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EAST RUTHERFORD - Of all the takeaways from John Mara's season-ending interview session with reporters nearly four months ago, there was one statement that likely should have resonated plenty louder than it did.
"I'm tired of watching teams go up and down the field on us," the Giants' co-owner and team president quipped, pledging support for Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll while also calling for a mood shift and a change in mentality.
The Giants have been pushed around for too long on both sides of the ball.
Mara's statement above was about the defense, misinterpreted as a shot across the bow of coordinator Shane Bowen and his first season with Big Blue, but the sentiment applied to the offense, too.
When a vision comes together, emphasizing the building of a team that refuses to get bullied between the lines, in back page headlines and on banners pulled by planes over MetLife Stadium, the end result looks a lot like this draft class Schoen and Daboll, and their staffs, put together.
The makeover needs to start somewhere, and maybe just maybe, the Giants are finally getting there.
We talk about creating identity, and for years - during the recent decade of despair in particular - the Giants were quick to try and steal that from their past, instead of coming up with a new way of defining themselves.
Schoen and Daboll want the identity of this team to be about its attitude. There must be a refusal to let opponents force their will upon the Giants, which has happened far too often. Sure, when this regime took over three years ago, the foundation was built on being Smart, Tough and Dependable. It's still canon around here.
But the toughness needs to come from the players, and it's not solely about want-to. Some players are just made that way, and in order to compete with the Eagles and the Commanders, the Giants are not going to measure up until they can match that edge not only with talent, but in their hearts and minds.
"You always add that element to your team in both areas: mentally, the challenges that go with playing professional football and playing in New York, quite frankly, and toughness on the field," Daboll said. "I think we did that in free agency and we did that in the draft. It’s something that we covet."
These Giants want to play with attitude. They want to hit you and hit you hard, and if they take a punch, be resilient enough to hit back just as hard, even harder. For years, the Eagles have been that way, and it's shown up on the scoreboard and in the standings - especially against the Giants, who have not won in Philadelphia since 2013.
If the Giants are going to compete at that level, they must alter the mindset - not just the football - from the inside out.
"With what they did, I think the message was sent," a league source told NorthJersey.com and The Record on Saturday. "It's been a while, but they're done getting pushed around."
Pass rusher Abdul Carter is a difference-making beast who plays with violent aggression. Quarterback Jaxson Dart is fiery and he lets his teammates know the expectations and the standard, showing the way with reckless abandon. Defensive tackle Darius Alexander is going to get after you, promising that his love of the game comes from "taking my opponent's will, and just watching them go to the sideline and not knowing what to say to the coach."
Running back Cam Skattebo is infatuated with contact. He knows no other way to be, and it's been that way since he started playing football at 6 years old. He would put on his older brother's shoulder pads, go out into the street and run into telephone poles, just to prove his toughness.
"I mean, physicality is definitely contagious," Skattebo said. "If someone gets run over, it hypes the other guys up and gets them going."
How about what we heard from fifth-round offensive lineman Marcus Mbow, who offered up this gem: "Putting people on the ground. Winning reps. Demoralizing people. That's always fun."
Last month, as another league source told NorthJersey.com and The Record about the anticipated personality shift within the Giants' quarterback room last month, which essentially sets a tone for the entire team: "They went from milquetoast to Fireball [whiskey]."
Now the 21-year-old Dart joins the quarterback party, and he brings a flair to the position that the Giants have not had in a long time. The Giants believe they have improved across the board - not just physically, but their mindset - in the secondary with cornerback Paulson Adebo and safety Jevon Holland.
Now you take Carter and inject his game into a defensive front that features Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Chauncey Golston, and the Giants step onto the field with a chance to impose their will.
"It's the controlled violence and the aggression that he plays with," ESPN analyst Jordan Reid said of Carter. "He's really good with his hands, and you have to remember, this was his very first year playing defensive end. So, three to four years from now, there's no telling how good he can be. It's the combination of the athletic traits, the explosiveness and the potential upside that he has."
It's a bit of a leap of faith with the offensive line, and some of that comes with how the Giants played up front with a healthy Andrew Thomas at left tackle. There is still work to do with growth and development an integral part of whatever plan will ultimately prove Schoen and Daboll are poised to take this in the right direction.
The Class of 2024 put forth the best collective season for Giants rookies since 2007. In some ways, that helped Schoen's case to keep his job, and Mara took note. Now the vision for where these Giants want to go - where they need to go in order to hold their own and establish a standard that's been absent for a while - has not been as clear as it is in quite some time after this weekend.
"It'll all come together," Schoen said. "Until we go out and do it, it doesn't matter. It's just on paper now. That's where this time of year Dabs is doing a great job and the coaches and the players themselves. They need to come together and develop their own identity and what type of team they want to be."
Much was made of Carter's overtures to Lawrence Taylor regarding his desire to wear No. 56, in part as a tribute to the Hall of Fame Giant he called the G.O.A.T. The number is retired, and Taylor denied the rookie's ask on a phone call orchestrated by their agents. The greatest Giant of all-time did so with respect and by also offering a challenge.
"He has to be the player that he is," Taylor told ESPN. "He can't be another Lawrence Taylor. Well, he may be better than a Lawrence Taylor, who knows. But he has to make his mark. It's up to him."
Carter took to social media with a response.
"The worst thing he could say was NO!!" Carter said. "My stance don’t change, LT is the [G.O.A.T.] nothing but respect… This just gonna make me work even harder!! I love it."
It's the fact that Carter even asked two days into his Giants tenure, unafraid of the answer, that should be what gets the attention of the franchise. The newest Giants won't be borrowing the identity from the past as their own.
As Tom Coughlin once sad, "Humble enough to prepare, confident enough to perform."
With Carter leading the way, this rookie class has a special feel about it.
The vision of where Schoen and Daboll want to take this team has never been clearer.
The Giants have purpose and a plan they hope to bring to fruition with young players who believe.
Hope.
For the first time in a long while, thanks to an unmistakable identity, the Giants actually have it again.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Giants: This feels like a mood-changing NFL Draft for the franchise
Continue reading...
"I'm tired of watching teams go up and down the field on us," the Giants' co-owner and team president quipped, pledging support for Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll while also calling for a mood shift and a change in mentality.
The Giants have been pushed around for too long on both sides of the ball.
Mara's statement above was about the defense, misinterpreted as a shot across the bow of coordinator Shane Bowen and his first season with Big Blue, but the sentiment applied to the offense, too.
When a vision comes together, emphasizing the building of a team that refuses to get bullied between the lines, in back page headlines and on banners pulled by planes over MetLife Stadium, the end result looks a lot like this draft class Schoen and Daboll, and their staffs, put together.
The makeover needs to start somewhere, and maybe just maybe, the Giants are finally getting there.
We talk about creating identity, and for years - during the recent decade of despair in particular - the Giants were quick to try and steal that from their past, instead of coming up with a new way of defining themselves.
Schoen and Daboll want the identity of this team to be about its attitude. There must be a refusal to let opponents force their will upon the Giants, which has happened far too often. Sure, when this regime took over three years ago, the foundation was built on being Smart, Tough and Dependable. It's still canon around here.
But the toughness needs to come from the players, and it's not solely about want-to. Some players are just made that way, and in order to compete with the Eagles and the Commanders, the Giants are not going to measure up until they can match that edge not only with talent, but in their hearts and minds.
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"You always add that element to your team in both areas: mentally, the challenges that go with playing professional football and playing in New York, quite frankly, and toughness on the field," Daboll said. "I think we did that in free agency and we did that in the draft. It’s something that we covet."
These Giants want to play with attitude. They want to hit you and hit you hard, and if they take a punch, be resilient enough to hit back just as hard, even harder. For years, the Eagles have been that way, and it's shown up on the scoreboard and in the standings - especially against the Giants, who have not won in Philadelphia since 2013.
If the Giants are going to compete at that level, they must alter the mindset - not just the football - from the inside out.
"With what they did, I think the message was sent," a league source told NorthJersey.com and The Record on Saturday. "It's been a while, but they're done getting pushed around."
Pass rusher Abdul Carter is a difference-making beast who plays with violent aggression. Quarterback Jaxson Dart is fiery and he lets his teammates know the expectations and the standard, showing the way with reckless abandon. Defensive tackle Darius Alexander is going to get after you, promising that his love of the game comes from "taking my opponent's will, and just watching them go to the sideline and not knowing what to say to the coach."
Running back Cam Skattebo is infatuated with contact. He knows no other way to be, and it's been that way since he started playing football at 6 years old. He would put on his older brother's shoulder pads, go out into the street and run into telephone poles, just to prove his toughness.
"I mean, physicality is definitely contagious," Skattebo said. "If someone gets run over, it hypes the other guys up and gets them going."
How about what we heard from fifth-round offensive lineman Marcus Mbow, who offered up this gem: "Putting people on the ground. Winning reps. Demoralizing people. That's always fun."
Last month, as another league source told NorthJersey.com and The Record about the anticipated personality shift within the Giants' quarterback room last month, which essentially sets a tone for the entire team: "They went from milquetoast to Fireball [whiskey]."
Now the 21-year-old Dart joins the quarterback party, and he brings a flair to the position that the Giants have not had in a long time. The Giants believe they have improved across the board - not just physically, but their mindset - in the secondary with cornerback Paulson Adebo and safety Jevon Holland.
Now you take Carter and inject his game into a defensive front that features Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Chauncey Golston, and the Giants step onto the field with a chance to impose their will.
"It's the controlled violence and the aggression that he plays with," ESPN analyst Jordan Reid said of Carter. "He's really good with his hands, and you have to remember, this was his very first year playing defensive end. So, three to four years from now, there's no telling how good he can be. It's the combination of the athletic traits, the explosiveness and the potential upside that he has."
It's a bit of a leap of faith with the offensive line, and some of that comes with how the Giants played up front with a healthy Andrew Thomas at left tackle. There is still work to do with growth and development an integral part of whatever plan will ultimately prove Schoen and Daboll are poised to take this in the right direction.
The Class of 2024 put forth the best collective season for Giants rookies since 2007. In some ways, that helped Schoen's case to keep his job, and Mara took note. Now the vision for where these Giants want to go - where they need to go in order to hold their own and establish a standard that's been absent for a while - has not been as clear as it is in quite some time after this weekend.
"It'll all come together," Schoen said. "Until we go out and do it, it doesn't matter. It's just on paper now. That's where this time of year Dabs is doing a great job and the coaches and the players themselves. They need to come together and develop their own identity and what type of team they want to be."
Much was made of Carter's overtures to Lawrence Taylor regarding his desire to wear No. 56, in part as a tribute to the Hall of Fame Giant he called the G.O.A.T. The number is retired, and Taylor denied the rookie's ask on a phone call orchestrated by their agents. The greatest Giant of all-time did so with respect and by also offering a challenge.
"He has to be the player that he is," Taylor told ESPN. "He can't be another Lawrence Taylor. Well, he may be better than a Lawrence Taylor, who knows. But he has to make his mark. It's up to him."
Carter took to social media with a response.
"The worst thing he could say was NO!!" Carter said. "My stance don’t change, LT is the [G.O.A.T.] nothing but respect… This just gonna make me work even harder!! I love it."
It's the fact that Carter even asked two days into his Giants tenure, unafraid of the answer, that should be what gets the attention of the franchise. The newest Giants won't be borrowing the identity from the past as their own.
As Tom Coughlin once sad, "Humble enough to prepare, confident enough to perform."
With Carter leading the way, this rookie class has a special feel about it.
The vision of where Schoen and Daboll want to take this team has never been clearer.
The Giants have purpose and a plan they hope to bring to fruition with young players who believe.
Hope.
For the first time in a long while, thanks to an unmistakable identity, the Giants actually have it again.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Giants: This feels like a mood-changing NFL Draft for the franchise
Continue reading...
