More Roster Stuff

Only one claim off the Giants cut list - Cowboys claimed Bosworth. I had a feeling that if Andre Brown went onto the recallable IR, Giants might have brought back Bosworth, but of course that theoretical plan is moot. Bosworth had to be cut several days before Brown could be moved to recallable IR and by then, Cowboys claimed him. He is a good special teams player, an area Cowboys needed help with. I am sure Cowboys want to pry information out of Bosworth on the Giants defensive playbook going into the opener. I am not sure how much it will help, but at the very least, Giants have to change their line calls, audibles and maybe their hand signals on defense so as not to give away what they are doing.

Giants have had some OL-men in from other teams and signed a S to the practice squad. They are also testing out some RBs, Beanie Wells and Leon Washington among them. I don't think the Giants will sign any of them in the short term. Giants will probably try to wait for Andre Brown to come off the IR after game 8, and go with the 3 RBs on their roster. If it looks too thin and if it's not working, or if one of the RBs gets hurt, they can bring in one of these RBs. Also, if they bring in a veteran for week one, his contract is guaranteed, but if they wait, it's not guaranteed. There are also a lot of solid, proven RBs sitting on the sideline in case the Giants need some immediate help. Two that come to mind are Michael Turner and Ryan Grant. Brandon Jacobs is out there too, but I doubt Giants would look to him for help.

With Brown going on recallable IR, he doesn't count on the 53 man roster, so Giants added Adewele Ojomo to fill his roster spot, signing him off of their own practice squad. It was a very interesting move and I think it reveals a few things about the Giants defensive strategy and perhaps something of their injured players. First, after releasing Bosworth, you would think that they would want to add another LB, especially with the injury history of some of the 5 LBs that are now on the roster - Rivers has been nicked up from time to time throughout his career and Williams is coming off a knee injury last year. This strongly indicates what their strategy is: bring in lots of big bodies at DT and strong players at DE and if they dominate the opposing OL you don't need LT or Carl Banks playing LB. Instead you keep a bunch of almost interchangeable athletic, smart LBs that can run to the hole but don't need to be powerful to shed blocks, because the DL is not letting the OL get to that second level. It also may indicate that they don't think JPP and Moore will be ready week one, but may take a few weeks to get ready. That makes the deep DE rotation a bit thinner, so adding Ojomo makes some sense. Parenthetically, I think the Giants might want to try S Cooper Taylor at the S/ LB hybrid that they've used in the past - he's fast and strong enough to tackle.

It is a tenuous existence for Ojomo, however. On the one hand, he must be thrilled that he finally made it off the practice squad and onto an NFL roster. On the other hand, if the Giants need some help at another position because of injury or poor play, he will probably be the first to go. If I read the practice squad rules eligibility right, he can go back to the practice squad, but only if he has not accrued one year of service in the NFL. That one year of service occurs after game 8. So if he lasts through game 9 and then gets cut, he will be a FA and will not be practice squad eligible. Of course by then, his NFL performance will be on film and there may be a sufficient body of work for some NFL team to sign him.