Brandon joins Ryan and John to break down how the Giants can turn the Hard Knocks momentum into something meaningful this season, setting them up for the future
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00:00Turning to the Giants here a little bit, Brandon, it feels like, at least according to some
00:05people, that they have restored the faith that a hard knock series can still be compelling
00:11in 2024.
00:12And we're learning a lot, right, about their sort of process and how they view Daniel Jones
00:17and what they need.
00:19So I would ask you this, is this a situation where, okay, they address receiver, they address
00:25offensive line, that now Daniel Jones is going to be in a situation where he could actually
00:30succeed?
00:31Or is this just a case of, you can do whatever the hell you want, Daniel Jones just isn't
00:35going to succeed?
00:37Well, I do agree with the hard knocks.
00:41It's been very transparent, it's been fun.
00:44There's been a couple of duds over the years, like I remember when Herm Edwards was coaching
00:48the Chiefs, that was lame.
00:50You've got to have an all-time quarterback or an all-time coach or an all-time personality
00:56like Rex to make it interesting.
00:58And I enjoy the end of the roster guys and the stories that they tell, how they humanize
01:03the players.
01:04I've always enjoyed that.
01:05And the music kind of gets you in the mood for football, fantasy draft, summer's almost
01:11over and we're moving towards the great sport of football.
01:14But this one's been very good because it does take you deep into their mind.
01:21Now they've got editorial control over this, so I give the Giants credit for putting a
01:24lot of this stuff out there.
01:27Listen, I think that it's year three now and they still don't have their guy.
01:34Like they inherited Daniel Jones, I don't think that they really wanted to marry themselves
01:39to Daniel Jones.
01:40But when you win a road playoff game, after a long period of being down like the Giants
01:46were before they won at Minnesota a couple of years ago, you have to bring them back.
01:50Otherwise, it's deemed negligent, you have to.
01:53So they were kind of boxed in the corner.
01:55Now they were smart about it, the way they constructed the contract.
01:58So after this year, if he's still banged up or he just doesn't show growth or the Giants
02:03are a middling team, then you can just get rid of him and it's not incredibly punitive
02:08based on the way they structured the contract.
02:10So they were smart about that.
02:12And I think that there's, the problem with Jones is when you evaluate Daniel Jones, aside
02:19from the Giants and aside from the contract and how long he's been in the NFL, like just
02:23as a singular entity, I think Daniel Jones is fairly interesting.
02:28He's big, he's strong, he's fast, he's got a fairly good arm, not incredibly accurate.
02:33And I do think he's pretty smart as a Duke, as a Duke right, obviously.
02:36So there's a lot of boxes to check and he's tough.
02:40You know, he puts his pads down, it's part of the problem, he keeps getting hurt, but
02:43he's a football player.
02:45So I could see why there'd be appeal there, but after a while, much like Zach Wilson with
02:50the Jets, and I'm not saying that Jones isn't better, he's much more distinguished than
02:54Zach, but there's just a finite window on how long you can keep running the same quarterback
02:59out there without any, even with the road playoff win, any real palpable movement toward
03:05a Super Bowl.
03:06So I think he's been dealt kind of a bad hand with a bad old line so far.
03:11A lot of different coaches, a couple of different GMs, revolving door, week-wide receivers,
03:16some injuries.
03:17I'm not saying it's all his fault, but I think most football observers, including me, you
03:22know, see his ceiling here and you've got to get to about here to be a Super Bowl team.
03:26He's not that guy, but you could do a lot worse, put it this way, if the Jets had a
03:30healthy Daniel Jones last year when Rodgers went down, they're a playoff team, you know.
03:34But that's that murky area of being in the NFL.
03:39If you're not moving in the direction, like clearly, as a Super Bowl team, where you can
03:45say definitively, we got the guy like Burrow, like Mahomes, like Brady, we know all the
03:50names obviously.
03:51You know, Jordan Love out in Green Bay, he seems to be that guy, Josh Allen, and a few
03:55others that I just kind of glossed over.
03:57If you don't have that guy, you've got to keep looking.
04:00And you know, I get it, it was a complex dance.
04:03I think that they navigated it fairly well and I think they've acquitted themselves well
04:08on hard knocks.
04:10I think Dables are a guy's guy.
04:11I think, you know, if you sit back and you pound, you know, five or six beers with him,
04:15I think you'll love him.
04:17I think he's a straight shooter.
04:18I think Joe Shane is smart.
04:20I think the Giants have the right people in place.
04:23I just, I don't know how many points they'll score.
04:24I think their defense is going to be really good.
04:27But I think the offense will be, you know, I mean, it wasn't good last year with Saquon.
04:32So what is it this year without Saquon?
04:34Yeah, and I completely agree.
04:36It's been three years, like you said, and if Daniel Jones isn't the guy, so I really
04:39like Brian Dable and I also like Mike Kafka.
04:42Does he get another opportunity to find that guy?
04:44Like if they finish with five wins, because I also like the defense.
04:47I like Burns.
04:48I like Thibodeau when he's healthy.
04:49Yeah.
04:50But if it's a disaster because of the offense, does he get another shot or is he on the hot
04:53seat this year?
04:54Well, I think he should.
04:55You forgot Dexter Lawrence.
04:56I know you know him.
04:57You just omitted him.
04:58He's a stud in the middle.
04:59So they've got the foundation of a really good defense.
05:02See the thing with Dable, there's two answers here.
05:06The first answer is that they don't win a lot.
05:10But he learned last year from some of his his temperament.
05:14His temperament's got to change a little.
05:16I love fire and I love transparency and I love no nonsense.
05:21And that's Dable.
05:22But when your general manager has to get on the headset on game day to listen to what's
05:28going on, that's that's not good.
05:31And I know that Wink Martindale is, you know, he's his own big personality.
05:35And I'm not going to drop all the blame at Dable's doorstep for sure.
05:38I'm not doing that.
05:39I like Brian Dable.
05:40I think he could be an outstanding.
05:41He'd be a Super Bowl coach.
05:42I think he could be great if if he malfunctions from a personality point of view and they
05:48lose.
05:49Then he could be gone.
05:50I don't think the Mayors will put up with that for too long.
05:52But I want to see.
05:53I do think he's smart.
05:54I do think he'll learn a little bit and he'll he'll he'll change a little without changing
05:59the core principles.
06:00I think he's too smart to do that.
06:02But I would like to see Dable with a guy that he says in round one at the scouring film
06:08and doing the interviews and putting them on the grease board, get him in the building
06:12at 21 years of age and and let him cook.
06:14Like I think if you get Dable that guy, I think you're going to see maybe not the physical
06:19prototype is Josh Allen's just so big and fast and physically unique.
06:23But I think that he can have the same type of marriage and relationship with a quarterback
06:28if you let him pick him.
06:29So and develop them and work with them.
06:31I'm not looking to get rid of Dable, but but Dables got to be a little careful, a little
06:36bit.