What to do without Malik Nabers + Giants Mailbag | 899

Hello and welcome back to Talking Giants brought to you by SeatGeek. It is October 1st, 2025. And yeah, we got some stuff that we got to talk about today. Jackson Dart, talking more about his debut, some of his best throws. Third down was the money down for him. Want to talk about how the offense was different under Jackson Dart, especially how you compare it to Russell Wilson and what he did through the first three weeks of the season. And man, that rushing offense from an identity standpoint was very, very different week four versus the Chargers. We also want to go through some of Dart's sacks and some of his missed throws and missed opportunities that he had there. Malik Nabers also tore his ACL. It is official. He's out for the year. So what do the Giants need to do? Do they need to pick up a free agent? Do they need to make a trade? How do you balance making a trade with what you're going to be giving up? Do they make a signing from a practice squad from another team? Or do they just simply roll and try and survive with what they got? It's kind of crazy. It really hasn't even, I don't think it's sunken yet. Malik Neighbors has torn his ACL. It hasn't sunk in yet because, damn it, I'm trying to enjoy winning a football game, and I don't want to get too sad by that. If things go wrong this Sunday, it'll be, damn, Malik Nabers tore his ACL, and damn, we're in trouble. But if they could find a way to win this Sunday against the Saints and Dart continues to look okay, there will eventually be a point where i will get very very sad about malik Nabers tearing his acl but like i said i'm trying to enjoy my victory week because now we enjoyed our victory mondays and i hope now you're still enjoying your victory week but still we'll talk about how you survive without malik Nabers and also a mailbag because i did put out a mailbag tweet and i got some mailbag questions here because we were supposed to interview a giants player i was supposed to interview a giants player today and i was kind of planning my entire day and planning this episode based around that and that are at around 3 34 o'clock it's like oh nope that's not happening it's like all right well now we got to pivot and do a solo episode and doing a solo episode takes a lot of work and it takes a lot of prep and it takes a lot of notes and now it's 10 15 at night and we're recording this episode but hopefully i mean it's a giants player that's really kind of universally liked and he's a really good dude i i like him and i think you'll like him too and i think he's really insightful so So I think we're all aligned that we want to talk to a Giants player after a Giants win. So go out and beat the damn Saints so I could talk to on this podcast, on this very podcast, on this very episode, midweek episode, so I could talk to a Giants player next week. How about that? How about that? Hope you enjoyed your week so far. We don't get a lot of these Victory Mondays and Victory Weeks, especially when it's relevant, September and October. Hope you enjoyed it. And I also want to thank you, thank all of you and say, like, I appreciate you that like the reception for Sean Moreash coming on as co-host Sean Moreash from WFAN. He's going to be on preview pods and he's going to be on game recaps for me with me. I'm really I'm really thankful for that. And I'm really appreciative of that. And I'm really happy with how that's been received. And also, I've been happy with just kind of how the how the shows have went and the direction that Sean and I are going to are going to take this damn thing. So hopefully they win some more games, we'll get some more excitement, Sean and I will have some more laughs, and hopefully we won't be crying together because the Giants will be winning some games. Let's go two and three. So you'll hear Sean Moreash on Friday, and we will be previewing the Saints game. But let's talk more about Jackson Dart and his debut and some more thoughts on this Giants offense, mailbag questions, Malik Nabers, and all that. Let's get to it. How is the offense different under Jackson Dart? Well, first of all, his time to throw was a third of a second faster than Russell Wilson's. And I think that's a third of a second, I think, in the NFL is an eternity. It's the difference between a quarterback getting off a pass that could go for an explosive play and Abdul Carter getting a sack. I mean, just ask Abdul Carter how fast a third of a second is. He would have ******* four sacks by now if he got to quarterbacks a third of a second faster. And Dart's average time in the pocket is 2.1 seconds, around a quarter of a second faster than Russ's average time in the pocket. 21% of Jackson Dart's passes were released between one to one and a half seconds. And Russ didn't have a game where he released the ball in that span of time between one and one and a half seconds. More than 14% week one versus Washington. Now, I think this is significant. Why am I leading off with Jackson Dart's time to throw and Jackson Dart's average time in the pocket? I think this is significant because, number one, Jackson Dart is a quarterback that is going to run and look to throw more often than Russell Wilson. When Russell Wilson runs, he's not looking to throw, especially at this point in his career. When he runs, he's running to scramble, and he's running just to go forward, and then just to slide, and just to get down. And Russell Wilson really isn't, like I said, he's not running within the pocket. He's holding onto the ball, and then he's taking sacks. And also, number two, the Chargers only blitzed on 23% of attempts this game, which was around an average ranking for Week 4. So it's not like there is this pass rush that was forcing Jackson Dart to get rid of the ball quick. I think Dart, in his first start, made calculated decisions, and he was able to get rid of the ball quick. And for rookie quarterbacks, I think that is a solid, good sign. It is always a worry and a fear for any rookie quarterbacks holding onto the ball, holding onto the ball, not seeing the field, not being able to make a decision. the fact that that time to throw was low and time in the pocket was low is a good sign for me especially because not to fully get into it now but i do think this offense without malik neighbors is going to have to be more quick game centered and quick game heavy and that will rely on jackson dart getting rid of the ball quick let's go through some of his best throws now third down was the money down we talked about that on sunday uh during our during our reaction the biggest highlight throw of the day was the darius slayton comeback on the sideline on a third and five where jackson dart is saying come back come back he does the hand motion of come back come back to darius slayton he delivers that ball delivers a strike on the sideline first down giants now something that we talked about on sunday that we didn't fully know the full context of because we didn't see the the sideline angle of of all 22 something that I thought was really interesting about that specific play by the time that Dart is telling Slayton to come back come back with his hand motion we think on Sunday that Slayton sees Jackson Dart and Dart is telling Slayton to come back come back so Slayton sees that and then starts to come back by the time that Dart makes that hand motion Slayton isn't even out of his break yet so he doesn't even see it so I'm even more impressed by that throw that Dart by the time that Darius Slayton plants that back foot and starts to come out of his break Jackson Dart is really starting to release that ball and that ball gets to Darius Slayton on time Dart doesn't hold on to it and wait for Slayton oh does he see it does he see it is he going to turn around is he going to turn around like I think some quarterbacks in the past would do if they were on the run if they were moving to their right Dart doesn't fully Dart the second that he plants that back foot off the ground that throwing motion that throwing process is starting so then by the time that Slayton does turn around the ball is there so I thought that was a really cool nugget because at the time on Sunday we're thinking oh my god well Darius Slayton has already turned around that's why Dart is telling him to come back that was not the case when Dart makes that hand motion Slayton isn't even turned around I I thought that was a really cool little nugget that we didn't know on Sunday when we talked about that play. The other two first downs that Dart had on third down by throwing the ball was like a third and 12 to Daniel Bellinger. Really good individual effort by Daniel Bellinger, by the way, to fall forward, know where the chains are, know where the sticks are. That was a great individual effort by him. But also with Dart, quickly he looks to his left, then comes back to the center of the field, delivers a fastball, And even on that play, moves up through the pocket. Now, I'm going to talk about some sacks that Jackson Dart took, specifically on first and second down, that I didn't love. And I think in this offense, you've got to avoid negative plays on first and second down, especially now that we're in a Malik Neighbors-less world. But still, overall, I like the fact that Jackson Dart, when he navigates the pocket, rarely are we going to see him move backwards. we're going to see him go forward so many times when quarterbacks panic when their eyes fall down and when they're all right I have to deal with this pressure around me I'm going to run backwards I'm going to run to the sides and try and take a wide angle and try and outrun guys I think Dart, even if he's going to take sacks I think it's so much better to have a sack where you lose 4 or 3 yards versus 6 or 7 yards that makes a huge difference in a drive a huge difference in a drive but on that Daniel Bellinger play the third and 12 where it picks up a first down Dart steps up in the pocket delivers the fastball over the middle and I do think that he does give a glance over to the left so he is going through his progressions there third and five towards the end of the game the first down conversion from Theo Johnson that is also a play where Dart is looking to his left coming back towards the center part of the field that's a huge clutch third down conversion where the Giants need to run a four minute offense to try and keep the Chargers offense off the field, force them to call their timeouts, and it was good enough. Good enough that that last final drive that the Giants had before they wound up giving the ball back to the Chargers, they punt the ball back. Huge third down pickup by Jackson Dart. Theo Johnson over the middle of the field moves the chain. So those were his three passing first downs. Like I said, he also had three first down scrambles as well. He was like top seven, top six in success rate from this past weekend. He was up there in EPA per play as well on third down. So Jackson Dart, money down, really, really successful first weekend for him. I mentioned his time to throw and how he was kind of on time. I don't want to fully, I'm not ready to say on target, but he got rid of the ball quick. And why I'm not ready to say on target just yet, because I do want to go through some of his misses. One of them was an easy miss to Wandell on a play action rollout. inside the red zone uh second and eight easy easy pitching catch so this is a play where Jackson Dart it's a it's a play action roll out to the right Wandell is running in the flat right in front of right in front of Jackson Dart i think this is probably like a layers concept where you have Jackson Dart rolling out to his right after a play action you have Wandell in the flat you have another target that is in the intermediate part of the field or maybe even another target that's deep i don't know if there's another target that was deep since you're in the red zone and the field is a lot smaller but the play is designed for the ball to come out quick on that play action rollout and Wandell Robinson who's running in the flat right in front of Jackson Dart there's not somebody that's layered right on top of him but there's a defender that's that's closing because he's seeing what's happening so this is a second and eight inside the red zone should be just an easy pitch and catch where even if it results in a four-yard gain i think you got to take it because then it turns into a third and manageable instead Jackson Dart holds on to the ball is sacked for three yards. And what could have been a third and four turns into a third and 11 dart throws an incompletion on the third and 11. And then you see a Jude McAtamey field goal. Uh, the next play that I thought was, uh, was, uh, a miss by him first and 10 from midfield 12:25 left in the third quarter. Uh, you have trips, right? Pre-snap with Theo Johnson in line next to the left tackle. Now Slayton is going to motion to the left at the snap. Dart is going to fake pitch a ball to Scadaboo on a play action so you have a fake pitch going to the left as Scadaboo's lined up on his left Theo was running wide open across the middle of the field and I think this is a really nice design by Brian Dable and Mike Kafka because as you have receivers on the right side and you have Theo Johnson on the left side and you're also putting Slayton in motion at the snap going right to left you're in between the pitch as well the fake pitch you're trying to take that defender that's on Theo Johnson and you're trying to get him to creep up as Theo is going to leak across the middle of the field and he's going to run across the middle of the field so it was a great design kind of like getting them open I feel like they've run similar stuff like that in the preseason but Theo runs wide open and across the middle of the field Dart is pressured but he misses the throw it would have been a first down uh of course there was a wheel route on the sideline to Theo Johnson early in the game as well that was an incompletion but I kind of just like Dart trying to make that make that throw to begin with uh there was a sack that Dart took to end the third quarter on a first and 10 he rolls to his right now it looks like he like Scadaboo is setting up and like an elongated screen on the opposite side so again Dart is rolling to his right Scadaboo setting up an elongated screen on the opposite side of the field but Dart doesn't look that way so I'm not one to say man Dart missed this wide open guy I don't know what the play is. I don't know what the progression is. Instead, he is looking at Theo Johnson, who's running a corner route on the same side of the field that Dart is running out to. If Dart fires it in there and he throws it, I think Theo Johnson's open. It's not the biggest window, but he's open. He's rolling to his right. Theo's running that corner route on the same side of the field. But he winds up taking a sack on first down. First and 10 turns into second and 16. Now the next play, great job. Darius Slayton gets a 17-yard gain. A lot of yak. You know, Darius Slayton kind of runs that little curl route in the middle of the field. A lot of yak, 17-yard gain. Great job. But I thought that was significant to bring up as well. That was one of Dart's sacks that he took. Thought he had Theo on a corner route there. Now, Dart only took one sack on third down. Four sacks taken on first and second down. Now, this sounds crazy, but if you're going to take a sack, kind of prefer you to take it on third down. I just don't think this offense is going to survive negative plays on first and second down. I think they're going to end drives with this team without Malik Nabors. They can't survive negative plays. With the Chargers last week, they did not have a play of over 20-plus yards. Now, this Chargers defense is really damn good. They are known for not allowing big plays, and they're a good defense. They're a good unit that this Giants team just beat. But they didn't have a play of 20-plus yards last week, and now without Nabors, I just don't know where that's going to come. We'll talk about that, though. But I still like negative plays on first and second down. You just got to try and avoid them, especially without neighbors. But I do really want to talk about the run game, though. Now, I want to give a shout out to Doug Analytics. He has this really good site. If I remember, I'm going to put it in the description of this video. He has two really good sites. If you're a metrics nerd, if you're a stats nerd. I mean, not even if you're a stats nerd. If you just want to be informed about football and be informed about your team and their and their tendencies uh one is about quarterbacks you know like uh EPA per play and success rate and air yards and all that kind of stuff and it'll give you nice charts and graphs that you can look at but then also another one is kind of of team tendencies thank you to Doug analytics and he gets the data from FTN I want to go through the run concepts by week and what the giants were doing most of on a week by week basis so 29 they split they ran man duo 29 percent run concept wise again 29 of the time they ran man duo 29 of the time they also ran inside zone week two against the cowboys 52 of the time they ran uh inside zone last week against the chiefs zero plays of man duo according to FTN 46 outside zone 46 inside zone now this week with Jackson Dart and Cam Scadaboo fully at the helm, 69% man duo, and then 14% power. I love this. This is something that we've talked about even going back to last year. Bobby had the phrase, duo to death, duo to death. The games that the Giants ran the ball best in last year with Tyrone Tracy, the concept that they ran most of was man and duo. And I think this just backs up the whole notion that a Carmen Priscillo offensive line, they move well together. I think chemistry-wise, they're together and they move well. I don't think they kick ass. I don't think they're earth movers. But I think they work well together. And something that also is a huge thing for the Giants, huge thing dating back to last year, is that they are a much better team when they run out of the shotgun. so not only are they better when they run man and duo but they're also better when they run out of the shotgun and man did they marry those two things beautifully this past sunday the giants had 32 plays out of the shotgun on sunday no other team has had more than 23 rush plays from the shotgun in a single game this season they averaged 4.7 yards per play and totaled 149 yards rushing out of the shotgun on the season the giants are now fourth in the nfl in rush yards per game out of the shotgun with 80 and a half. Here's why I really like this. I think you can get creative running out of the shotgun. There's weaknesses to it, especially inside the red zone. We have a mailbag question about that. There's weaknesses to this, but I think you can get creative out of 12 personnel running out of the shotgun. You put Chris Manhertz and even Daniel Bellinger on the field or even 13 personnel out of the shotgun. Can you do that? Chris Manhertz, Theo Johnson, and then even put one of them in the backfield, like they've been doing. Kind of like maybe even in a little bit of a pistol, where you have a running back Cam Skattebo, Jackson Dart, and a tight end in the backfield, Theo Johnson, Daniel Bellinger. Daniel Bellinger, as a lead blocker, this H-back role is awesome. I think he's really good at it. You can even throw out of that formation as well. You can run that. I mean, that could be run out of 11 personnel. You can have 12 personnel and have a tight end with his hand in the dirt in line, Theo Johnson, and then Daniel Bellinger, and just running out of shotgun instead of going under center and why i think running out of shotgun just helps the giants offense is football is a numbers game traditionally in the nfl you are way more likely to run the ball from under center and pass the ball out of shotgun that's just the way that the nfl has always gone and teams will tendency show that that's what usually happens anyway can imagine it's got to be at least 60 40 or even 70 30 if you're under center you're gonna run if you're out of shotgun you're gonna pass so the giants are kind of just changing that up whether out of necessity or whether it's like yeah we're because this is Jackson Dart strengths we're just gonna do it so i kind of until Jackson Dart maybe can get a little bit more comfortable running running under center because he had that fumble Andrew Thomas fell on it man he's having a great start to the season huh not a single pressure not a single sack not a single hit allowed he's really good but i i want the giants to continue to embracing running out of shotgun because even though they did it for the entire game for the entire game and I think the Chargers even knew what was coming they ran the ball well now they ran the ball a lot better in the first half and then the second half when neighbors is not on the field the whole the offense as a whole was not very good the offense as a whole inside the red zone was not good I went through a sack that Jackson Dart took inside the red zone that really disrupted the flow of a drive so how would that look without Malik Neighbors time will tell but I even think you can get creative with even 21 personnel. Have Devin Singletary and Cam Scadaboo in the backfield together. Cam Scadaboo showed that he could be a lead blocker. Have Cam Scadaboo as a lead blocker and give Devin Singletary the ball or even vice versa. I don't know. And I still think you can throw out of that stuff. Maybe you can even run some screens at a 21 personnel where you're running out of the shotgun and Devin Singletary and Cam Scadaboo on the field together. What the Giants now need to do this weekend is add layers to their offense. They put a game on tape for Jackson Dart. This is what we're doing. this is what works how are you going to add to it how are you going to add on top of what what you already called and what you are and what you already know what works so the rushing offense I'm now a little excited about because there's an identity there with what they're doing and hopefully they continue to lean into what works run man and duo run man and duo man run it because it works for you, it worked for you last year, finally committed to it 69 percent of the time and you were able to hold the lead in a football game. You had the lead from the first quarter to the last quarter. And one of the reasons why is you were able to sustain a running game and sustain drives and hold the ball for, what, 37 minutes? It's not going to be that perfect every game. You're not going to have the lead from start to finish every game. But when you do, that ----'s important. So I'm excited about the rushing offense because I think there's, you can get creative with some different stuff. All right, now we're going to get to the mailbag, and now we're going to get to talking about Malik Nabers. But before I do that, I want to talk to you about DraftKings, because this episode is sponsored by DraftKings. NFL fans, what's your favorite touchdown? For me, it's the next one, because with the DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL, every touchdown could bring you closer to cashing in. From first touchdown score to anytime touchdown props or the thrill of live in-game betting, every snap is loaded with opportunity. Here's the best part. 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Don't put him in a parlay but just bet him individually, you never know all right so let's uh let's get to the mailbag and what uh what some people are asking, the first question is coming from Lights Out at power outage 513, what would you do if you were Joe Shane trying to address the wide receiver room after the leak injury would you make a simple practice squad free agent signing, bring back Odell or try and trade for a guy like Chris Olave and then Tyler on Instagram asks uh what do you think is the best way to replace some of Malik's explosiveness in this offense we're going to need it to have a chance in any games the rest of the way now Tyler I know you said the best place the best way to replace some of Malik Neighbors explosiveness in this offense and I think that is the perfect way to word it because you're not going to replace Malik Nabers in this offense I do think we're going to get to a point this year where we're going to go Yeah, this is a little rough. Yeah, this is rough. And hopefully, hopefully that doesn't start this Sunday against the Saints Hopefully it starts Thursday night against the Eagles where it's like, yeah, well having Malik Nabers here would be sick The dude's targeted almost 40% of the time on this team And he received like the and he received legitimately received. This is a real stat. I checked it today. he received 54% of the team's air yards this year 54% that led the NFL by the way led the NFL I do think this Sunday in the short term Lil Jordan Humphrey is elevated from the practice squad you can do that an additional two times after this Sunday before he needed to be added to the active roster I think we'll talk about what that looks like with Sean on Friday and I want to get some of his thoughts on that as well but I think Lil Jordan Humphrey can win on the sideline for you And I think there's there's Saints corners that they take chances, but also they can get beat and you can burn them outside of the in-house answers, including Bo Collins and Jalen Hyatt. I do think they need to add somebody from the outside. I don't want them surviving with just the cast they have right now. Isaiah Hodgins could be added from the Steelers practice squad right now. And he is a guy that could just jump right in. I do think they're going to have to run a lot of quick game stuff. and in a way almost go back to some of the stuff that they were doing in 2022 from a philosophical standpoint. And Hodgins was a big part of that. Hodgins was a very, very big part of that. And also, he's a weapon in the red zone. If he's a good route runner, he can get open. The Giants are talking about, man, we're struggling in the red zone. We're struggling in the red zone. Nobody can get open. Nobody can get open. That was his bread and butter. I mean, even in 2023, where it was a lackluster season, And didn't he still, I think he still had three touchdowns in 2023 and then 2024 last year, you know, practice squad role reduced and eventually winds up on the 49ers practice squad. Right. So I think that makes sense. Gabe Davis is on the IR for the bills. He was signed to the bills practice squad, but I checked over the cap and he's listed as being on the IR for them. So, uh, don't think you can claim a player that's on another team's injured reserve. Can't do that. Uh, so Gabe Davis is at least out of the, out of the window right now. I think Hodges makes sense I think Hodges is the one that makes the the clear clear cut sense and at least this Sunday I am elevating little Jordan Humphrey that's what I'm doing uh at least one of those moves right here are some other free agent wide receivers Allen Robinson old friend of the Giants Allen Robinson also former Lion did some I think he did some fun stuff for them last year Deontay Johnson no thank you Odell Beckham Jr no thank you uh Robert Woods no thank you I just think physically he's not the same Nelson Agholor okay Tyler Boyd now the only problem with Tyler Boyd he's a career slot receiver and he's 30 years old but he's but he's six two like Giants already like to put Malik Nabers in the slot and they would put Wandel on the outside so I don't know like I feel like Tyler Boyd's a good wide receiver but again the only problem is is that he's a career slot guy are you gonna ask him to play on the outside like I don't know like I can't see why not uh Michael Gallup I think I would rather take my chances with uh with little Jordan Humphrey uh DJ Chark Donovan Peoples-Jones who's also like a sideline a sideline contested guy Marquez Callaway who hasn't really done anything the last two years at all Zach Pascal KJ Osborne Justin Ross uh those are some of the players that are that are available uh which that is not a sexy list at all like Tyler Boyd Nelson Agholor Allen Robinson, oh oh, now in terms of a trade unless it makes absolute sense for the Giants, I'm talking like a fifth or a sixth round pick for a player like I'm I just don't know if I really want to do a fourth-round pick or, forget higher than that. The Jaguars just traded for Tim Patrick for a sixth-round pick this past offseason, which I'd sign up for. I'd sign up for something like that if I'm the Giants. Player like Tim Patrick for a sixth-round pick? Okay, yeah. What I wouldn't sign up for is the Adam Thielen trade that the Vikings just gave. The Vikings gave up a 2026 sixth-round pick and a 2027 fourth-round pick. Now, the Vikings did get back a fifth and a seventh-round pick but they're conditional picks but I'm still I'm like I'm not even I'm not even even if I get conditional picks back I'm not even giving up a fourth round pick for a rental player and like Adam, the like a player like Adam Thielen like I guess when you start talking about the Adam Thielen comps what would that be would that be Jacoby Myers would that be Jerry Jeudy uh some of the other names that people are rolling around DJ Moore no way I mean you can't even afford DJ Moore uh Giants have like one million dollars in cap space which I do not think is a bad thing by the way for this year I do not think that's a bad thing it means that Joe Schoen's not pushing money back but if you get a bigger contract wide receiver in here then you're going to have to push money back into Brian Burns's contract or renegotiate with Dex or even take that wide receivers contract and then negotiate with him and try and lower his cap hit because the Giants only have like one million dollars of cap space left uh more wide receiver trades that did happen this past offseason or this year. This summer, Sky Moore was traded for a swap of seventh-round picks from the Chiefs to the 49ers. So maybe that's something that you can get done. So something you could get done that maybe makes sense. But odds are, will any of these players you can get for a fifth- or a sixth-round pick swaps be better than Isaiah Hodgins? Will they be better than Lil' Aljarnon Humphrey or even Bo Collins? I mean, unless you strike gold, probably not. I'm going to go through, I look through every single non-NFC East team's depth chart at wide receiver, and you let me know. You stop me. I'll hear you. You stop me when there's a name that you think is kind of sexy. Do the Ravens really like Devontae Walker? I think he's a former fourth-round pick from the University of North Carolina. He is kind of like the—apply your comp for Devontae Walker. He's like Darius Slayton, like a deep threat, has speed, consistency issues, right? Do the Ravens really like Devontae Walker? He's buried on their depth chart. Cedric Wilson, I pulled up the Dolphins depth chart. I'm like, oh, great. Cedric Wilson's perfect. He unfortunately just signed off the Saints practice squad today, on Tuesday, to the Dolphins as I'm recording this. So Cedric Wilson off the table because they just signed him. Unless the Giants want to, hey, you just got this guy from the Saints practice squad. Can we have him for a six-round pick? Yes. We'll give you the six-round pick back that you gave us for Darren Waller. Bang. Dolphins. Done. Do the Jets really like Allen Lazard? Even though that's a contract that I don't know if I would want. I think he's, I think that's a nasty contract. Yeah, so do the Jets really like Allen Lazard? Braxton Berrios from the Texans. Trey Palmer on the Saints right now, formerly of the Bucs. That name maybe does something for me, but that was also 2023 where he last did something. Get the band back together with Sterling Shepard from the Bucs. But also, he's kind of important to the Bucs, isn't he? So I don't know if even they would do that. Marquez Valdez Scantling from the 49ers or even Kendrick Bourne from the 49ers i think that's it that's like reasonable and i'm talking fifth six round pick six round seven or even seventh round i'm not talking about the Adam Thiel and Jacoby Myers uh you know those types of receivers that would probably require and and hey Jacoby Myers is if the raiders are gonna are going to accept a fifth round pick for Jacoby Myers who is a thousand yard receiver who they kind of need help offensively then okay but I just don't know if I see that happening so those are the names that I gave you that are kind of buried on depth charts a little bit I you actually do think Marquez Valdez Scantling or Kendrick Bourne from the 49ers maybe could work but also the 49ers are hurt like all the time and John Lynch is probably looking at that roster being like we can't afford to trade anybody who wants Jalen Hyatt oh yeah and speaking of Jalen Hyatt another reason why keeping Jalen Hyatt is asinine like the Giants process of we're going to keep Jalen Hyatt on the 53-man roster just to not use him at all like they have zero belief in Jalen Hyatt they have zero belief I don't care what they said during the summer I don't care what how they treated him in the preseason or what reps they give him in the preseason in the summer they don't use him and even when he's on the field he's not targeted so you know what you're you're useless then too so keeping him on the roster to waste the roster spot is asinine because now we're at a point where let's just hypothetically say would you rather have Isaiah Hodgins or little Jordan Humphrey you can't have both because you can't carry that many wide receivers you have to pick one I don't know for me I'd rather have both I'd rather bring both of them in and get Jalen Hyatt out. Get him out. I'd rather have both little Jarnard Humphrey that can make a play on the sideline and can make a contested catch and Isaiah Hodgins who could be a red zone threat and be a good route runner in the short game. I'd rather have both of them running around on the outside with Darius Slayton than Jalen Hyatt who stinks. Really glad Jalen Hyatt threw some nice blocks over the weekend. We'll talk more on Friday about what the offense is kind of going to look like and what our expectations are without Malik Neighbors. So my, planting my flag in the sand here, little Jordan Humphrey, elevate him from the practice squad, see what he does. You'll have a couple more opportunities to do that. You'll have two times after this Sunday to continue to elevate him before you need to make a decision on signing him to the active roster. I would bring back Isaiah Hodgins, and that feels like something that is common sense, and you see as maybe the trade deadline gets closer, if the Giants start to win more football games, then maybe you talk about another move but i'm not doing that on a one and three football team um i just don't think the giants are in a position to do that also if if there is a world where Tyler Boyd is can play outside i would think about that but he's been a career slot guy but my fan fiction says he can play outside because he's six two pick him up all right Tauzino my friend contrary to conventional wisdom uh do you think there's any red yeti nine by the way contrary to conventional wisdom do you think there's any chance that Neighbors injury uh could actually be good for Dart's development if he can make the offense hum with this group of receivers uh then it will be wheels up when Neighbors gets back to 100 percent uh Tonzino man I I had to laugh at this when you asked me this question because Sean brought up this very thought on Sunday's recap show he brought up this very very thought and I'm like are you nuts are you nuts man and I get the sentiment and I get the thought but you want to know what I am I am gonna make the bold take that Malik Neighbors his ACL injury is not good for Jackson Dart's development because you want to know why you want to know what's good for Jackson Dart's development having good players around them that's what's good for Jackson Dart's development and I think at times it may look rough and I I'm hoping and praying it doesn't start this Sunday against the Saints I think this offense could look really rough without Malik Neighbors Cause I don't know if they have answers. We were talking about how they need more answers with Malik Neighbors, right? We were talking about that. They're too Malik Neighbors dependent now that he's not here. What are they going to do? So no, I do I do not think it's good for Dart's development I will be very impressed if Dart performs well without him but I think what's good for a quarterback's development is having good players around them And the Giants right now, wide receiver wise, if you look around If you compare it to the rest of the league, I think it may be fair to say that they may have a bottom five unit without Malik Neighbors, right? Right? I think that's fair to say, and that sucks. So it's not, it's not good for Dart's development. I get your thought and I get the question, but I just really, I just really disagree. If you disagree with me, my good friend, Nikki Snacks at Nikki Snacks, underscore, will you ever apologize about underselling how good of a ball player Brian Burns is? Seems like one is in order. now the Nikki Snacks answer to this is I will not apologize about being critical of Brian Burns and I and I have been man like the dude last year got paid and we gave up a second round pick you know he he was traded to the Giants and he got paid big time 36 million a year and he didn't play like a 36 million dollar player at times last year now last year was brutal last year was tough from the start it was very very tough and really throughout Brian Burns's career he didn't necessarily he played like a good player but it wasn't great it wasn't what you've seen out of the best of the best in the NFL now the Nikki Snacks answer to this like I was starting to say the Nikki Snacks answer to this is well I motivated Brian Burns I don't have that big of ego to say I motivated Brian Burns but man you know what I will apologize I will say I am sorry because I saw a good, you know, I think Brian Burns is a good player. And even before this year, I thought he was a good player. But man, is he having a great, great year. And thanks to Research Rick for tweeting this out. And this is per the Giants media book, I believe. Brian Burns is first in sacks this year. He's tied for first in sacks. He's tied for fourth in tackles for loss. He's tied for fourth in QB hits. And he's tied for ninth in QB pressures, according to PFF. It's awesome, man. I mean, that's elite stuff. And not only so, sacks, tackles for loss, QB hits, and QB pressures are certainly like how you measured edge rusher's impact, right? Negative plays hitting the quarterback. That's how you measure is that contract worth it? Is that guy playing good, right? I cannot believe how versatile he is. I did not see coming the plays that he's made in coverage, the plays that he's made to limit yards after the catch, how good of a tackler he is in the open field and in space this is ---- that i just didn't dictate coming he's almost been like a better off-ball linebacker version like he he's almost been the off-ball linebacker version that we thought that Abdul Carter would be crazy man he's playing out of his mind really all three of them are so yes i am going to apologize to Brian Burns i will apologize to Brian Burns about some of the criticisms that i had in the past But you want to know what? In Nicky Snacks' brain, I motivated him. I do want to talk about the three of them together, Abdul Carter, Brian Burns, and Kayvon Thibodeau, and give you this stat. I couldn't believe this when I saw this this week. Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, and Kayvon Thibodeau. Well, let me say this. Let me say it in order. Abdul Carter, Brian Burns, and Kayvon Thibodeau are 11th, 12th, and 13th in the NFL in pressures, respectively. So Carter does lead the team in pressures, QB pressures, and then Burns, and then Thibodeau. 11th, 12th, and 13th in the NFL. that's three pairs trio of teammates all in the top 15 in nfl qb pressures the only trio of teammates inside the top 40 in pressures are the pats with Christian Barmore 23rd Khalavon Chason at 31st and Milton Williams at 35th, there's a couple you know duo of teammates there's a couple of you know a pair of teammates Will Anderson Jr and Danielle Hunter are in the top 15 in QB pressures. Vita Vea and Yaya Diaby are also a pair of teammates inside the top 15, but there is no other trio of teammates that are together inside the top 40 besides the Pats, and their guys are ranked 23rd, 31st, and 35th, and the Giants are 11th, 12th, and 13th. Abdul Carter is 11th in the NFL in pressures. Like I said, he's tied for the most pressures in the NFL under two and a half seconds, and he's just getting started. These guys, all three of them, are playing out of their mind. Kayvon Thibodeaux's making plays against the run that we've never seen before. I really feel like these guys are just getting started, and I'm so pumped for them. The damn thing that they have to fix, though, on this defensive side of the ball, they still have to fix this second and third down. Here's the Giants' defense numbers by down. First down, they're 22nd in EPA per play. Not good. But they're 14th in yards per play. Better. They're 9th in overall success rate. They have the 9th best success rate. i'm having trouble digesting that i'm having trouble digesting that they're ninth in success rate but 22nd in EPA per play and they're 13th and first down rate on first down so first down overall they're not bad i am you show me those numbers you show me those first down numbers pre-season for this giants defense especially when we had such concerns about how are they going to stop the run and how are they going to get teams inside second and third and long you show me that i'm like yep giants should be good giants should have a really good top 10 defense, but they do not. Here are their numbers on second and third down. They're 27th in EPA per play. They're tied for 27th in yards per play. 32nd in success rate on second and third down and 29th in first down rate. This defense forcing second and third and long consistently and not being able to finish, it physically hurts me. It physically hurts me more than anything else that's happening on this team right now. Because I expect the offense to struggle at times, right? I expect, now with neighbors gone, I'm going to expect the offense to struggle and maybe even darts not going to be able to find open targets. I do not expect this defense, if they have a 2nd and 14, 3rd and 11, 3rd and 7, I do not expect this defense to be 32nd in success rate, last in the NFL in success rate, when they are forcing their offenses to 2nd and 3rd and long on a consistent basis. fifth best in the league that's horrible that has to be fixed and even though they won the game against chargers there was still other second and third downs that were horrible horrible execution bad angles taken on runs not being able to tackle not finishing plays so you have a couple players you have that line that's playing out of their minds right now everybody else needs to follow and everybody else needs to follow suit outside of drew phillips who does lead the league by the way and passes defense a little bit of a little bit of a stat that you get targeted a lot but also drew phillips makes plays which is awesome uh maddie asks on instagram do you feel that dart success yesterday gives brian dable any more cushion to his job security and the same goes for Joe Shane, this is going to be quick for me no no, the only thing, the only thing that is going to give Brian Dable more cushion to his job security is winning football games, winning football games, that's it, that's it, all the good graces of everything that you did this past Sunday goes out the window if you don't beat the Saints. It is back to Brian D'Abel should be fired, look at Joe Shane's roster, look at everything that's wrong with this team because that's how the NFL works. What have you done for me lately? It is a week-to-week league. If they beat the Saints, then cushion is starting to be stuffed into that pillow, right? Is that a good phrase? You got to win. You got to win, and the wins need to start stacking, I said at the end of the recap pod, we will look towards the Saints to start what we call a winning streak it's been a while since we since we've done one of those I'm going to save this red zone question because we're about 50 minutes in, I'm going to save this red zone question for Sean, there were a lot of questionable decisions on Sunday, Daddyish asked on Twitter there were a lot of questionable decisions on Sunday and red zone continues to be a struggle for this offense, do you think these are a roster issue, table issue, or will they improve I'm going to ask, we're going to talk about this with Sean, because especially without Malik Neighbors the giants have to score more in the red zone they have to take advantage of opportunities when they get inside the red zone because you don't know how often they're going to come we'll talk about that with Sean how the giants can be better there and i want to get his thoughts on that because we I am running a little bit long, I did not think I was going to run this long, damn, but I do want to do one more thing as we end this show because OOGs, where's my props on Twitter so do you think Dable and Dart have kissed? I want to give a dramatic reading of Connor Hughes's fan fiction between Jackson Dart and Brian Dable and if by any chance you don't you have zero idea of what I'm talking about, Connor Hughes, he's a good dude but sometimes he just plays this Twitter game quite uniquely. Connor Hughes tweeted Sunday night afternoon, I have to read, I'm going to read it and it may make you cringe but I find this to be so funny and a lot of other people have found it to be really funny too so he gives this, um, details this interaction that Jackson Dart and Brian Dable had in the locker room together, I'm gonna do it like a dramatic reading of it, Fifty Shades of Blue by Connor Hughes. East Rutherford, Jackson Dart was among the few players remaining in the Giants locker room, you could tell he was sore, the way he moved from the far corner showers to his stall, how he stood now collecting himself those six sacks, ten hits by the Chargers defense, radiated over him. That's when Brian Dable joined as quarterback. The two had already embraced each other on the field, but this was different. It was quieter, now less around. Dable reached his hand out, grabbed the back of Dart's neck, and brought him close. They held each other. Dable then walked away with a smile. This felt like the start of something. I could not believe I could not believe that Connor Hughes worded it that way. He had to know what he was doing. I refused to believe that he didn't know what he was doing. It was quieter now, less around. Dable reached his hand out, grabbed the back of Dart's neck, and brought him close. They held each other. Dable then walked away with a smile. The two had already braced each other on the field, but this was different. I really got a kick out of that. It really completed my week. It really did. And I hope it completed yours, hearing that. I'll be back on Friday with Sean. Again, I want to appreciate I want to give my thanks to kind of all of you for sticking with everything that we're doing and, like, being pumped up about this because I'm pumped up, too. I'm pumped up about this. Hey, I'm pumped up about the win, and I hope the team continues to give us a product to be pumped up about at least for one more week until you have a short week and you face the Philadelphia Eagles. Saints team is beatable. Let's go and win a football game. Let's go and win a football game that we should win, at least not in the eyes of Vegas anymore. How about that line switching? Monday morning, you wake up. I want to talk about it on the preview, but Monday morning, you wake up. Giants are one-and-a-half-point favorites, and now they're two-and-a-half-point underdogs? What's up with that? Everybody knew Malik Neighbors wasn't going to play, so what changed? We'll talk about it on Friday with Sean. Excited to see you. Thanks for listening. Let's go, Giants.