Big Blue View
Brennan Lyons asks: After reading your recent article on Paulson Adebo, in which you attribute his down year to, basically, two main possibilities (an opinion shared by several other writers). One is the style of play – aggressive man vs. zone. The other is following the best WR across both sides of the line. You point out that he predominantly played LCB in NO when he posted two very good years. This begs the question – what are the “preferences” of our other CBs, especially the other big three starting candidates (Newsome, Banks & Hood)? In short, which one do you think is the best “RCB” to pair with Adebo? How much do you think they are affected by playing the “wrong “ side of the field?
I am also interested in what you think of Zacch Pickens? He hasn’t garnered much press after joining us. I liked him coming out of college several years ago. Do you think he can be a good complement to Reader & Alexander? Could you also please include a link to Chris’ or Nick’s predraft analysis of him?
Ed says: Brennan, some players adapt better to switching sides than others. Offensive linemen talk about how everything is different when you switch sides of the line because everything you doing with your left foot or moving left on one side you do with your right foot or moving right on the other side.
I have never discussed it with a cornerback, but it would seem to be the same. Footwork on one side is the exact opposite of footwork on the other side.
Banks’ best season was 2023, his rookie year. He played 600 snaps at right cornerback and just 123 at left cornerback. In 2024, 444 on the right and 261 on the left. Last season, 207 on the right and 183 on the left. If memory serves, he was almost exclusively a right corner at Maryland. Clearly, he is more comfortable on the right.
Greg Newsome has played both, but last season played 669 snaps on the right and just 62 on the left. Colton Hood can, as far as I know, go back-and-forth.
It seems pretty apparant that the best thing to do is leave Paulso Adebo on the left side where he is most comfortable and let Newsome-Banks-Hood play the other side.
As for Zacch Pickens, I know little about him other than he has started only three games in three seasons. Here is Chris’s scouting report.
*Jay B asks: Eli Manning is one of my favorite Giants of all time after Taylor and oddly enough Brandon Jacobs. I simply cannot understand why he gets so much hate and is not a Hall Famer Yet? What gives Ed? I understand the record and playoff appearances but I watched Eli’s entire career and if you look up and down the rosters he played with compared to to some of the other elite QBs of his time he had by far one...
