As every sports media outlet around the world knows, it’s time to update the Giants Defensive Depth chart if you’ve not already done so. I’m going to do my part here and add Keith Bulluck to the grid so we can see with visual immediacy what it looks like for the first time. I’ll then discuss what it means to me:
Defensive Depth Chart
| Position | Players | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Left Defensive End | Justin Tuck | Jason Pierre-Paul | Dave Tollefson | Ayanga Okpokowuruk | |
| Left Defensive Tackle | Barry Cofield | Rocky Bernard | Dwayne Hendricks | Nate Collins | |
| Right Defensive Tackle | Jay Alford | Chris Canty | Linval Joseph | ||
| Right Defensive End | Mathias Kiwanuka | Osi Umenyiora | Tommie Hill | ||
| Left Linebacker | Clint Sintim | Bryan Kehl | Adrian Tracy | ||
| Middle Linebacker | Keith Bulluck | Jonathan Goff | Gerris Wilkinson | Phillip Dillard | |
| Right Linebacker | Michael Boley | Chase Blackburn | Kenny Ingram | ||
| Left Cornerback | Corey Webster | Bruce Johnson | Seth Williams | ||
| Right Cornerback | Terrell Thomas | Aaron Ross | D.J. Johnson | ||
| Strong Safety | Kenny Phillips | Deon Grant | Michael Greco | Chad Jones | |
| Free Safety | Antrel Rolle | Michael Johnson | Sha’reff Rashad | Courtney Brown |
There, that looks much better.
Now, you’re fooling yourself if you let Jerry Reese talk you into thinking positively about the MLB spot before this weekend, and there are far too many articles and bits of analysis out there about the Giant hole at MLB to reference here today – I mean just google “giant hole middle linebacker” and see what comes up. Proof the 24 hour news cycle can be quite frightening I suppose. But there is no way we can possibly fault Reese for trying to let a leader on his defense emerge, however young and unproven. What would have been worse, Reese doing what he did by trying to manage the situation and peoples expectations, or simply throwing his hands up in disbelief saying ‘We’re screwed!’
Either way — it doesn’t get you Rolando McClain, Kirk Morrison, or Karlos Dansby… the top 3 peoples choice replacements for MLB. But with the Giants stealthily courting Keith Bulluck, they did the next best thing unbeknownst to us. And time will tell, but they may have done the exact right thing here — perhaps Bulluck IS the best fit for the Giants out of all the potential moves that could have been made this offseason. Comparisons to Kawika Mitchell aside, Bulluck is a NY native and Syracuse alum, 11 year veteran with a Pro Bowl appearance that at one time was arguably the leagues best pursuit linebacker, and Tom Coughlin was very, very high on him.
Compare that to where we were just one week ago. Ed Valentine sums it up quite well with his own little depth chart this morning:
"Let’s see. A 10-year veteran and former All Pro who had 108 tackles and three interceptions in 14 games last season vs.A third-year player (Goff) who has four career starts.An injury-plagued fifth-year player (Wilkinson) who has never been able to grab a job and hold it.A career backup (Blackburn) who is a great special teams player and good guy to have around. He’s just not a great middle linebacker.A rookie (Dillard) who is still learning his way around."
It seems to me that bringing Keith Bulluck in for one year before training camp does several things for the Giants. Assuming Bulluck stays healthy, they obviously have a seasoned MLB that is great with handling the underneath routes and defending passes, exactly where Antonio Pierce’s abilities were clearly lacking the past couple seasons. Pierce was a visionary, there is not doubt that his ability to read schemes and make last second adjustments to the defense was a major part of the Giants preparedness on defense. But along with that now, Bulluck should bring back the productivity aspects as well.
It also allows the rest of the inexperienced LB’s to have one more season with training wheels on – meaning they’ll have another perspective on how the captain of the defense leads his unit. Goff and Dillard had better become sponges if they want their shot in the starting role next year. Does this mean Goff is the backup MLB in case Bulluck can’t go for whatever reason? I think so, but assuming Dillard has a productive camp I’m not sure Dillard is that far behind where he can’t overtake that backup role from Goff.
Another thing this move does for Reese, Coughlin, and Fewell – it covers their rear ends. Owner John Mara made it crystal clear at the end of last season that whatever was needed to get back on track should and would be done this year. Can you imagine what would have happened to Reese/Coughlin if the one major issue at MLB that everyone in the sports media was pointing to ended up costing the season for the Giants? They’d be done. Now they can rest assured that all the right moves were made this offseason to ensure the starting lineup in 2010 has what it takes to be prepared to win, from day 1.
One last point, I’d like to temper the expectations for Bulluck a bit when it comes to training camp. I don’t expect a guy still recovering from an ACL injury to get back to 110% quickly, particularly in Albany. In fact I don’t want him to — because the Giants track record of keeping guys stretched out and injury-free last camp was ridiculous. At one point I forced to make the connection between both the injury-laden 2009 Mets and Giants and the training and medical staff that supports each team, and I was astonished to find out that they share the same group of team physicians. With the memory of what happened last year to the Giants defense in terms of being hampered by injury, I can only say sternly enough that if the Giants training and medical staff is committed to maintaining player health, i.e. preventing injury — they take double the extra time this year to get their players stretched and ready to practice… particularly in Bulluck’s case. According to the NY Post, it sounds like they’re taking the necessary precautions:
"“You know what, everybody else is more concerned with my knee than me,” he said. “In Tennessee, I always would talk about how I’m a Ferrari so my whole thing is the Ferrari’s just been in the garage for a few months getting a tune-up, blew a tire, but still has a lot of tread on it.”…Bulluck said his knee is 90 percent, and if it’s up to him, he will be on the field for Sunday’s first camp practice. It won’t be up to him, and it’s unlikely he will be given the green light for full-speed-ahead work just yet.“I know they’re going to bring me along gradually,” he said. “It’s not about getting me out there and running me into the ground.”"
Thank goodness for that…