There is no doubt the New York Giants have the talent at the skill positions to be a success on offense.
It starts with two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning at quarterback and extends to three-time Pro Bowl receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and No. 2 overall draft pick
Saquon Barkley at halfback. Sprinkle in receiver Sterling Shepard and
second-year tight end Evan Engram and there is plenty of explosiveness for new
coach Pat Shurmur's squad to put up some points.
The question mark is the revamped offensive line
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a cohesive unit ??basically a new group.
Left tackle Nate Solder was signed as a free agent after spending seven seasons taking care of Tom Brady's blind side for the Patriots. The signing
forced 2015 first-round draft choice Ereck Flowers to move from left tackle to
the right side. Left guard Will Hernandez was drafted in the second round in
April. Right guard Patrick Omameh was signed as a free agent, while Jon Halapio
is transitioning from guard to center.
"Hey, we're going to go as far as that line will block for us," Shurmur said Monday after the Giants practiced for Friday's night annual preseason game
against the Jets at MetLife Stadium.
The line saw limited action in the preseason games against the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions. It sprung Barkley for a 43-yard run on the opening
play from scrimmage against the Browns to set up a field goal. New York put
together a 17-play, 79-yard drive on the second series against the Lions that
halfback Wayne Gallman capped with an 8-yard touchdown reception from Davis
Webb.
Some of the line play has been good. Some has not, with Manning under pressure in the first game, and the running game struggling in the second.
"We are all aware of the job that's expected of us, and we're all ready to step up to the plate and take on that challenge," said Omameh, who is playing
for his fourth team. "It's just a matter of us continuing to build and improve
and be where we want to be when the season hits."
Shurmur has changed some things in the locker room to help. All the linemen have their lockers in the same area. Last year, the line was divided on two
sides of the room, with one group in a corner and the others in the middle of
the room.
Hernandez, who brings an edge to the line, understands things are not going to be perfect from the start.
"For me, it's a we-have-to-do-this-now mentality," he said. "I think we all have that mentality. We don't have a year to two to get good or to start doing
well. We have to do this now. That's our mentality. We work at it every day, to
make sure by the time we roll up to the first game, we're ready to go."
Halapio
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six games last season, said practicing with the Lions for three days last week
helped the line work on its communication. He says it's harder to predict when
it will all come together.
"It's a process,' he said. "We don't to play the whole entire preseason game, so I can't say there is a timetable. You improve from the prior week. We did
that with Detroit compared to the Cleveland Browns. That's what we are looking
for."
Outside linebacker/defensive end Olivier Vernon has been impressed with how the linemen have bonded.
"That translates well on the field when it comes down to it," Vernon said. "I think their attitude is one of the things that I've noticed, especially going
against them in practice and since OTAs. They got depth in that group, too, as
well. They have a lot of guys that are working. They're working, they're
building that chemistry. That's one thing you like to see in the offensive line
group."
John DeFilippo stood on top of a double-decker bus with the rest of the Eagles, as they cruised through raucous downtown Philadelphia on Thursday to
celebrate the franchise’s first championship in 57 years.
Hours later, the Minnesota Vikings handed him the keys to their offense.
DeFilippo has had quite the ride in two seasons as quarterbacks coach for the Eagles.
”How many guys can say they participated in a Super Bowl parade in the morning and became one of 32 play-callers in the National Football League that
night? That’s a pretty good deal,” DeFilippo said. ”It was a whirlwind, but it
was a whirlwind that was 100 percent worth it, professionally and
personally.”
The Vikings finalized their hire of DeFilippo as offensive coordinator on Friday, following Pat Shurmur’s departure to become head coach of the New York
Giants. The 39-year-old DeFilippo is the third offensive coordinator Vikings
head coach Mike Zimmer has had in five seasons on the job.
”He has a track record of success and has proven to be a great teacher. We feel John will have good chemistry with our team, and we are all eager to get to
work,” Zimmer said in a statement.
Just five days earlier, the Eagles beat New England 41-33 in the Super Bowl in Minnesota behind an MVP performance by Nick Foles . With guidance from
DeFilippo
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Pederson, Foles found a rhythm in the playoffs after an initially rocky takeover
for the injured Carson Wentz. In those three games, including a 38-7 victory
over the Vikings in the NFC championship game, Foles threw for 971 yards, six
touchdowns and only one interception for a 115.7 passer rating. Against the
Patriots, Foles threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns and even caught a pass
for a score on a trick play.
”We really sat down and spent some time with Nick and what he felt comfortable doing, and to me, that’s coaching,” DeFilippo said. ”Why would you
ask a player to do something that he’s not comfortable with?”
He’ll apply that same approach to the Vikings.
”If they did something really, really well and their players are good at it, there’s no reason to change it,” DeFilippo said. ”So we’re going to take pieces
from other places I’ve been, take pieces from Philadelphia and at the same time,
obviously there are a lot of good things that the Minnesota Vikings did last
year that we’re going to continue to do.”
Now he’ll work with Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman to sort out the quarterback situation, with contracts for Case Keenum, Sam Bradford and Teddy
Bridgewater all currently scheduled to expire next month.
”I’m going to have as much say as they want me to. I’m a team player,” DeFilippo said on a conference call with reporters. ”We talked about it last
night: It has to be a collaborative effort, something that we all agree on.”
Character
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attributes DeFilippo emphasized, in that order, when describing his priorities
for the sport’s most critical position. When asked about the importance of
athleticism, DeFilippo tacked that trait on to the list, too.
”I’m not a big believer in quarterbacks that are a stick in the mud back there, they’re in cement back there, at 7 yards deep,” he said.
Wentz was an NFL MVP award contender with 33 touchdown passes in 13 games in his second season in the league in 2017, until tearing the ACL in his left knee.
With DeFilippo as the offensive coordinator for Cleveland in 2015, the Browns
gained more than 4,000 passing yards and 1,500 rushing yards in the same season
for the first time since 1986.
DeFilippo also has five years as quarterbacks coach for Oakland on his resume over two different stints, including in 2014 when Raiders quarterback Derek Carr
threw only 12 interceptions, the fewest by a first-year player in NFL history
with at least 450 passing attempts.
DeFilippo, who was a four-year letter-winner as a quarterback for James Madison, has taken his 11th job in what will be a 19th season of coaching.
”He’s a grinder
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sleeps. Just fundamentals, giving us the game plan, giving us all our checks,
extremely detailed.”
Vikings quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanski, who interviewed with Zimmer for the promotion, becomes a strong candidate to join Shurmur with the Giants as the
offensive coordinator there. Former Seattle Seahawks and Vikings offensive
coordinator Darrell Bevell was also considered along with Houston Texans
quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan and New Orleans Saints tight ends coach Dan
Campbell, according to various reports.
DeFilippo rose to the top of the list, though, having also been considered by the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts for their head coach vacancies.
”His energy was great,” said Vikings running back Latavius Murray, who was with the Raiders in 2013-14 with DeFilippo. ”Positive, very positive, liked to
have fun. He was passionate.”
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