Kölnerbigblue asks: Ed, as a follow up to one of last week’s Mailbag questions, has there been any discussion on where Nagy will be on game day? While I appreciate coordinators getting a bird’s eye view of the field up in the booth, I prefer to see a coach directly interacting with the players on the sideline. I know there is no right/wrong answer, just preferences and coaching styles. What’s your opinion on this and what have you heard from this staff?
Ed says: Kölner, I don’t recall any discussion
of that. I went back through some of the transcripts, and don’t see it discussed. I do think Matt Nagy’s history is calling plays from the sideline. Here is some really interesting research on the topic:
I am a big fan of coaches calling plays from the sideline where they can feel the game and interact personally with the players.
FirstWave asks: Please explain why some wide receivers, whether they be younger or older, cannot play special teams? What is prohibiting them? They are football players. Special teams is part of football.
Ed says: ‘First’, some wide receivers are really good special teamss players. Dalen Cambre and Ryan Miller on the Giants are good in that area. Ex-Giant Cody Core was really good. Devin Thomas, a wide receiver, was a good special teamer who made a massive fumble recovery for the Giants in the 2012 NFC Championship Game. Steve Tasker was a wide receiver who made the Hall of Fame as a special teams player.
Defensive players are generally more used to the contact, the physicality, the tackling that is required. Can you see Jalin Hyatt or 5-foot-9, 162-pound Calvin Austin defeating blockers and making tackles? I can’t. A team could put them out there to cover kicks or punts, but more than likely they would be a liability. It is really about the skillset and mentality.
Steve Williams asks: Hi Ed, I have a question regarding Marcus Mbow. Last season he showed promise as a rookie swing tackle and is the likely backup for both Andrew Thomas and Jermaine Eluemenor this year. However, one of the points that several people have recently made was that Mbow needs to increase his play strength along with adding some bulk. Based on the OTA’s this spring, did you see any indication that Mbow has in fact been hitting the weight room and the high-protein dinner table? And does his agility and quickness still look as good as it did at times last year?
Ed says: Steve, I seem to get a lot of questions about Mbow and whether or not he looks stronger than he did a year ago. It isn’t really a question I can answer heading into training camp.
Remember, there are no pads — thus no hitting — during spring practices. Understand also that media is only at the facility for a maximum of six spring practices — three OTAs and three minicamp workouts. We do not get free reign to speak with whatever players we want, we are at the mercy of the Giants to give us two or three players each day in podium sessions. We have not spoken to Mbow.
Whether he has added strength or bulk is something I will try to ascertain as camp moves along. I know there is a lot of interest, and I wish I had something real to tell you guys.
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Taj Siddiqi asks: In my mind Micah McFadden is a player who is very good at diagnosing a play yet doesn’t have enough strength to tackle in most cases. I have watched me run over by many RBs. What your experienced eyes tell you about his tackling?
Ed says: Taj, you are right to worry about McFadden’s tackling. Per Pro Football Focus, he has a missed tackle rate of 15.6% in his career. That is far too high.
I do not think you are right about the cause. In my view, the issue is not strength. I have always said that McFadden gets himself into position to make a lot of plays, then does not make them. To me, the issue is athleticism. I don’t know if it is quickness, ability to change direction or what, but one-on-one in open space I think backs and receivers are able to make him miss too often.
Doug Mollin asks: Could we cut Runyan and sign Zeitler with the savings on a one year deal? Zeitler is 36 but he’s started between 15 and 17 games every season since 2015. And he had a 71 PFF run blocking grade and 75 PFF pass blocking grade last year. Zeitler’s a bigger guy than Runyan too — 6’4″ 340 pounds vs 6’4″ 307.
I really hope Harbaugh does not have a blind spot about Faalele; he’s here on a minimum contract for a reason.
Ed says: Doug, cutting Jon Runyan before the season starts remains a possibility. I don’t think signing Kevin Zeitler to replace him is going to happen.
Zeitler has been in the NFL since 2012. He has played two emergency snaps at left guard and two emergency snap at left tackle. He has played 13,991 snaps at right guard. Zeitler is a right guard only, and that position is occupied by Francis Mauigoa. The Giants aren’t moving Mauigoa, and Zeitler will have enough options that he won’t sign somewhere to play his 15th NFL season out of position.
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