Joe Judge spoke for the first time since the NFL Draft. In this Zoom call, he gave some clues and thoughts on the upcoming 2020 NY Giants season.
Joe Judge is trying to create and establish a new culture for the NY Giants amidst a global pandemic. New York and New Jersey have been at the epicenter of the outbreak in American and thus have stopped the NY Giants from working at the team facility.
However, the NFL offseason must go on one way or another. For the first time ever, rookie and veteran’s minicamp have been held online instead of on the Quest Diagnostic Training Center practice fields. Rookies and veterans alike are getting adjusted to remote learning through their computers and tablets.
Both players and coaches have had to embrace this crazy offseason by learning new things virtually. Joe Judge feels the team’s camaraderie and chemistry have improved through video chatting on Zoom.
Joe Judge gave insights and a preview on what to expect from his team in 2020. We break it down here.
#1: The NY Giants are implementing a new offense.
One of the first new things that stand out for the NY Giants this year is that longtime Cowboys’ Head Coach Jason Garrett will be running the team’s offense.
Joe Judge made it clear that the Big Blue offense will resemble much to what Garrett ran in his 12 years with Dallas. The Giants faced Garrett 20 times as Dallas’ Head Coach so they are familiar with what he likes to run on offense.
Garrett loves to run the football, which makes complete sense as the Cowboys’ dominant offensive line helped pave the way for backs like Demarco Murray and Ezekiel Elliott to find extensive success out of the backfield. Expect Saquon Barkley to get touches early and often, being utilized heavily in both the run and pass game.
Garrett also loves to implement tight ends in the passing game and utilizing multi tight end sets with 12 and 13 personnel. He had great success with Jason Witten starring as the main tight end, but also found roles for backups such as Geoff Swaim, Gavin Escobar, and Blake Jarwin.
Look for Evan Engram to have a big role in the offense if he can finally stay healthy after missing 14 games in three years. Also, expect backups Kaden Smith and Levine Toilolo to see several snaps this year to help with blocking and catching upfield.
I found it particularly interesting that Judge noted that “there are going to be some similarities with Daniel, but I would not say it’s a carryover in any way, shape or form from his rookie year”.
This quote is telling as Daniel Jones will now be learning a new offense in his crucial second NFL season. He will need to dive into the playbook and fully grasp all the new concepts and schemes the Giants will implement in order to be successful on offense this season.
#2: Big Blue remains interested in Markus Golden
Markus Golden signed a one-year “prove-it” deal with the NY Giants in 2019. He settled on a one year contract to prove he can stay healthy and be productive.
He successfully did both. Golden played all 16 games for just the second time in his five-year career and racked up double-digit sacks also for the second time in his career.
Last season, Golden was the team’s only real threat and consistent option off the edge to provide pressure and sacks to bring quarterbacks to the ground. Golden has remained unsigned since the 2020 season began.
After the draft, the team placed the rarely used unrestricted free agent tender on Golden to hopefully secure his rights for next season. This essentially means that if no team signs Markus Golden by July 22nd, he will return to New York on a deal worth 110% of his last contract, which will come out to approximately 5.2 million (Spotrac).
Joe Judge stated that Golden is a “great person, he’s a hard-worker. He’s a productive player so we have a lot of respect for him”.
"“He’s a great person, he’s a hard-worker. He’s a productive player so we have a lot of respect for him”"
The NY Giants are counting on their current options to make plays off the edge and that will heavily rely upon the new defensive scheme implemented by Patrick Graham.
At this point, Golden’s market was obviously not what he wanted and the team would be wise to resign him on a fair deal for both sides.
#3: The NY Giants are building team camaraderie while communicating over Zoom
Joe Judge noted how his favorite part of these oh-so-long quarantine days is getting on the computer and seeing over 50 guys conversing and communicating with one another over Zoom video calls. Judge stated how “It’s fun seeing all of the personalities really emerge and the connections”.
Judge is a big believer in connections and relationships which has been proven through constructing his coaching staff along with the players the NY Giants signed in free agency and the players selected in the Draft.
This strong belief has been further developed as the majority of the team’s roster appears set for 2020. As a result, it has been a key goal for Judge to form and develop camaraderie amongst the team’s players and coaches.
Joe Judge is looking to build up a culture consisting of “everyone doing whatever it takes to be successful”. He feels the players are accomplishing this day-by-day which is a positive step for this young, newly aligned roster.
#4: Fans or no fans, Big Blue will be focused and prepared.
The NY Giants will be ready to play with or without fans. Joe Judge noted how the team practices every day without fans so it shouldn’t be any different on game day.
Obviously, the impact of 80,000 people screaming and cheering in the stands creates a completely different environment and atmosphere than an empty, quiet stadium. It will be very weird to see games with little to no crowd impact if that is the route the NFL decides to take.
Judge knows he has no say over the fans coming to the games and he’s focused on controlling what is controllable. He is focused on the task at hand, which is getting his players ready and prepared to win a football game each and every time they step on the turf at Metlife Stadium or anywhere else.
"“These guys have to go out and they will be prepared for whatever the situation is. Truly, we want the fans there. It would be a different atmosphere”."
Judge made it clear that “these guys have to go out and they will be prepared for whatever the situation is. Truly, we want the fans there. It would be a different atmosphere”. Obviously, the league wants and needs fans at games eventually. Whether that will happen in 2020 will be one of the most fascinating storylines of the summer.