Big Blue View
John Latini asks: When is the jury out on the signings of Holland and Adebo? I feel Holland does nothing on the field to help win games and Adebo has been out half the season and not helping either. These are CB1 and Safety 1 players we signed for a lot of money. Yet, no returns on those investments.
Ed says: John, what were your expectations for these players?
Jevon Holland has not had the game-changing impact that might have been hoped for. He doesn’t have an interception. Well, he had five in 60 games over his first four seasons, so he has never exactly been a ball magnet. He has averaged .43 pass breakups per game for his career, and this year he averages .44. He averages 4.93 tackles per game for his career, and this year he is at 4.3.
This is the player Holland is. For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus and Pro Football and Sports Network see different things when they grade Holland. PFF grades him at 57.3 overall, a career-worst. PFSN grades his 12th among 93 qualifying safeties, in-between two-time All-Pros Antoine Winfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kyle Hamilton of the Baltimore Ravens.
Beauty, I guess, is in the eye of the beholder. To my eyes, Holland has not played up to the level of the investment the Giants made. If you want to say he isn’t Xavier McKinney or Julian Love, I won’t argue.
I was a big fan of the Paulson Adebo signing. I am not going to criticize a guy for getting hurt. I wish I had an explanation for why his production (no interceptions, four passes defensed in seven games) is down from the last two years with the New Orleans Saints (7 interceptions, 28 passes defensed in 22 games) is down. He should be a better player than what we have seen thus far.
Bob Donnelly asks: A pleasant aspect of Sunday’s game was the performance of the O line. For the most part Winston had a clean pocket to operate from and there were running lanes for the backs. In your view when did the O line “turn the corner” and begin to function at an acceptable level? Some believe the line is better with Schlottmann at center in place of JMS. Do you agree?
Ed says: Bob, the reality of the answer to that question is that the offensive line was playing at a perfectly acceptable level last season when Andrew Thomas got hurt. The depth wasn’t there, other injuries followed, and everything fell apart.
It is really the same story in reverse this year. When Thomas came back and began playing full-time again, things fell back into place. There is some better depth this season with Marcus Mbow (not James Hudson) and Austin Schlottmann.
No, I do not buy the argument that the Giants are better with Schlottmann at center than with John Michael Schmitz. Schlottmann is a quality backup and the Giants...
