Can the Giants Make the 2021 Playoffs?

Author: Billy Taylor

Editor: Brian Symons

With the Summer coming to an end, I often get upset at the thought of having to go back to school and losing the freedom and joy that Summer brings me. I’m always able to cheer myself up from this when I remember the fact that although the Summer may be ending, this means the dawn of a new football season is around the corner. There’s almost nothing better than waking up on a Sunday morning with a full slate of games ahead of you, especially when your favorite team is a contender. The New York Giants have certainly acted like contenders this offseason, but are they really?

The big headline of the offseason for the Giants has been their offense. Specifically, the acquisitions of free agent Kenny Golladay and first-round draft pick Kadarius Toney. The imaginations of Giants fans have been running wild with the thought of their young quarterback throwing to guys who can really impact the dynamic of an offense, which Golladay and Toney could do. Of course, Kadarius Toney has yet to play a snap in the NFL (outside of preseason), so who really knows what he can do for the Giants. Either way, his video game-like abilities that he showed at Florida will make any pessimistic fan excited to see what he can do at the professional level.

NFL fans have been seeing prowess of Kenny Golladay for some time with his years in Detroit. Golladay is a big guy who can jump and take the ball away from any defender at will but has been often stuck on mediocre teams and has had injury concerns throughout his career. If Kenny Golladay can stay relatively healthy and not miss significant time, pairing him with Toney’s speed can result in an offense that could really turn a secondary’s gameplan on its head. Even if Golladay and Toney are covered, that leaves potential looks open for Darius Slayton, Sterling Shepard, and Evan Engram.

The potential impact of the Giants wide receiver core is even more intoxicating when you remember that Saquon Barkley will be returning to the backfield this year. Barkley has just been medically cleared to play and is on the roster for week 1’s game against Denver at home. Having Barkley return to the offense can go a long way for Daniel Jones and the Giants this year, considering the moderate success the team had last year without him.

Even though Saquon has been cleared to play week 1, I think it’s worth looking into the depth the Giants backfield has. Devontae Booker almost definitely doesn’t figure into the long-term plans for this team, but he brings some experience to the table. Which could greatly help 6th round draft pick (191 overall) Gary Brightwell out of Arizona. Brightwell had the chance to really impress some people with his potential playing time from Barkley’s injury. Now that we know Saquon has been cleared, it looks as though Brightwell won’t get much playing time. But he has shown that he can be a viable backup for Devontae Booker if Saquon was going to miss time. Brightwell had only 10 rushing yards on 4 attempts but had 20 receiving yards on 3 receptions in Week 3 of the preseason against New England.

While I really like the names that the Giants have on the offensive side of the ball, I wish I could say the same about the offensive line. Prior to Sunday’s game against the Bronco’s, the Giants O-line reads as such: LT: Andrew Thomas, LG: Shane Lemieux, C: Nick Gates, RG: Will Hernandez and RT: Nate Solder. This Giants offensive line is suspicious enough as it is, but with Solder in the mix it makes me so much more worried. Maybe Solder will surprise us all and live up to the expectations he made playing in New England, but the reality is that probably will not happen. When you look at this offensive line it is obvious that Gettleman didn’t do enough to protect his franchise quarterback. It’s not the worst in the league, but it’s just bad enough that it could break the Giants season this year. The one credit I will give to Gettleman is his acquisitions of C Billy Price and G Ben Bredeson. Price and Bredeson may provide absolutely zero impact on the Giants this year, but they provide much needed depth for an offensive line who is average at best.

There is lots to look forward to on the offensive side of the ball, but I would be remiss not to mention the talent and work done on the defensive side of the ball as well. The biggest story defensively was the Leonard Williams contract extension, which totaled $63 million over the next 3 years. Williams is coming off a great season where he recorded 11.5 sacks and 14 tackles for loss. Pairing Williams and Dexter Lawrence on the edges of the defensive line for the long-term gives you a formidable defensive front that offenses will have to strategize around.

This year I’ve also been excited to see what 2nd round draft pick (50th overall) Azeez Ojulari can do for the linebacking core as well. The Giants haven’t had a solid linebacker out of their drafts in what feels like forever. So many have come and gone over the years only to fizzle out of the NFL. Hopefully the Giants and Dave Gettleman can buck that trend with a defensive stud out of an SEC school in Azeez Ojulari. With Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence coming off the edge, Ojulari could have the opportunity to make some big time plays and turn this Giants pass-rush from good to elite.

After the excitement of signing Kenny Golladay, the Giants went even further with the signing of cornerback Adoree Jackson. Jackson adds much needed quality depth to the secondary for the Giants. James Bradberry had an outstanding season last year, but the secondary fell apart in the one game that he missed. Isaac Yiadom and Darnay Holmes have talent for sure, but not enough (at least right now) to be guys you want near the top of your depth chart. If Bradberry were to miss more time, Adoree Jackson may give the cornerbacks the strength they need to keep them in games.

The Giants also went with cornerback Aaron Robinson out of UCF with their 3rd round (71st overall) pick in this year's past draft. Aaron Robinson has shown promise during his college career, getting significant playing time his freshman year at Alabama. He’s proven during his time at UCF that he can get to the ball carrier, racking up 54 tackles, but he leaves something to be desired in the coverage department. Hopefully the Giants coaching and veteran leadership in the secondary can develop Robinson and blossom him into a reliable corner in the league.

If you’re a Giants fan, there is lots to be excited about in the upcoming season. Their offensive line leaves me worried, but part of me also thinks they can surprise us and not be horrible. Maybe I’m just hopelessly optimistic, but weirder things have happened. Dave Gettleman could’ve done better in some areas, but he has made a valiant effort to improve the quality of life around his franchise quarterback. The Giants have shown that they expect to win now, and in Daniel Jones’ third year under center, the room for error is small. For Daniel Jones, and for General Manager Dave Gettleman.

SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE

The Ben Simmons Saga

Author: Jack Gordon

Editor: Fran Attie

Picture this: It’s game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals. It’s a two point game with three and a half minutes to go, and an NBA All-Star has the ball in the post. He backs down the defender, does a spin move as the defender reaches, and finds himself wide open directly in front of the basket. In a shocking decision, this player does not shoot the wide open layup, but instead opts to hand the ball off to a less-open teammate who gets fouled. His team, heavily favored, goes on to lose the game and get eliminated from the playoffs.

We are talking, of course, about Ben Simmons, and the play that signaled the end of his time with the Philadelphia 76ers.

He couldn’t come back to the team after that. The image of Simmons passing up a wide open dunk was impossible for fans to forget, enough for even his teammate, Joel Embiid, to make note of in his post-game interview.

But it wasn’t just that play. It was a terrible series for Ben Simmons, who took a whopping three shots in the seven fourth quarters of that series. Not to mention his free throw shooting, which, to his credit, was only the worst in NBA playoff history.

But it wasn’t just that series. For his entire NBA career, everyone has begged Simmons to get a reliable jumper. Actually, scratch that—people don’t even care if it’s reliable, everyone has begged Simmons to just take jumpers. All they want is for him to at least throw it up there when he’s open, and he has consistently refused to do so. On top of that, the Simmons-Embiid pairing has never made sense, no matter how much some fans want to defend it. In the playoffs, when things tighten up, it has become painfully obvious that a seven-foot big man standing on the perimeter while a point guard stands in the paint is just a spacing disaster, and ensures that neither player can fully utilize their skill sets.

Having said all that, the Atlanta series was the straw that broke the camel’s back. And, in a city like Philadelphia, where the expectations are high, there was absolutely no way to justify bringing the team back together with all the same pieces. There was no way that you could put Ben Simmons in a Sixers jersey again next season, because as soon as he steps up to that line and airballs a free throw and the home fans start booing, the situation will be bad for everybody. And after the final game, both Joel Embiid and Doc Rivers, opted not to defend Simmons, but rather throw him under the bus, so it's clear that there is not much of a support system for him there anymore anyway.

This led to Simmons’ value immediately plummeting after game seven, and every person in the media attempting to come up with the best Ben-Simmons-for-random-asset trade proposal. It was a summer of:

“Should the Sixers trade Ben Simmons for Bradley Beal?”

“Simmons is definitely gonna end up on the Lakers with LeBron!”

“The Warriors should trade Wiseman, Wiggins, and their two draft picks for Simmons even though they already have Draymond.”

“Is Simmons even worth giving up another All-Star for?”

“Maybe all you can get for Simmons is a couple first-rounders at this point.”

“Personally, I wouldn’t trade for Ben Simmons if they wanted a box of jelly donuts in return.”

Okay, maybe I made that last one up, but you get the point. It seemed as if fans in these discussions were even hesitant to give up their teams’, like, ninth best player for someone who is supposed to be one of the best in the league.

The irony in all this discussion is that, less than a year ago, Ben Simmons was nearly the centerpiece in a James Harden trade. This trade was even closer to being completed than people realize; so much so that the Sixers had reason to think that the deal was done, until the Nets swooped in with a ridiculous offer to overtake them. Ben Simmons obviously wasn’t oblivious to the fact that his team tried to trade him, and it's possible that that had a certain psychological effect on him as the season progressed.

After the playoffs, Daryl Morey, President of Basketball Operations for the Sixers, proceeded to seek trades for Simmons as if his value was still at James Harden level. As an executive that is always insistent on winning trades and ensuring he is aware of every option, Morey did the thing where he called every team and asked for either their best player or just an olympic sized swimming pool full of assets. We all heard about what he had asked from the Warriors—Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman, their two lottery picks in this year’s draft, and two extra first round picks in the future—an absolutely absurd amount of assets that, when you think about it, doesn’t even really make that much sense.

The main problem with this whole situation is this: If you are the Philadelphia 76ers, you have a generational talent in Joel Embiid on your team, who at peak health is a dominant force. When you have a dominant force, you must take advantage. This means that there is a delicate Embiid-window in which you must compete for a championship. Therefore, whoever you get in return for Simmons has to be able to contribute right away; the Sixers can’t afford to trade for draft picks.

So, now you want to trade Simmons for another All-Star. But here’s the second problem: Every other person in the league also watched the playoffs. So, after watching that, are there teams that are confident Simmons won’t do the exact same thing if he’s in the playoffs next year? Probably not. So who is going to give up an All-Star to trade for Ben Simmons if it's clear that Simmons probably can’t be one of the top two guys on a championship team?

Then, later in the summer, comes the news that Simmons has requested a trade and will not be reporting to Sixers training camp.

Despite the fact that he still has four years left on his deal, this isn’t unreasonable. He knew he was gonna be traded anyway, and it’s fair for him to want to move on to a new situation as soon as possible, given how complicated this has all become.

However, just because he has officially requested a trade, that doesn’t mean that suddenly there are new Simmons trade packages that weren’t available before. When the Sixers look around the league, the options are slim. They know that good teams won’t give up much for him, so the only options are the bad teams… But even the bad teams are wary of Ben Simmons. So much so that a bottom team like the Timberwolves would be unwilling to give up someone like D’Angelo Russell for him.

That’s where most trade theories have landed, at the worst teams in the league, i.e. the Timberwolves, the Spurs, and many people’s favorites, the Sacramento Kings.

BUT there’s yet another complicating factor, which is the Klutch aspect. Klutch Sports Group represents Ben Simmons, and they have become notorious for being powerful yet difficult agents to work with when getting their clients to certain landing spots, potentially at the cost of their likeability around the league. They orchestrated Anthony Davis’ exit from New Orleans and arrival to Los Angeles, which may even have been less ugly than the current Simmons situation.

So everything sounds good when we hear that maybe the Sixers should send Simmons to Sacramento for Buddy Hield and either Fox or Haliburton, or something similar. But, Klutch is insistent on getting their big clients traded to big markets. The most hilarious part of all this is that Ben Simmons has said he prefers to be traded to ‘one of the three California teams,’ which is just a fantastic quote given that there are four teams in California! (As a Californian, I understand that this is an easy mistake to make. We do not much acknowledge the existence of Sacramento as our capital, but even I would admit to Mr. Simmons that Sacramento is a place).

Essentially, it all comes down to this: The entire Ben Simmons fiasco has become a staring contest between:

1. Ben Simmons, one of the most talented yet image conscious players in the league,

2. Klutch (and Rich Paul), the most powerful agents in the league,

3. Daryl Morey, one of the most powerful executives in the league,

4. Doc Rivers, one of the most powerful coaches in the league, and

5. The city of Philadelphia, one of the harshest places to play in the entire league.

And all of this, coupled with the fact that no team is just going to take Ben Simmons to resolve the situation after seeing him lay an egg in the playoffs.

The most important thing that should come out of this is potentially a reset on what our expectations for Simmons should be: an athletic, talented playmaker in transition who is absolutely incredible on the defensive end, and probably can’t play at the end of important games. If this was his image, teams would love to have him as the best version ever of a role guy—the only problem is that he makes $35 million a year, which is not what you want to be paying for someone who doesn’t shoot the basketball.

It has become a mess, and there is no clear answer in sight. It is hard to find the Ben Simmons defenders out there, those who believe that with a change in scenery, he will become great and gain back his confidence. But even with tempered expectations, it’s not unreasonable to think that a new situation will benefit him, because no matter how complicated it seems, Ben Simmons is going to be on a new team at some point.

Now, if only we can get him to stop posting off-season videos of him draining threes and instead get him to go to the gym and shoot a free throw or two… or a thousand.

SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE

Expectations For Zach Wilson

Author: Patrick Sullivan

Editor: Fran Attie

Going into the 2021 NFL Season, the New York Jets are hoping to reinvent themselves as they have been consistently one of the worst teams in the league over the past decade. It’s been a very long ten years since the Jets have made it into the playoffs, which they hope to change as soon as possible. Head Coach Robert Saleh is an energetic and passionate football coach that is planning on changing the Jets’ culture into a winning one and, along with General Manager Joe Douglas, they are seemingly headed in the right direction: bringing in high character football players that love the game. This culture change is crucial to the Jets succeeding in the NFL in the upcoming years; however, the most important piece of this puzzle is rookie Quarterback Zach Wilson.

This past offseason, the Jets opted to draft Zach Wilson from BYU at number 2 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft instead of sticking with their former starting QB Sam Darnold. It’s an understandable move due to Wilson’s tremendous ceiling at QB in the NFL. Wilson has all the talent in the world, but the main concern is if he can translate his talents into the high-speed NFL game (which is the concern for all young QBs).

The expectations for the Jets as a whole are to improve from their dreadful 2-14 season last year. I think it’s fair to expect them to win at least six games, no more than nine, in an honest prediction for this season. Although this is the expectation, that can only happen with good play from Wilson. With his ability to stand in the pocket or roll out and make a play, I expect him to have a great rookie year. Along with this, he has great arm strength, is very accurate, and has mobility to extend a play if need be. However, he will only succeed in this league if this West Coast offensive scheme by Mike Lafleur plays to Wilson’s strengths. If this can happen, I expect him to throw for 3500 passing yards, 27 TDs and 14 INT, which would be a fantastic rookie season.

Overall, as long as Zach Wilson gives the Jets more than average Quarterback play in the 2021 season, it would be a success of a year that he can build upon in the seasons to come.

SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE