Thoughts on Final Preseason game/Final cuts predictions

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

With the preseason officially over, here are my thoughts on the last meaningless football untill next August.


The Good:

David Carr looked great tonight (20/29 192yds 2TDs no turnovers). He started and played the first three quarters. He was very poised, looking like he has a good feel for the pocket. His throws were strong and accurate and he was in complete control of the offense. He has officially won the backup job. Playing backup for us is the best thing for him right now, we have a great O line and plenty of offensive weapons, his time here will improve his confidence immensely. Despite what the stat sheet says, he was only sacked once (on the other he escaped John Lynch and a potentially huge sack (looked like it would've been an 8+ yard loss) and ran out of bounds but lost a yard, which counts as a sack).

The starting O line (without McKenzie) was pretty much flawless, the backup O line looked excellent as well. Both lines were abusing the Pats front seven.

Manningham had a very impressive game, making some highlight grabs and caught almost everything thrown to him. London was impressive as well, despite two bad drops. Moss had a great touchdown catch and run, and once again got mugged by the opposing CB after blowing by him for what would have been a TD if the Pat's CB didn't commit interference.

All of the runningbacks ran well, though Jacobs still needs to learn how to catch a ball.

Darcy Johnson had a very good game, conjuring up the spirit of Mark Bavaro as he shook off several defenders on a TD catch, he also caught another long pass. Matthews also reeled in a sixteen yard catch.

Kiwi looked ferocious at DE, getting a sack and making Matt Light look like a fool as he routinely got by him in the limited time Mathias was out there. I'm very confident with Kiwi and Tuck at DE this season. Tollefson and Wynn also had very good games, splitting a sack and getting consistent pressure as well as looking good against the run.

Speaking of looking good against the run, Robbins and Cofield absolutely shut down the Patriots running game as they held Maroney and Morris to six runs for a combined ten yards (taking away each player's biggest run it's four runs for two yards). They got fantastic push, treating the Pat's inside lineman as if they were girl scouts.

The first two lines for the Linebackers and Defensive Backfield made a lot of plays and gave up nothing. Wilkinson (who the Pat's broadcast team kept reffering to as Wilkerson) stood out the most of the LBs, while Johnson stood out for the secondary. Webster was very good in his short time as well. I didn't pay too much time watching the back seven as I was more interested in how the D line would look.


The Bad:

In what seemed to be a miracle of God, Josh Huston made TWO STRAIGHT field goals. But he made sure we knew he was the real Josh Huston and not some replica left by Aliens by bouncing an extra point attempt off the left upright earlier in the game.

Andre' Woodson was absolutely terrible. He had one series where he was sacked twice and fumbled a snap. It was so bad that the coaching staff had to replace him with Carr for the next and final series because it didn't look like he would be able to close out the win. I still think he has a bright future, but that was a really bad outing.


All in all, it was a great showing by the Jints as we ran over the Pat's tonight, beating up their first team for the few series it was out there and leaving their front office searching the waiver wire for about thirty new players to fill their second and third teams. I know it doesn't count in the W-L but it's good to end the preseason on a positive note.





Now it's time for my predictions for final cuts. We have 22 cuts to make to bring us from 75 to 53.

The no-brainers:

1 Anthony Wright
2 Digger Bujnoch
3 Kurt Quarterman
4 Cliff Louis
5 Andrew Bain
6 Robert Douglas
7 Eric Butler
8 Jerome Collins
9 Marcus Monk
10 Alex Morrow
11 Rodney Leisle
12 Jeremy Clark
13 Ogemdi Nwagbuo
14 James Terry
15 Darren Barnett
16 Geoffery Pope
17 Josh Huston

The Notables:

I expect it to come down to cutting five of the following six:

Rueben Droughns
Wallace Gilberry
R.W. McQuarters
Tank Daniels
One of Darcy Johnson or Michael Mathews (not both)
Stuart Schweigart

There is also the possibility that Goff goes on IR, leaving us with one less cut to make.

I think it will be:

18 Wallace Gilberry
19 Rueben Droughns
20 Tank Daniels
21 R.W. McQuarters
22 Goff to IR

Final Team:

1 QB Eli Manning
2 QB David Carr
3 QB Andre' Woodson
4 RB Brandon Jacobs
5 RB Ahmad Bradshaw
6 RB Derrick Ward
7 RB Danny Ware
8 FB Madison Hedgecock
9 LT David Diehl
10 LG Rich Seubert
11 OC Shaun O' Hara
12 RG Chris Snee
13 RT Kareem McKenzie
14 LT Guy Whimper
15 LG Na'Shan Goddard
16 OC/G Grey Rugamer
17 RG Kevin Boothe
18 RT Adam Koets
19 TE Kevin Boss
20 TE Michael Mathews
21 TE Darcy Johnson
22 WR Plaxico Burress
23 WR Amani Toomer
24 WR Domenik Hixon
25 WR Steve Smith
26 WR Mario Manningham
27 WR Sinorice Moss
28 WR Brandon London
29 DE Justin Tuck
30 DE Mathias Kiwanuka
31 DE Renaldo Wynn
32 DE Dave Tollefson
33 DT Fred Robbins
34 DT Barry Cofield
35 DT Jay Alford
36 LB Antonio Pierce
37 LB Gerris Wilkinson
38 LB Danny Clark
39 LB Bryan Kehl
40 LB Zack DeOssie
41 LB Chase Blackburn
42 CB Aaron Ross
43 CB Corey Webster
44 CB Sam Madison
45 CB Terrell Thomas
46 CB Kevin Dockery
47 S Kenny Phillips
48 S Sammy Knight
49 S Michael Johnson
50 S James Butler
51 S Stuart Schweigart
52 P Jeff Feagles
53 K Lawrence Tynes

Practice squad:

Marcus Monk
Wallace Gilberry
Ogemdi Nwagbuo
Robert Douglas
Eric Butler
Kurt Quarterman
Two players cut from other teams

[suns12345]

i like R.W mcquaters so cut london or moss at WR instead of him.. that way we have 6 CB's and WR's instead of 7 WR's which we probs dont need

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

i like R.W mcquaters so cut london or moss at WR instead of him.. that way we have 6 CB's and WR's instead of 7 WR's which we probs dont need

The way I look at it, we're unlikely to use all six CBs or all seven WRs. I think Toomer will probably retire at years end, leaving us with six if we keep London. I think if we cut London, someone will grab him before we can get him on Practice squad. Which means we'd lose him for good. We're probably not going to use all seven WRs this year, but I'm in favor of keeping all seven so we have six good WRs next year.

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

Roosevelt Colvin has been released by the Texans. I don't know if anyone's interested but he might be an good pickup (if healthy).

Nine-year veteran DE/LB Rosevelt Colvin and RB Marcel Shipp were among 21 players released by the Houston Texans on Friday in an attempt to reduce the roster to the NFL-mandated 53 players.

In addition to Colvin, the Texans released FB Jon Abbate, quarterbacks Shane Boyd and Alex Brink, linebackers Kevis Coley and Ben Moffitt, S Glenn Earl, C Greg Eslinger, cornerbacks Jamar Fletcher, Dexter Wynn and Derrick Roberson, TE Ryan Krause, defensive tackles Gabe Long and Anthony Maddox, wide receivers LeRon McCoy, Darnell Jenkins and Mark Simmons, DE Jesse Nading, running back Darius Walker, and T Torrin Tucker.

http://blogs.nfl.com/2008/08/29/colvin- ... by-texans/

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

Players who have been cut so far:

Digger Bujnoch
Jerome Collins
Jeremy Clark
Andrew Bain
Geoffery Pope
Anthony Wright
Na'Shan Goddard
Stuart Schweigart
Wallace Gilberry
Brandon London
Andre' Woodson


Update, more cuts:

Tank Daniels
Josh Huston
Darren Barnett

http://www.screamingsports.com/giants10 ... e-fat.aspx

I'm disappointed that London got cut, I hope he clears waivers and we can stick him on the Practice squad. Andre' Woodson was a bit of a surprise, he played his way off the team on Thursday. I thought Goddard was going to make the team, he was looking pretty good early in camp/preseason.

[VinnyTheMick]

Wow they just straight up cut Andre'

[VinnyTheMick]

Supposedly RW, Madison & Moss have made the team.

UPDATE#2: K Josh Huston was just released by the Giants, which is very important news given the state of the Giants’ kicking game. It either means that the Giants are confident that Lawrence Tynes will be ready to kick on Thursday night against the Washington Redskins, or they plan to go in another direction entirely. … … Also, the Giants have released LB Tank Daniels, DT Jeremy Clark, OL Na’Shan Goddard (who might be waived/injured), and OL Andrew Bain. … So we had eight cuts before and these five bring us to 13. … Stay tuned. As soon as I know, you’ll know.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/giants ... odson.html

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

Update:

We've signed John Carney, Tynes won't be ready for Thursday.

The Giants have signed, or are about to sign veteran kicker John Carney. The 44 year old will likely start off the regular season as the Giants kicker until Tynes is back healthy. That explains cutting two QBs.

http://www.screamingsports.com/giants10 ... e-fat.aspx

We've also cut:

Robert Douglas
Marcus Monk
Kurt Quarterman
Cliff Louis
Eric Butler
James Terry
Ogemdi Nwagbuo

That brings us to 22, because we signed Carney, we have one more cut to make.

[VinnyTheMick]

Who is No. 23? Well, interestingly the Giants’ current 54-man roster (assuming I’ve got all the names right) includes five running backs: Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw, Derrick Ward, and both Reuben Droughns and Danny Ware. About an hour ago, Ware’s agent said he hasn’t heard anything and I’m pretty sure all the names I’ve listed have been told they’re cut already.

Could Droughns or Ware be on their way out in a trade? Possibly. Remember, the Giants traded Ryan Grant to Green Bay on cut-down day last year.

Also, keep in mind that the Giants have told several players - including DT Jeremy Clark - not to check out of the team hotel, just in case they clear waivers and can be signed to the practice squad. So some of these guys will be back soon.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/giants/

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

Cut number 23 is not a cut after all, Guy Whimper (along with Anthony Wright and Digger Bujnoch) has been put on IR:

Three players were placed on injured reserve: QB Anthony Wright (neck), T Guy Whimper (broken foot) and rookie C Digger Bujnoch (sprained knee).

http://blogs.nfl.com/2008/08/30/giants- ... ey-signed/

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

Jerome McDougle has been cut by the Eagles:

The Eagles cut veteran defensive end Jerome McDougle as the team released 12 players to trim down to the 53-player limit.

McDougle, 29, was selected 15th overall in 2003, but has been hampered by injuries during his career. He missed the entire 2007 season after injuring his right triceps in preseason.

http://blogs.nfl.com/2008/08/30/mcdougl ... gles-cuts/

I remember the conversation being between him, Michael Haynes and Willy Jo when we were deciding who to take in 2003. I would definately be in favor of picking him up.

[randomhero423]

roosvelt colvin.

[VinnyTheMick]

Yeah, I'd bring in Colvin if the price was right.

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

Other interesting names:

LB Ahmad Brooks
DE Dan Bazuin
OT Willie Anderson

[VinnyTheMick]

Ex-Philadelphia Eagle DE Jerome McDougle spent last night in New Jersey talking with the Giants, according to a report out of Philadlelphia this morning. In fact, the reporter - a former Eagles player who’s now in the media - “almost” guaranteed that McDougle will sign with the Giants today.

It makes sense on many levels, obviously. First, Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo - a former Eagles assistant - is pretty familiar with the 29-year-old. Second, with the losses of Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora, the Giants do need some help at defensive end. They’ve already converted Mathias Kiwanuka back to end from linebacker, and they do have veteran Renaldo Wynn and young Dave Tollefson for depth.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/giants/

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

McDougle signed:

Defensive end Jerome McDougle, who was cut by the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday, has signed a one-year deal with the Giants, according to an NFL source.

McDougle drove up the Turnpike from Philly almost as soon as he was cut yesterday and entered into negotiations with the Giants. He worked out for them today, apparently passed his physical, and then signed with the team. Terms of the deal weren’t immediately available, but it’s believed to be worth about $1 million.

His arrival gives the Giants 54 men on their roster, which means someone else has to be cut. Hopefully we’ll find out in a few minutes when Tom Coughlin begins his press conference.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/giants ... h-big.html

Great signing, I had a feeling we'd go after this guy.

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

The practice squad:

Andre' Woodson
Marcus Monk
Na'Shan Goddard
Wallace Gilberry
Kurt Quarterman
Geoffery Pope
Jeremy Clark
James Terry

http://njmg.typepad.com/trueblue/2008/0 ... n-tow.html

http://njmg.typepad.com/trueblue/2008/0 ... igned.html

I'm a fan of the first four. I'm indifferent about the last four.



Sadly, Brandon London has been claimed off waivers by Miami:

WR Brandon London may have been ticketed for the eighth slot but he was claimed on waivers by Miami.

http://njmg.typepad.com/trueblue/2008/0 ... n-tow.html

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

Leisle cut to make room for McDougle:

Giants coach Tom Coughlin has confirmed the Giants have signed DE Jerome McDougle.

To make room on the roster, the team had to waive DT Rodney Leisle.

Coughlin said defensive coordinatory Steve Spagnuolo's knowledge of McDougle from his time in Philly. Coughlin also indicated the 6-2, 264-pound McDougle might be playing inside at tackle on passing downs.

http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2008 ... cdoug.html

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

The Official practice squad:

CB Rashard Barksdale
TE Eric Butler
WR Marcus Monk
DE Wallace Gilberry
DT Jeremy Clark
QB Andre' Woodson
OG Na'Shan Goddard
OG Kurt Quarterman


Zackary Bowman has been cut by the Buccaneers:

To make room on the roster, the Bears waived rookie cornerback Zackary Bowman, a fifth-round draft pick from Nebraska.

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsSt ... ry_id=5079

This is a guy I was a big fan of during the draft, I would love it if we signed him to the practice squad. Another guy I'd like to keep an eye on for the future is Abdul Hodge, who was cut by the Packers.




In former Giants news, Willie Jo has been cut by the Raiders.