RB Coach Jerald Ingram is one of many coaches in the hot seat this year in the sense that he’s been charged with reigniting a very important part of the Giants offense – the ground attack. With so many injuries to deal with last year, Ingram sets the stage in his most recent interview with Giants media for what’s really going on this year in terms of first team carries, game plans, and the overall health of Giants ‘backs. Here are some of the highlights:
"Q: In almost every team period, Ahmad gets the first carry with the ones. What does that mean?A: It just means that a guy who missed a lot of football a year ago, a guy we expect a lot of right now and as you’ve seen with all of our guys, we’re going to do whatever it takes to win this year. We’re going to try to put people in the right situations as best we can. Obviously a year ago, we had injuries, we had expectations of certain people that were going to step up. Obviously in losing a guy like Derek Ward, but you have fresh guys out there who haven’t played a lot of football – other than Brandon Jacobs. Brandon Jacobs has been around the offense for some years now so he knows a lot of things. Trying to get some guys to step up, get some reps. Eli’s only in there so many times. Andre Brown missed a lot of football, a whole year of football right now and we have high expectations for him too. You see his skills, his athletic ability out there, but he’s got to grow within the system. Danny Ware, we lose the first game of the year. We have high expectations of him and he misses an awful lot of football out there. We’re just trying to progress as we go. We’re not hung up on who’s the starter. There’s many times you’ve probably seen Brandon start off a drill here and there and it’s going to be the situation of the day. No matter if it’s a four-minute situation or a third down situation. We’re going to utilize the best situation that we can with the guys that we have. You look at New Orleans last year in the Super Bowl – they played four running backs all year long, with a great one as Reggie Bush. When you have a group of guys that aren’t selfish in what they do and just try to help everybody grow along, have some depth, you start to find out how successful you can be in that situation. We’re blessed with that right now, but we have to have guys that grow right now and that’s all we’re concerned with right now. We’re not hung up with who’s got what. It’s just who’s getting the certain the amount of plays as the script goes, as the day goes on and then we’ll see how it goes."
I’ve been re-watching the 2008 and 2009 Giants games on NFL Rewind and one thing that has become crystal clear to me is that Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw can be a better starting tandem than when Ward was in NY. The superior offensive line opening gaping holes for both of them aside, Ward was not fast at all – at times he was downright sluggish. But he did have good hands… and due to that fact Gilbride lined him up as a receiver in my opinion way too much. I much prefer how Gilbride and the offense has been developed without Ward’s inclusion, utilizing more slants and double moves from quicker and more agile receivers instead of lining up RB’s out wide to create confusion, leaving them in the backfield to do what they do best. And this year I see it notching one more step – trusting Jacobs and Bradshaw to stay in and block on passing downs so tight ends can get out into space. Pascoe / Boss / Beckum can be a serious threat – particularly in the red zone. Believe it or not, from just one year between 2008 – 2009 the offense matured considerably… I expect with Bradshaw and Jacobs splitting carries in a highly dynamic offensive game plan we’re going to see it on a whole new level in 2010. Mark my words.
"Q: Does Hedgecock look healthier than last year?A: Right now he definitely is. He feels a lot stronger, a lot healthier – when you’re a fullback in that kind of situation, with an injury, but now he knows how to fight with it, how to work with an injury. But yes, he’s definitely a lot stronger. I look forward to him in the first preseason game. You evaluate certain players on the field – linebackers and fullbacks – based on one hundred miles-per-hour, full speed hitting each other. You’re going to see that in a game. They kill each other out here in practice, but I think he is and he is continually trying to work on his ability to catch the ball – we’re looking to it."
Everyone knows I can’t stand the called plays to Hedgecock. So when I see them working on getting Madison Hedgecock to catch a football I say WHAT THE HELL IS THE POINT!!?? USE A TIGHT END INSTEAD!! Last night I re-watched the Pittsburgh game from 2008… they threw the ball to Hedge about 4,000 times and each time he dropped it. No surprises there, right? However – in the 4th quarter they ran the same play with both Hedgecock and Boss coming out into space on opposite sides of the field and Eli threw it over to Boss instead for a first down… made a great play for 10 yards over like 3 defenders. LEARN FROM THIS TAPE PLEASE. Hedgecock when healthy is obviously a great blocker — but a pass catcher he is not. Your TE’s will be that much better as an outlet for that short pass, I promise you. There is precedent. Please, this year take my advice and utilize any one of your TE’s instead of stone hands. Particularly in the red zone. A 2 TE set does wonders if that’s the way you want to play it.
"Q: You never got to see Andre Brown in a game situation last year.A: No, it was sad. He had some spurts last year where we were like ‘Hey, this is a guy we drafted who has some talent out there’ and he hadn’t had a chance to get on a NFL field and play in a game. So he’s excited. We’re excited about the hungry players that we have in our backfield. Everybody has a reason for something to prove and that’s where you want to be as a team, as a coach – that it carries through the season. That’s what’s great about right now. As coaches, we’re just out there trying to see who can do what right now in those kind of situations and do the best job of game planning and getting those guys in there as we go.Q: Has Andre voiced that to you specifically – about getting out there in an actual game?A: Well he’d love to, but as you’ve said, he hasn’t been out there yet so it’s hard to judge a guy until he’s actually played a game. But as far as his heart, his desire, you get even hungrier when you sit around all year long. He has that heart and desire, he just needs reps to play to be an NFL player. I haven’t seen an NFL player just step on the field and play yet, but I’m looking for one."
Q: Might he fill the role of Derek Ward as the receiver out of the backfield?
"A: Danny Ware and Andre kind of fit. They catch the ball very well out of the backfield. They protect the passer, they do those kind of things that we’d like to be able to do, but we weren’t able to progress a year ago through injuries. Andre obviously before we even get to our first preseason game. You got Danny in the first game. You never really got a chance to go beyond that so now you’re always trying to put this guy and this guy, this guy in that situation by game plan. You really didn’t get a chance to do what we really intended to do. Now we’re trying to do that – again. So if we can stay healthy, grow within the system – we think we can put Danny Ware in a lot of different situations. We can put Andre Brown in a lot of different positions. It allows us to do more."
I can’t wait to see what Brown has out on the field during the exhibition games. DJ Ware and Gartrell Johnson haven’t been on Coughlin’s good side yet this camp, so I’m wondering if Andre Brown can ignite something new for this running game that will better compliment Bradshaw and Jacobs.
"Q: Is Brandon still your number one starting running back?A: Well no one is really the starting running back. It’s all, as we said, we’re not going to get hung up on who’s the starting running back. It’s who does what when that play is called. From that standpoint, if we want an outside play, if we want to be in third down, if we want to be in two tights, or what is the defense’s game plan going to be. We’re going to put, just like you saw the New Orleans Saints a year ago, you’re going to put that guy who does what’s best in that situation. We’re trying to spread it out there. Everybody understands that they have a role in the game plan and we’ll just go from there. It will be based on who we play against."
I think this sentiment bodes well for the Giants — doesn’t matter who gets the very first snap. And truth be told, Jacobs and Bradshaw are not all that interchangeable in terms of what they do best. We saw too much of Jacobs in a role last year that was better suited for Bradshaw, and vice versa. Looking at the way the offense matured in 2009, I think Bradshaw may end up fitting better overall with a more deceptive and dynamic Giants offense anyway that threatens to pass at any moment… he’s gotten to the point where he can pick up blocks well and extend the play for Eli, and there is no doubt he is a threat when he gets the ball in his hands off a screen or a checked pass. He can be an every down running back if they simply let him have the snaps. Jacobs may be more effective over the course of the game if Bradshaw got most of the snaps and Jacobs was brought in as a hard hitting compliment, instead of the other way around. Aside from that we’ll of course see what develops between Andre Brown and DJ Ware as well, they may end up providing that third heat the Giants were missing last year in the run game.