New York Giants Vs Washington Redskins: Rookie Review
Each and every week here on Wednesday and Thursdays it is the unofficial New York Giants and Denver Broncos. Each week I plan on evaluating the performance of the rookies to look how they are progressing.
The Giants had 7 rookies active vs the Redskins on Sunday with the only four being inactive Prince Amukamara (injury), Jerrel Jernigan (sucky preseason), Da’rel Scott coach’s (bad) decisionand James Brewer Miles Austin (not officially inactive, he’s on IR).
Rookies that were active for the Washington Redskins were Spencer Paysiner, Mark Herzlich, Jacquian Williams, Justin Trattou, Tyler Sash, and Henry Hyoski. Lastly was Greg Jones who got the start at middle linebacker.
Let’s take a look at what some of the beat writers had to say about the rookies.
We’ll start with Greg Jones who got the most playing time.
Game Balls: (Mike Garafolo)
LB Greg Jones. Give this young man some serious credit. He comes right out of the gate to make a pair of tackles (even if he was only credited for one) after making a swim move past G Kory Lichtensteiger on the first one and scraping to make the second one. Am I grading on a scale? Am I ignoring the fact LB Michael Boley had to tell him where to line up a few times? Am I overlooking his late reaction on Washington’s first TD run? Yes, yes and yes. But I’m also refusing to forget he went from third-stringer to opening-day starter in a week. (Mike Garafolo)
While Garafolo loved what Jones did, Pat Trainia of insidefootball.com was less impressed. She gave Jones a “Miss, or goat, gass…whatever term you want o use. She uses “miss”)
LB Greg Jones: The knocks against Jones were his lack of size and NFL speed, the latter of which was apparent on Washington’s first touchdown. After that play, his playing time appeared to diminish, as we saw more of Jacquian Williams, especially on third down plays, for the remainder of the game.
My Take:
Jones was just getting his feet wet on Sunday and did a pretty good job. Jones biggest responsibility this year is going to be in run support and the Giants will use other players (they used another rookie a lot) for pass support. Jones has to stick his nose in the run game, and try to blow up plays. He had four tackles in the game and was used a lot more early than he was late when the Giants used more three safeties. Jones didn’t make any tackles for loss or deliver any impressive blows, but played admiarbly. He clearly has natural instincts though he was a touch late on Tim Hightowers’ touchdown run. Solid outing. He has a lot of room for improvement though.
Next up: Full back Henry Hynoski
Hynoski gom the start vs the Redskins at fullback. And the beat writers were loving them some Hynocerus.
Henry Hynoski: When the Giants were able to run the ball in the first half the rookie fullback had a lot to do with it. I think the UDFA from Pittsburgh is going to be just fine in that role.
FB Henry Hynoski: The rookie fullback is still a work in progress who in this week’s game didn’t always appear to get much movement on his blocks. The good news though is that he least appears to be able to stonewall the defensive players enough to allow the runner behind him to cutoff the block. Overall, he was one of the bright spots on an offense that struggled, and he also looked comfortable on his one pass reception, although he went down on the initial contact.
Ralph Vacchiano
FB Henry Hynoski. He did a real nice job with most of his blocks, especially in the first half. He even stood up Redskins LB Ryan Kerrigan on the Bradshaw touchdown – and as the game went on, Kerrigan would prove to be mostly unblockable.
My Take
Hynoski played well, but I think they are all grading on a curve. I think the best description comes from Pat Traina “ The rookie fullback is still a work in progress who in this week’s game didn’t always appear to get much movement on his blocks. The good news though is that he least appears to be able to stonewall the defen6sive players”.
That’s not the kind of dominating blocking you want from a full back, but he’s the least of the Giants worries. He’s an undrafted free agent. Giants fans will LOVE that he actually caught a pass out of the backfield. They are use to seeing stone-hands Madison Hedgecock drop the pass out into the flat. It would have been nice to see Hynoski drag the defender for a first down. He played well
, though his impact on the run game was minimal because of the poor play of the line.
The rookies who had the most playing time after Jones and Hynoski (sixth round and undrafted respectively) was probably 6th round picks Tyler Sash and Jacquian Williams
Garafolo on Sash: (A gasser)
Tyler Sash. He was way late to break on Davis’ 28-yard catch in the third quarter. Also, I’m not sure why he quit on a block on the Giants’ second punt return. He gave Redskins FB Darrel Young a shove and then inexplicably turned the other way, as if he felt the return going away from him. It wasn’t, and Young should have stopped PR Domenik Hixon, though he missed the tackle. I still have high expectations for Sash, though he has some work to do. He’ll get there, I think.
Pat Traina on Sash:
On punts, rookie Tyler Sash is the up back, but on several occasions, he appeared to leave early, and didn’t always look to see if there is anyone to block. This could be a problem if teams begin to rush up the middle on punting situation. …
My Take
here’s an interesting tidbit for all you out there. The New York Giants love to draft size/speed high potential players, but the first Sunday of the 2011 N.F.L. season. Which rookies were on the field the most? The productive and instinctive players who are viewed as hard workers. Sash and Jones got a majority of playing time. Prince Amukamara and Miles Austin are hurt (1st and 2nd round picks), but their third and fourth round pick Jernigan and Brewer were healthy scratches. The Giants must love the depth of their draft class.
Sash is going to be a good N.F.L. player and he fits Perry Fewell’s scheme well. I’m going to watch Sash to see if he can develop into the player I think he can or whether or not the Giants will look for more safety help in free agency or in the draft. He had a solid out, but he’s shown too many times early in his career that he can be a liability at times in coverage.
Jacquain Williams
My take
The pick no one on earth understood, probably received the second most snaps of any player. The Giants love his abilities on special teams, but what was surprising was how often he was on the field for defensive packages. The Giants used him a LOT in their nickel packages and he displayed excellent coverage skills, he did however have some snafus that lead to some Redskins completions. Williams is a talented player and looks like a player the Giants will use a lot throughout the season, but he has so much to learn.In the preseason Williams flashed his brilliant speed and blitzing ability. Williams (and this is premature and very early) looks like he could be the future Michael Boley replacement, just hopefully better.
Garafolo had a lot to say about Williams
In the Redskins’ first completion, LB Jacquian Williams had the short flat along with CB Corey Webster. WR Anthony Armstrong ran a sideline route and Webster had to ride him off the line. That’s when Williams has to cheat toward the outside to help on WR Santana Moss running the short out from the slot. There was no RB or TE threat and Williams seemed to recognize that — but just a half-second too late, and he was unable to get to Moss before the ball arrived. But like with Jones, I have to grade on a scale here, so I can’t be too hard on a rookie for being a touch slow there.
Then again, it appeared the DBs weren’t too happy with Williams on a 23-yard catch by Davis late in the first quarter. Phillips clapped his hands in disgust and, if I had to read coverages and body language here, I’d say he wasn’t happy with the way he and Webster had to cover three guys on their side of the field in a Cover-3 look. Aikman said on the broadcast the problem was there was no jam on Davis off the line, but forget the jam because there was no coverage, period. Phillips, who had the deep middle, had to worry about a threat right in his face, while Webster had to keep an eye on a guy near the sideline. Williams has to force Davis to at least reroute there because he got upfield way too quickly. Later, the Redskins did a great job of running a pair of receivers in front of Williams’ face to throw him off the scent of a screen pass that went for 9 yards after he got cut blocked downfield. We didn’t see as much of Williams late in the game (Kiwanuka was the extra LB in some of the nickel looks), so perhaps the coaches realized the sixth-round pick was in over his head.
The Rest of the Rookie Review
Justin Trattou
Trattou didn’t play much and that wasn’t a terrible thing considering the game that Jason Pierre Paul had, but he did flash some play making ability In his limited time he had an assist on a tackle. Trattou has worked hard to gain the respect of the Giants coaches and they have rewarded him with some playing time, I imagine though he’s destined to spend most of the season on the inactive list or practice squad once Osi Umeinyora and Tuck are healthy. He needs to make a big impact next week.
Mark Herzlich
Herzlich didn’t see any snaps (I believe) in the regular defensive packages, but he was on all the special teams. He was close to a couple of tackles, but didn’t make any. Herzlich has been the least impressive of the rookies, to me, in preseason, but that should expected. His greatest advantage is that he offers the most versatility of the rookie linebackers and can play all three positions. It’ll be interesting to watch his continued progress throughout the season.
Spencer Paysinger
This was the one that was most confusing to me. All throughout preseason Paysinger seemed to be the top rookie on the depth chart at linebacker, but he was behind Jacquian Williams on Sunday and barely even played. Paysinger was constantly around the ball in training camp and in preseason. The undrafted free agent rookie linebacker out of Oregon looked more impressive than his Oregon counter part, Casey Matthews through much of the preseaosn. Did the game plan just call for something different than the abilities Paysinger brought to the table? Will he play more on Monday.
all in all the rookies weren’t great on Sunday, but that’s ok. What’s refreshing is to see so much young blood on the Giants playing significant snaps in the N.F.L. The Giants are reluctant to use rookies because when they do bad things can happen, but it’s also best for the future. This Giants team is YOUNG. It’s going to have some bumps along the road, and Sunday was the first big one.
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