Giants: upgrading the secondary

What everyone saw last year but the GM refused to (publicly) admit was that the S play in the secondary was very weak. Although we'd like to blame it all on coaching and injuries, you have to put some of the blame on the front office for not stocking the secondary with good S players behind the starters. I posted earlier that Darren Sharper was available for the Giants in the last off season at about the same price that the Giants paid to get C.C. (can't cover) Brown. Darren Sharper played superlative football and helped the Saints win the Super Bowl. C.C. Brown played poorly and had his contract tender rescinded when the Giants signed another S this week. You have to put that down as a big miss for Reese. I guess the Giants think that the good safeties are in the NFC West, because after signing Antrel Rolle from Arizona, they signed a S who had played for the Seahawks and became a FA, Deon Grant. He is a steady, solid, though unspectacular player. He has played 144 consecutive games, so he is definitely sturdy. He is certainly the quality of a starter in the league, so if Phillips is a little late coming back, Giants will not be hurt at that position.

Giants also signed Feagles and another punter, who was an Australian football player, Jy Bond. He is purported to have a huge leg, something that clearly slipped with Feagles last year. It is not clear whether Bond knows which direction to kick the ball, but presumably that is what the coaches are for. Bond was signed before the Feagles contract negotiation was done, so he may have been an insurance policy against Feagles not signing or leverage to manage the numbers in the deal. Nevertheless, I have to assume that it is Feagles job to lose. Unless Bond knocks their socks off with booming punts, or Feagles leg strength continues to decline, the veteran will keep his job. One thing Feagles has going for him is that he is one of the best holders for FGs that I have ever seen. He saves numerous bad snaps and gets them down for a good kick. This is very important for Tynes, whose timing is easily thrown off.

The biggest news that we need to hear coming out of the off season conditioning program is the progress from injury of some of the key DL-men. I am very anxious about Alford and Canty in particular and hope they come back strong. No news yet, however.