Big Blue View
Normally, we like to say that “Football is back!” once the New York Giants training camp open in late July, but, there is football being played in America this summer.
Well, the rest of the world calls it football.
The US Men’s National Team took down Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 to advance to the round of 16, where they’ll face Belgium.
(I assume this was a dominant defensive performance to not only shut out the other team, but to win with a safety.)
No, Big Blue View isn’t suddenly becoming a soccer site. But Bill Barnwell ESPN released a fun exercise in which he divides the country into eight regions (California, Northeast, South Atlantic, Florida, Southeast, Southwest, Texas, Midwest), and built teams with the best NFL players to come from those regions.
He calls it the “Domestic Cup of American Football”
He also uses some specific guidelines you can read here.
1. We’re using 30-man lineups under specific constraints.
2. We’re building rosters to play in September 2026.
3. Eligibility is determined by where each player played high school football.
4. No trades allowed.
5. Not every area is represented.
Overall, Barnwell has five Giants making the cut to represent their regions.
Abdul Carter (EDGE, Northeast Region) – Carter makes the squad because Micah Parsons isn’t expected to be ready for the start of the season due to ACL and meniscus surgery.
Barnwell writes,
Unlike Canada in the World Cup, the Northeast won’t be carrying its injured top star as a decoy, opening up a spot in the lineup for Carter and his wild pressure numbers from 2025 as a result.
Fans are seemingly down on Carter because not only did he not explode onto the scene like Parsons or Von Miller, but he had to be benched twice for his conduct during the week (the two are probably related). However, Carter’s explosiveness, bend, and power are off the charts, and the foundation is there for a monster season. He led the NFL in quick pressures (66 pressures in less than 3.0 seconds) and average time to pressure (2.39 seconds), he was 6th in quarterback hits, 10th in pressure rate, and 11th in pass rush win rate against true pass sets.
Carter won’t be an alternate for long if he can fully apply himself when doing the little things during the week.
Tremaine Edmunds (Linebacker, South Atlantic Region) – The second player from the Giants’ defensive front to make a regional team. Edmunds is a long and highly athletic linebacker who has been consistently good at both defending the run and generating interceptions.
Barnwell writes,
This is an athletic but undersized pair of starting linebackers. They wouldn’t be a great fit in some places, but they’ll be solid behind our trio of elite defensive tackles, who will keep linemen from getting to the second level.
Um Bill… In what universe is Tremaine Edmunds “undersized”? I mean, take a look at this spider chart:...
