Well, it is settled then. My love for Daboll is basically gone. Now I stand nearby and hope he can fix this mess he’s made of an organization and I wonder how much of that mess is actually fixable. The Giants let Daboll undercut Wink Martindale to the point where Wink decided to resign. Daboll fired the guys under him that Wink brought with him and that forced ‘ol W to be loyal and announce that he was leaving too. In other words, the defense that led the league in turnovers and single handedly kept the Giants in most games. We are talking about a team that is 9th in the league in 3rd down percentage–THE key stat in terms of defense that is not impacted by offensive turnovers or (to a point) starting field position. This article by SI goes more in depth on how impactful the defense was on the team as a whole, but if you want to know about Wink, just listen to the player-leaders who are praising him in the locker room.
All that is gone now.
The Giants will be starting from scratch on defense with a bunch of players they signed and recruited based on a Wink scheme. Now to a point there are 29 players who are not signed and many of those are on defense, but if we are talking about moving to a different scheme and you already invested in a nose and a certain type of edge, and a man corner, you gotta stick with the kind of scheme you got. You gotta let them cook! But all that, as I said, is over. So, it is now on Daboll to find a guy to get them right. I expect he is going to go with someone he knows and has worked with who he likes, because the Wink thing was established to be a personality issue (as it was in Baltimore).
Another personality issue that doesn’t get press is the Witness Protection assignment of Mike Kafka. Seriously. He hasn’t had a quote in 12 weeks. He is just MIA. He is also likely to lose play calling to Daboll. I find it odd that nobody is blaming Kafka for the mess of an offense. It is partially his fault and the fault of the whoe administration for holding on to Jones when you KNEW he had slow decision making skills and an injury history that would be put to the test with what is the 2nd worse o-line in the HISTORY of football.
What is the way forward? I don’t know for sure. More O-Line talent? adding a second talented powerback to spell Barkley and allow him to play more in the slot? Not sure where to go from here, but I do want some success. I believe in the Giants as an org. That is my team.
Some Thoughts:
- By resigning, Wink lost his right to sign with any other pro team he wants as a DC. So… how about you and your crew roll down to Colorado for a year and snatch a Natty?!