-We’re getting into that slow period. After the draft, before camp. We’ve analyzed the draft. Where do we go?

-Hence, some of the posts may be a bit shorter. It’s the worst time for a football blogger.

-We might do some fun series, like favorite players, favorite moments etc. What would you want?

-One thought: The Giants told you all you need to know about Da’rel Scott: They drafted David Wilson. Therefore, they may not like Scott too much.

-That doesn’t mean there isn’t a future. He has one as a returner. But as a running back? Eh, not so much.

-But there are a lot of guys who can return. Wilson. Hosley. Jernigan, obviously. So, there’s a lot of competition there.

-Book interlude: Just finished The Nine by Jeffery Toobin. It’s about the Supreme Court in the Rehnquist era, with a little bit of the Roberts Court. Fascinating. Goes behind the scenes in how decisions are made. Also spends a lot of time on Bush v Gore. Regardless of how you feel about the case, it’s a fascinating look at it. Recommend it highly.

-I’m excited to see Linval Joseph. Think he might take a step up. Already had a good year.

-Interested about Marvin Austin. Natural talent, but two years without playing?  Can you recover from that? I don’t know, and I wonder if he feels the rust, or if he’s just ready to go.

-I want to see how Bennett fits in. Used more as a receiver? Blocker? Both? Or will Pascoe block more often and Bennett receive? And where does Robinson fit in?

-Like Markus Kuhn to stick as a rotational defensive tackle.

-Justin Trattou will be the new Dave Tollefson. Is he ready? He did get a few games in last year.

-Deon Grant says the Giants, Lions and Cowboys are into him. Well, maybe not the Cowboys. Would like him back, as there’s a dearth of depth at the safety position.  We’ll see, he would be a good fit in Detroit as well.

Lawrence Taylor’s ring was officially sold on Saturday night for $230,041. Giants DE Osi Umenyiora tried to get it back for him, but in the end it didn’t work out.

Osi Umenyiora currently has less than 60,000 followers on Twitter. And Lawrence Taylor’s Super Bowl XXV ring now has a new owner.

Taylor’s ring was sold by online auctioneer SPC Auctions for $230,041 late Saturday night. The winning bidder was not revealed, but it wasn’t Umenyiora, whose Twitter campaign to purchase the ring and return it to rightful owner Taylor fell well short.

“Good Morning people!” Umenyiora tweeted from his official Twitter account, @osiumenyiora, on Sunday morning. “Well i guess we didnt make it to 500k for LT. But i appreciate the people who tried. #respect# you can now unfollow me”

Umenyiora had hoped to buy the ring and give it back to Taylor. The former Giants pass-rushing great had given his 1991 Super Bowl ring to his son, Lawrence Taylor Jr., as a gift. And the younger Taylor had recently decided to sell the item. The auction began Thursday and closed on Saturday at 10 p.m.

Click HERE to read the Rest

It looks like the responsibility falls with the outside backer, whatever side the screen goes to.  The MIKE Backer then follows as additional support, with the safety coming up. The offense will counteract this with the center taking on the outside backer. So this play is really up to the MIKE. Which is not how you would think. When we think of screens,  we think of the outside players, the corners making plays. And that’s true, but the design is for the MIKE Backer. Very interesting. How would you defend screens?

When you combine an understanding of the passing zones with the route tree. Each route is designed to attack a specific zone. By layering combinations, as well as executing good match ups, offenses can make plays in these zones. It is the defenses job to understand the offensive concept, and make sure each zone is properly covered. For the Giants, it means letting smaller plays happen, while preventing bigger plays. Other teams feel differently. There’s no right way. But the Giants believe in defending these zones.  As you’ll see in the coming days, the Giants have a lot of ways to do that.

It turns out that Lawrence Taylor didn’t even know his own Super Bowl ring was up for auction.

If you missed it, Taylor’s Super Bowl XXV ring went on the auction block on at SCPAuctions.com earlier this week. Now it turns out that it was Taylor’s son was the one that put the ring up for auction.

Jay Glazer of FOXSports spoke with Taylor who didn’t know if was for sale. Taylor says that it was his son that did it, and that he can do whatever he wants with it.

The guys on the opposite side of the field rush to the side of the interception to make blocks. Interesting. They instruct the returner to go to the sideline, which makes sense. I love the note: Go score!. And then they say to make a block and block the chest. There’s a lot that goes on here. An interception return looks like chaos. But there’s more organized chaos than meets the eye.

Why the state of Texas for odd coverages? Beats me. But kinda interesting. Odd coverages mean 1 high safety, even coverages mean 2 high safeties. We’ll get more into coverages as the week progresses.

It’s hard times for former Giants LB and Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor, as he has his 1991 Giants Super Bowl ring on the market.

Taylor’s selling his ring in an online auction on site SCP Auctions. He has also notarized the ring.

“Presented here is arguably the most significant Superbowl player ring ever offered publicly,” the website SCP Auctions states, with many pics of the ring.

Right now if you want to bid on the ring, get out your checkbook, as it’s up to $37,982. The auction ends this Saturday night and the reserve price for the ring has not yet been met.

Tough to see a player as great as Taylor go through these tough times, but also a good lesson for players of today to save your coin when you can.

The champions Giants are getting their title rings today, as punter Steve Weatherford tweeted out a pic of the rings on Tuesday to show the fans exactly the hardware the players will be walking around with.

The Giants earned the rings with a hard fought 21-17 win over the Pats in Super Bowl XLVI back in February.

The team will get the rings in a private ceremony at Tiffany & Co. in Manhattan. Tiffany designed the rings for the team with consultation from team president John Mara, general manager Jerry Reese, head coach Tom Coughlin, and the team’s captains, Eli Manning, Justin Tuck and Zak DeOssie, along with others in the organization.

I bet you never thought the huddle was this complicated and detailed. Take a look at it. Everything and everyone is assigned a specific role. Why? To eliminate confusion. Look, if you got 8 guys screaming the down and distance, it’s going to get complicated. Do they need to say where the lineman should place their hands (on their knees)? I don’t know, I think that’s a bit much. But, we know that NFL coaches are control freaks, and this is one way of gaining control. But this is a nice, first look at this playbook. Much more substantive stuff to come.