Category Archives: Antonio Pierce
I think we can all agree that Jerry Reese is a good GM, who has mostly done his part in providing the Giants with the players that the team needs to win. On the surface it would seem that little of last season’s shortcomings were due to Reese’s personnel decisions, and are more attributable to injuries and bad coaching. But I wonder, if I were to put a number to Reese’s draft and offseason moves, would he average out among the better GMs in league history? Mediocre? Or just plain terrible? Over the next four weeks I intend to apply a letter grade and GPA to Reese’s off season moves and draft picks in order to more realistically tag him as a GM.
2007
1) Aaron Ross, DB, Texas – Ross was a lockdown corner for a little while there and contributed steadily until he got debacled by some injuries. Reese could have gotten all hot and bothered and threw away a whole bunch of picks to get Darelle Revis but he showed great restraint in taking Ross: A
2) Steve Smith, WR, USC – Money in the bank baby: A+
3) Jay Alford, DT, Penn State – Alford committed arguably the most spectacular sack in Super Bowl history against Tom Brady and the Pats during Super Bowl 2007. Then he summarily disappeared of the face of the earth. In Reese’s defense, Alford did not have an injury history in college: C+
4) Zak DeOssie, LB/LS, Brown – I don’t want to underestimate the quality of a good long snapper. But draft your long snapper in the 7th round or draft an offensive lineman that can snap: D
5) Kevin Boss, TE, Western Oregon – Boss continues to be a solid contributor, nothing spectacular, but a good pick: B
6) Adam Koets, OL, Oregon State – The only real non-contributor in 2007. We’re still waiting for some good stuff from Koets. If 2010 isn’t his year he doesn’t have a year: C-
7) Micheal Johnson, DB, Arizona – Another disappearing 2007 contributor. At least he was 7th rounder: C
7) Ahmad Bradshaw, RB, Marshall – Bradshaw’s got it all. I don’t know why he actually fell to the 7th round. He had good numbers and Marshall has some descent visibility. At any rate, Bradshaw has to be in the top five change of pace backs in the league and you got him very late in the draft, a Jerry Reese home run: A+
Off-season Moves – Quiet Off-season. It has to be said that Reese ignored the fact that Antonio Pierce’s skills were deteriorating and he was the only starting MLB in the NFL with a beer gut. I think this is the season that the Giants signed Gibril Wilson to a one-year deal instead of a long term contract. In 2008 he got an offer too expensive for the Giants to match: C- (For a lack of foresight)
-Season GPA: 2.6
I’m just saying…
WR Steve Smith wants a raise. And doesn’t he deserve one? Has any Giant ever deserved one more?
Godspeed to AP in his career as a broadcaster for ESPN. Hopefully he shows a little more restraint than Tiki-bear did. And hopefully, he especially shows more restraint than his old club-spelunking days with Plaxico Burress.
Tagged Adam Koets |
Hello GFB community. I will be doing a weekly blog post, focusing on areas where I think the Giants could use some improvement. Expect to see me every Thursday.
For my first post I thought I would try to establish a rubric, so to speak, for my own dissatisfaction with the MLB situation. I know it seems sometimes that I (Igs) am only seeing this thing from the ‘glass half empty’ perspective, but in truth there are a number of important angles that inform my reservations:
How close are the Giants?
This speaks more to the general draft and personnel philosophy. Do you see the Giants as a team trying to figure out how to make a championship run or a team that has already put all the pieces together and won a ring? Quite a few of the players the Giants have drafted in the past two seasons would suggest the former, players that were two to thee years away on draft day, like Ramses Barden, Travis Beckum, Linval Joseph, and of course, Jason Pierre-Paul.
If these developmental players were taken late in the draft, did not cost multiple picks, or were drafted to a team without needs, I would be more comfortable with them. But some of these guys were drafted in places where players that filled a need could have been taken, like maybe a middle linebacker.
Quality of depth
Do you agree, like much of the projections, that the Giants will find their next Mike backer in the depth chart? I think if you’re honest with yourself, many of the candidates just wont look viable. Let’s start with the completely unlikely. Gerris 
Wilkinson doesn’t have a chance. You just don’t take a guy that failed miserably at Will and expect him to become your next starting Mike, a position that requires greater lateral quickness, instincts, and a certain kind of smarts. Precedent-wise, has anyone ever failed so miserably at WLB and gone on to success at MLB?
Phillip Dillard was a productive college MLB. But he is a thumper. He’s a run-stopping specialist, great at filling, but not so great at covering TEs, slot receivers, and RBs. That’s a serious liability in a pro 4-3 defense, especially in a Tampa 2 system, where the MLB has a greater coverage responsibility. Linebackers like Dillard really can’t start unless they’re in a 3-4 playing next to another coverage MLB.
Then there’s Brian Kehl, who hasn’t quite flourished yet, but makes a lot of sense as Michael Boley’s understudy. Again, just the fact that he has yet to be successful as a weakside linebacker is pretty much a guarantee that he can’t play the middle.
Johnathan Goff, Chase Blackburn, and my favorite dark horse, Micah Johnson are the three MLB prospects that have a realistic shot at starting. Blackburn just isn’t enough of an athlete and his lack of success at the position is well documented, though he brings some good veteran experience to the table.
Goff has questionable coverage skills and instincts. Johnson, the UDFA, has a chance to really emerge from this large group of backup players. Johnson nursed foot and knee injuries during a very productive 2009 campaign (105 Tackles, 51 Solo) and carried those injuries into the pre-draft period, which would explain a very slow 40-time.
Relevence of the MLB in the 4-3 system
How important is all this MLB talk anyway? John Fennelly proposes that the Giants organization places relatively low value on LBs. And I think he’s dead on.
Reese’s recent decisions indicate that he thinks the position is negligible. And it’s funny that Coughlin, this season’s sacrificial lamb, plays along, because he never had LBs in Jacksonville, and that team spent a lot of time not quite getting there. But I just can’t think of a successful Giants team that lacked great linebackers. From LT. Harry Carson, Carl Banks, to Jessie Armstead, Antonio Pierce and Kawika Mitchell.
I can’t think of one successful period in the modern history of the Giants where they haven’t had great LB play. So when did the organization adapt this ridiculous stance? Are they haunted by the ghost of LaVar Arrington?
Furthermore, though the Giants still have major question marks at DT, this is a relatively complete defense outside of this MLB. But in a 4-3, how viable is it to have a complete defense without the MLB that brings it all together, a Brian Urlacher, a Ray Lewis, a Gary Bracket, an… Antonio Pierce.
One has to question the wisdom of the great Jerry Reese for leaving this very strong defense without its quarterback, particularly when there were quite a few great candidates available in the draft, one of them a surefire 10 year starter: Sean Weatherspoon, Donald Washington, and Jamar Cheney among others. These guys actually fit in the Tampa-2 system.
We’ve discussed all these issues in the past on the Giants Blog on some level, and I’m sure all of us are holding out some kind of hope that things workout this season. And by “workout” I mean this team wins a Super Bowl. But if you can put all these angles together and not have just a little bit of apprehension about this season, then I have to wonder if you have a pulse.
Yesterday John Fennelly reported that Goff and Dillard are receiving the bulk of the MLB reps. So one would assume that Goff has emerged as the starter and Dillard as his backup. But one has to ask the question, emerged from what? From Gerris Wilkinson, Brian Kehl, Chase Blackburn, and two UDFAs?
I’m just not convinced. You have a very good 4-3 defense that lacks the most important cog, MLB, as well as some good leadership. Most of the candidates to start don’t look viable. Meanwhile, you’re fielding three RE, two that have proven to be a liability in the run game. Your GM doesn’t think it’s an issue. Maybe Coach Coughlin will cover all those offensive players making money in the middle of the field with a safety.
Oh wait. It’s 2010. Defenses don’t really get away with that kind of stuff anymore.
Tagged Jonathan Goff, New York Giants, New York Giants News, Phillip Dillard |
Brother of Kiwanuka Hurt in Cycle Accident
The older brother of Giants’ DE Mathias Kiwanuka is in critical condition this morning. Benedict Kiwanuka, 32, was thrown from his mortorcycle after colliding with a car on an Indianapolis street yesterday.
According to FOX News……
Mathias, 27, riding alongside his brother, was not seriously hurt, according to reports.
The player’s agent sent a text message to NJ.com that said, “his client ‘said he is okay but his brother is not. … He is worried about his brother.’”
The television report said, “Investigators said they were told by witnesses that the brothers were speeding prior to the crash.”
A police spokesman told the Indianapolis Star , “Benedict was not wearing a helmet. … A helmet was found at the scene, but police think it was buckled to the seat.”
Television station WTHR said Mathias “did not hit the car and pulled over to help.” The driver of the car had minor injuries.
Kiwanuka, drafted by the Giants in 2006, is an Indianapolis native.
Pierce: “Everyone is on the hot seat…”
In an interview on the NFL Network , former Giant defensive captain Antonio Pierce made a few statements about many current Giants coaches and players’ job stability. 
“When you talk about a team three years removed from the Super Bowl, to a team that the year after the Super Bowl was the No. 1 seed in the NFC East, then to a team that was 8-8 and out (of) the playoffs, there’s some fires lit underneath some people’s butts now in that locker room and in that organization……You’ve got an owner that spoke out very vocal and verbally to the rest of the team and to the media, showing that he was displeased by what was going on…”
He’s not wrong….
Jacobs Looking Forward to a Big Season
RB Brandon Jacobs played most of last season with a sore knee, which seriously diminished his capacity to be the Giants’ battering ram on offense. All three of the other main backs – Ahmad Bradshaw, DJ Ware and Andre Brown – were also injured and missed time.
This year promises to be different says Jacobs…
“We have a lot of talent from the first to the fourth guy….the coaches know what we can do when we’re healthy. They know what went down with us last year and are just giving us another opportunity to get out and prove that we can play at the level we know we can play.”
Tagged Antonio Pierce, Brandon Jacobs, Mathias Kiwanuka, New York Giants, New York Giants News |
So how good is the Giants second round draft pick, Linval “The Anvil” Joseph? The Giants must have thought pretty highly of the young defensive tackle from East Carolina if veteran DT, Barry Cofield became trade worthy.
Similar to the safety situation of 2009, The Giants are very thin at Defensive Tackle and putting Barry Cofield out there to the point where the New Orleans Saints and the Giants agreed to send Cofield to “The Big Easy” in exchange for the Saints’ second-round pick in 2010 has me scrathing my head.
The talks only fell apart because the Saints’ contract offer to Cofield wasn’t even close to what he wanted otherwise Mr. Cofield would have been wearing black & gold this season. Loosing Fred Robbins was disappointing because he was a fan favorite; however, understandable because of his age and his recent knee surgery, but loosing Cofield just doesn’t make sense.
Without Cofield, the Giants would have started the season with Canty, Alford, and Benard as their experienced starting three. That my fellow Giants fans is sorry. Canty, who accepted a huge payday to come to the Giants in 2009 was non-existent all year and rumors of him being soft, so far ring true.
Alford is coming off knee surgery and his production and health are yet to be measured. Rocky Bernard…well, the 8 year veteran from Texas A&M looked out of shape last season and produced only sparingly in limited playing time. If you’re looking for a bright side…he couldn’t play any worse than he did in 2009.
Outside of that…the Giants are bringing two “rookie” defensive tackles, Collins(Virginia) and Hendricks(Miami) to camp to join second round draft pick, Linval Joseph.
The ’09 season was a terrible showcase for the Giants defense. Rookie Defensive Coordinator Bill Sheridan was a disaster, MLB Antonio Pierce aged before our eyes, safety James Butler left for St, Louis, Osi Umenyiora all but disappeared and former first round draft pick, Kenny Philips had a season ending knee injury. And lets not forget the CC Brown/Arron Rouse experiment.
Yes, the trade offer fell through but I have to ask, “What is Jerry Reese thinking?”. We need the big boys upfront.
Tagged Barry Cofield |
The news today that the Giants parted ways with MLB and defensive captain Antonio Pierce should come as no surprise to anyone.
Pierce’s neck injury is possibly a career-ending one, depending on who you talk to. With one year to go on his contract, it was a 50-50 chance that he could play this year anyhow.
Questions about Pierce’s range arose last season only to be pooh-poohed by the Giant coaches, but it was apparent that “AP” was slowing up. The Giants also could not have been pleased with Pierce’s role in the Plaxico affair, which makes this move less stinging.
That being said, this was expected especially when you see potential depth charts drawn up by pundits that did not have Pierce on them.
Tagged Antonio Pierce |
According to Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger, Antonio Pierce has been cut.
Pierce, who had one season left on his contract, was cut most likely due to the bulging disk in his neck.
The transaction is said to be announced shortly.
According to Ralph Vacchiano of the NY Daily News, the Giants have placed middle linebacker Antonio Pierce on the IR, ending his season.
This is not a huge surprise, given his injury (bulging disc in his neck). Still, Pierce was shocked by the news.
Vacchiano also states that the Giants hope former fifth round pick Jonathan Goff will eventually take over as the starter at middle linebacker. With Pierce out, Goff will now get his chance to show what he can do in the NFL. If he performs well, the Giants may decide to cut ties with Pierce, who is owed $4.75 million next season.
Overall, this is a blow to the Giants’ defense. Pierce is slow and has regressed the last few years, but he is/was still a big part of the defense.
Still, I can’t help but be excited to see what kind of player Goff is given some playing time. He looked great in the preseason, and maybe he can give this defense a shot in the arm.
As fellow writer Rich Resch pointed out middle linebacker Antonio Pierce is out indefinitely with a bulging disc in his neck. Chase Blackburn will start in his place, backed up by second year pro Jonathan Goff. Blackburn has not started at MLB since 2005 but has replaced Pierce in a few games due to injury and it’s Chase’s most experienced position. Pierce is the QB of the defense and he will be missed, but Chase does have plenty of experience in this system and should be able to make all the calls.
The injury calls Pierces future as a Giants into question. Pierce is 31 and has one more year on his contract. While he gets the defense lined up and is excellent at playing head games with opposing QB’s he has also lost a step and struggles in coverage (fans love to point out what seems to be a bit of a gut). Blackburn is 26 and also has one year left on his contract, but is looked at as a solid backup and a special teamer more then anything else. Second year pro Jonathan Goff (5th round pick in 2008) has shown flashes in his limited time, including some big hits on special teams, but he has yet to play in the base defense and show he can be the leader Pierce is (course we won’t know until he plays)
As a unit the linebacking core is the oldest, and it is in need of an overhaul. There is a chance that Clint Sintim, Jonathan Goff and Michael Boley/Bryan Kehl are the answers for next year, but for now Blackburn, Clark/Sintim and Boley will get the nod.
Here’s a video of what LB Antonio Pierce had to say to reporters today regarding the whole court situation:
“I am not sorry for how I acted that night,” Pierce said after the third practice of training camp. “I am not sorry for how I responded. I am sorry for putting myself in position that I had to respond the way I had to respond. There’s a lot of lessons I learned from this. I’ve taken this to heart. I’ve taken this seriously.”
Those were the words of Antonio Pierce when he addressed reporters today about the Plaxico Burress situation.
“I am not sorry for how I acted that night,” Pierce said after the third practice of training camp. “I am not sorry for how I responded. I am sorry for putting myself in position that I had to respond the way I had to respond. There’s a lot of lessons I learned from this. I’ve taken this to heart. I’ve taken this seriously.”
Among other things Pierce, went on to say that the year of 2008 and everything that happened is now officially behind him and that he is ready to focus on training camp and the ’09 season.
Alright Antonio, you got this one out of the way. Hopefully the media (and you) put this story in the backdrop so we can talk about your play at MLB and the rest of the Giants team training for the season.
Finally Pierce can just worry about one thing, being the captain and leader of this Giants defense.
Ralph Vacchiano of the NY Daily News has pierce’s whole opening statement on his blog, The Blue Screen.
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