2012.

The free agency period is still young, so expect Reese to bring in a few more veterans to round out the rest of the corps. After that, you can expect Reese to focus the rest of his energy on the April draft.

For more news, updates, and analysis… Follow me on Twitter (@ERobertsNY)

http://twitter.com/erobertsny

The Offense:  The Giants moved the ball very well against the Jets. Now the Jets are not very good against the run, as Pittsburgh proved last year in the playoffs, but they are a top defensive team in the league and it was a good measuring stick.  Brandon Jacobs looked solid and ran committed.  He ran over a few Jets on his way to 51 yards on 10 carries, and more importantly ran well in short yardage situations.  This also shows the O-Line is starting to come together and working as a unit.  The receivers however, as a whole, look confused.  Hakeem Nicks made some nice catches against a very good secondary, and Mario Manningham was open a few times, but Eli failed to make the throw, and this is where the problem lies this off-season.  I think Eli has had to take too much on his shoulders what with a new O-Line, in particular a new center, and new receivers.  On certain plays Monday night Eli seemed to have to speak to every player on offense individually.  he would call the protections, then move the backs, then look at each receiver, then try and get people to move or go in motion at the proper time.  While I think Eli is a good Qb, he is going to need help as the season progresses.  I think some of these receivers are doing a great job, but at times they forget where they are.  They have taken penalties for illegal motion, illegal formation, they have not read blitzes correctly, and have run some bad routes.  It is all part of the growing pains of playing in the NFL, but these guys are going to need to step it up, become professionals, and be consistent on every play.  Travis Beckum, Victor Cruz, Devin Thomas, and Domenik Hixon are going to have to contribute something for this sesaon to be a success.

The Defense:  This will be another strong unit this year.  Even with the loss of Terrell Thomas, the Giants proved the other night that they are deep enough and talented enough to be a top defensive team this year.  Aaron Ross continues to play like he did his rookie year.  Antrelle Rolle quietly, well quietly for him, has moved to the nickel corner in passing situations and looked good on Monday night.  The defensive line has learned to get pressure using just the 4 linemen, and that is a big key to success.  If you can rush a QB in this league using just the four guys upfront, your chances of success go way up.  Of course the addition of Osi and “The Prince” down the line will only improve this unit.  The much maligned linebacking core has even looked good this pre-season, and will continue to improve as we move forward.  Giant fans love their Defense, and this unit will make you proud this year.

Special Teams:  And now for the bad news.  Wow, as good as they seemed to look the week before, that’s how bad they looked this Monday night.  A step back for most units.  The punt return situation has remained the same….awful.  As a Giant punt returner your main job has always been to secure the ball first and foremost.  That became a major challenge Monday night.  I think Thursday night will be a test for some young players, and some veterans, to see what we can accomplish in this area.  I am hoping it was just an off night by a young player trying to impress. We will see. Kickoffs will be returned by Devin Thomas, and he will be a major upgrade over the 17 yard average from a year ago.  The punting competition continues, and the health of Lawrence Tynes will determine who the place kicker will be.

So, Thursday night will be a last ditch effort by some players to show something, but I imagine the final 50 if not 53 has already been determined.  Stay tuned to GMENHQ.COM for all roster moves when they are announced on Saturday, and as always, enjoy the game!

I am definitely a fan of this move. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I strongly believe the Giants needed to sign a corner with experience to have any semblance of depth in the secondary this season.

Last season with the Falcons, Williams was the nickel corner, and, from talking to Falcons fans, did a real nice job for a team that went 13-3 in the regular season. He was injured for their only playoff game, and several fans believe that was part of the reason the Packers were able to torch them through the air. (So I guess that can be seen as good news and bad news. Good news that he had a true impact on a 13-3 team as their nickel corner, but bad news that the guy has had injury problems when he is coming in to fortify a position because of our injury problems.) While he filled the role nicely in Atlanta last season, I am not sure Fewell is planning on naming Williams as the nickel corner this year. I still believe Fewell favors the three-safety set he implemented last season, and will likely allow Grant to fill that role again. This doesn’t mean Williams role is going to be limited to “security blanket.” All good teams need six good defensive backs, and Williams will be the sixth man in this unit. Think of him in the same role Aaron Ross played last season.

Speaking of Aaron Ross, I think he has a good chance of stepping up this season. Back in 2007 he made a major impact for the team. During the week 3 comeback against the Redskins, one of the key changes to the defense was the insertion of Ross into the starting lineup. He had a stellar season that year, and continued his success in 2008 when he and Corey Webster formed one of the best corner duos in the NFL. The following season he was hurt and Thomas took his spot. Thomas played terrific, and, due to problems at safety, when Ross was healthy he was forced to play out of position. He was healthy all of last season, but was buried on the depth chart, and struggled when assigned to cover the slot receiver.

I think there are two players you can compare Ross to. First is Osi Umenyiora. He was injured in 2008, and healthy in 2009, but failed to make his usual impact. In 2010 he returned to form, and many people believed it was because he needed a full season to recover. If that is true, then 2010 was Ross’ season to recover. The second player is Corey Webster. Webster was a talented corner who lost his confidence early on in his career. He had a stellar game against the Bucs in the playoffs in 2007 and has completely turned it around. Forcing Ross to play out of position in 2009 and, to an extent, in 2010 could have hurt his confidence. With the coaching staff granting Ross’ wish to stay on the outside receiver, he has seemed way more confident this camp. Hopefully that confidence will help with the turnaround. (Yes, by this point it is fairly obvious that by compare, I meant make excuses for. Still I think there is enough reason to believe that either one, or some combination of both of those was the reason he has kind of fallen off a bit from his first two seasons.) He got off to a nice start against the Bears this past Monday, and hopefully he can continue to build on that

Side note: as horrible as this is, this might be the perfect situation for Ross. Both Thomas and Ross are in contract years. Before the injury, there was no way Ross would be kept over Thomas. Now, if Ross has a stellar year, the Giants might have a hard time deciding which one to keep. Webster is still costing a lot against the cap, so I have my doubts the front office will be able to keep them both. Personally, I hope they bring Thomas back over Ross because I believe Thomas has turned into one of the leaders on this team, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is an amazing opportunity for Ross.

So, with this signing, and possibly another pick-up after roster cuts, the Giants should have enough talent at corner to make a playoff push, especially if Prince Amukamara comes back and plays well this season.

QB: Solid job by Eli Monday. He was a little wild with some of his throws, but was missing where no one could catch the ball, instead of in harms way. He made great reads and audibles at the line. Eli continues to be the leader of this offense, and a very unselfish one at that.

RB’S: The running game looked solid on Monday.. Both Ahmad Bradshaw and Jacobs looked stronger and faster. More importantly they both held onto the ball while fighting for yardage and staying aggressive.. Jacobs looked bigger and stronger. Bradshaw was his old fighting self. No worries here.

O-Line: The O-Line will be a work in progress throughout the year, but they did seem to communicate better and work as a unit more on Monday. The GIANTS will again use 6 linemen on certain downs, and also use their multiple tight end sets a lot this year. The pass protection was good. The Bears really only got pressure when they moved Julius Peppers to the opposite side, and that is something the GIANTS will game plan for in upcoming weeks.

WR’S: We all know that Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham are the numbers 1 and 2 receivers. After that a deep group is emerging as situational players. Victor Cruz looked good in routes and special teams, however his pre-snap reads need major improvement. The Giants do a lot of play changing at the line and Victor needs to be aware of where he needs to be, and when to be the hot receiver. Domenik Hixon looked good in the red zone, and I still think Devin Thomas will be a contributor on offense this year.

TE’S: The Giants have a few blocking tight ends, other than that they are still missing this piece of the puzzle. Travis Beckum can get open on the seam route that the Giants love to run, but Eli needs to trust him to be there, and that will take some work.

Defense:  we still look like the side of the ball that will carry this team some weeks. I am glad that if injuries have to happen, that they have happened on Defense. The linebackers and D-Line will have to help the safeties and CB’s on obvious passing downs. Perry Fewell will have to devise some schemes to get the maximum out of the talent he has. They are deep on the D-line, and at line backer. Signing Deon Grant was and is now the best move of the off season. Look for different schemes with 5 linemen, 1 linebacker, and 3 safeties. This is a tough bunch with tons of talent, and they will be called upon to come together as a unit and carry this team. Osi will be back and then the rotation up front will be stout. Hopefully “The Prince” comes back by week 6 and provides a spark and some more talent to the secondary.

Special Teams: Lots of jobs were saved Monday night. Devin Thomas looked great on kick returns, and the young players that the GIANTS would like to keep on this roster proved they belonged. Greg Jones, Herzlich, Paysinger should all find a spot.

While I know some people have reacted violently to the injury news from Monday and Tuesday….it’s not the end, it’s the beginning, so take a step back and see where we can go from here

ESPN NY’s Ohm Youngmisuk sums it up:

So Giants lose Brian Witherspoon (ACL) and T. Thomas (ACL) all in one night. Witherspoon hurt his knee on a return, was having a good camp

The Giants dominated in their win to the tune of 41-13, but at the same time are decimated at corner depth to the tune of -4. Time to open up the wallet, Jerry Reese, and throw some money at the situation before things get worse.

Mike Garafolo points out that former Eagle Lito Sheppard could make the most economical sense. The full list of CB free agents with a shot according to Garafolo in a separate post are as follows:

Kelvin Hayden
Randall Gay
Lito Sheppard
Tye Hill
Brian Williams
Will Blackmon*
D.J. Johnson*

Blackmon is injured, but he does know the defense a bit. You’d have to think any of the veteran guys at the top of the list would be worth working out though…. but perhaps they’re available for good reason. Dare to dream, anyway.

Hope Perry Fewell proves himself as the mastermind defensive coordinator he hopes the owners and GMs with head coaching questions believe he is.

Back when Steve Spagnuolo was defensive coordinator of the Giants, the safety situation was less than ideal. In 2007 the starters were Gibril Wilson and James Butler. In 2008 Gibril Wilson left to sign a big contract with the Raiders and James Butler and Michael Johnson became the starters. An injury to James Butler left Craig Dahl and Michael Johnson as the starting safeties. Johnson was a second year player who was a seventh round draft pick, and Craig Dahl was a rookie undrafted free agent.

Since their time with the Giants several have failed to show they are worthy of a starting spot. Wilson was cut by the Raiders and signed by the Dolphins, who later cut him and he signed with the Bengals. Butler signed with the Rams, but has lost his starting spot and was rumored to be in line to be released. Michael Johnson played terribly for the Giants in 2009 alongside CC Brown and was released this past offseason. He signed with the Lions and isn’t expected to win a starting spot. Craig Dahl is the only one of those guys still starting as he followed Spags to St. Louis. My point is that these players have proven that they are below average NFL players; however, while they were with the Giants they were never exposed as a weak spot. If Spags could do it with arguably the worst starting safeties in the NFL, then Fewell should find a way to make it work with Corey Webster and Aaron Ross at corner.

Clearly the problem right now is not the lack of talent at starter, it is with the depth. For starters, as stated earlier, having Grant fill in during nickel situations will be helpful. Secondly, Prince Amukamara’s injury won’t keep him sidelined all season. Finally, there are still free agents available. Clearly no one special, but still players that could play as your third corner and sixth defensive back in dime packages. Those names include Kelvin Hayden, Randall Gay, Ellis Hobbs, Lito Sheppard, and Brian Williams. Honestly, I would consider signing two of them. (whenever the Giants have injury problems like this, it tends to keep happening to that position. Think wide receiver and offensive line last season, defensive line in 2006, and linebackers in 2005)

With these moves or without these moves, the job will ultimately be up to Fewell. If I’m Fewell I look at this as an opportunity to showcase my talent. Like Spags did when he was defensive coordintor, Fewell will have to devise plays that either mask coverage, or create pressure on the quarterback. Simply put, if you believe Perry Fewell is a great defensive coordinator there should be nothing to worry about. This is his job. It’s not like defensive coordinators should expect to receive a defense with no holes in it. The Giants still have playmakers all over the field.

To me the question is not: Do the Giants have enough talent to win? It’s: How good of a coordinator is Perry Fewell?

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.