The New York Giants signed a new punter yesterday. His name is Jy Bond and he is from Australia. Signing the 30-year old Bond, sends a message to current Giants punter Jeff Feagles. Jeff Feagles is going to be in the Hall of Fame one day, there is no question about that. He is about as reliable a punter as the NFL has ever seen and probably the best directional punter ever. The problem is that Jeff Feagles is 44 years old and father time has taken it’s toll on him (like so many other great players). He hasn’t been able to get the distance the team would like to see the past couple of years and last season might have been the worst in his career.
No one can argue the fact the G-men are taking this off season extremely seriously. Jerry Reese has been methodically improving the team piece by piece. He was not joking around when he said he would be aggressive this free agency period. As a fan, I have to say that I am both impressed and in agreement with every move the team has made thus far. I would have liked to have kept QB David Carr as our backup QB but that was a situation, that was out of the front offices control. This is going to be a very different team that takes the field in 2010. We are going to have to wait and see how quickly the players can bond (pun intended) and get down to business as a unit. I can already see the headlines and sound bytes comparing him to James Bond, Mr. 007 himself. That is, if he is still on the team when the season starts.
What do you think about the Giants signing punter Jy Bond and all of the other moves they have made so far?
RD – NYGReporter.com
nygreporter.com 
Perhaps my over-statement the other day with regards to your viewpoint on the MLB situation (trade should happen, mediocre season would ensue without MLB help) would be better articulated as follows (by my friend norm at G101):
The urgency of the Giants’ need for another MLB has been grossly overstated.
In the days leading up to any draft, the term “positional value” gets bandied about quite a bit. Simply put, it’s a concept which holds that not all positions on a football field are created equal. Even the most casual football fan understands that of all the positions, QB is far and way the most important (in fact, it’s frequently referred to as “the most important position in all sports.”) Following QB at the top of the list are, in rough order, LT, DE, CB, WR. Now, this ordering is not carved in stone. Rule changes, evolving league wide trends can certainly cause the value of certain positions to rise or fall. As the league has become more vertically oriented the value of running back, for example has diminished while that of WR & CB has increased.
At any rate, the concept of positional value is now so engrained in the consciousness of NFL coaches and front offices that it invariably wields an undue influence on how the draft unfolds each year. This year we’re probably going to witness the Rams bypassing two of the best DT prospects to emerge from the college ranks in a very long term in favor of a QB with serious durability concerns. To me, the very idea is madness. But it just goes to show how much weight positional value is given in the decision making process.
I’m sure you’ve all figured out by now that this is the point where I remind you how low MLB is on the list of positional value rankings. Every year, we watch MLBs who are widely regarded as Top 10 or even Top 5 overall talents drop like stones on draft day. Now we Giant fans – long starved as we are for a “stud” MLB of our very own – may tend to think that the traditionally low estimation of the MLB position should not factor into Reese’s thinking this year; that the enormity of our “need” would render any such considerations irrelevant. Well, ff55 suggested in his earlier post that such an approach might be wrongheaded; I agree.
I happen to believe that one of Reese’s great strengths as GM is his understanding of the cost/benefit ratio as it applies to the drafting and signing of football talent. I would submit that that’s one of the reasons behind his choice not to draft ANY LBs prior to the fourth round – a choice for which he has been roundly criticized by many Giant fans (including myself, I wanted him to grab Mauluga at 29 last year and was infuriated when he took Nicks instead.) If we read between the lines, I’d think that consideration of positional value has had a lot to do with Reese’s decisions in that regard. My guess? JR just does not see MLB as being all that important; at least not important enough to warrant the expenditure of a high draft pick.
Now, I suppose it could be argued that the entrenched incumbency of Pierce may have factored into Reese’s decision making process along these lines. That’s certainly a possibility but I tend not to believe it. My hunch (and that’s all it is) is that the Giant GM views MLB in the same way as he view the RB position, largely fungible and easy enough to staff adequately on the cheap. This is not to say that he WON’T be drafting a MLB in the first. Which now leads me (mercifully) to my final point.
That point being that the consideration of positional value is frequently trumped by the opportunity to acquire a truly special talent. No matter how unimportant a GM may regard the MLB position, if he has the chance to get a Dick Butkus, a Jack Lambert, a Mike Singletary, he seizes it. Does McClain and/or ‘Spoon possess that kind of overwhelming talent that would cause Reese to overlook any thought of positional value? I certainly don’t know. But I will say this: If someone like Haden is available and Reese sees his talent as being equal – or greater – to that of the top two MLBs, I’m betting he goes with the CB as the greater value of that position would undoubtedly tip the scales in Haden’s favor.
Before y’all fire up your flamethrowers, I’d also add that I’m not advocating for or against the selection of a MLB at 15. And much as I’d love to see a high pick spent on a DT, I also recognize that it’s not exactly high atop the list of position value rankings, either. So in Reese we trust, and all that. If it comes to pass that McClain, ‘Spoon (or Price) is the pick at 15 over, say, a Haden then I’m just going to have to assume that they really are the special talents that those who have already elected them into the G101 HOF clearly believe them to be.
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In short, having the #15 pick in the draft is a luxury which can essentially be used to get the most studly player available when your selecting. Maybe its Joe Haden, maybe its Rolando McClain. Or maybe its someone else.
Suffice it to say that I dont really believe that any one position being bereft of talent will really cause our defense to suffer all that much.
I think norm articulated this well here
Hey Kyle,
norm makes some good points as always. Let me clarify what I meant by mediocre season, I’m saying it would contribute to a mediocre season and not be the main cause of it. It will be interesting to see how the G-men handle this because you’re either extremely concerned about the MLB position or you think it’s no big deal. That seems to be the two dominant attitudes towards the large hole in the middle of our defense by Giants fans.
I’m convinced that a rookie will not start at MLB this season. The current LB scenarios have more “what if’s” then they do reliable assurances. What if they get a rookie into camp and then realize he can’t do it, he can’t lead the team or grasp the philosophy? If the Giants do not grab someone via free agency (which I am still convinced they will) then Goff or Blackburn will be the starting MLB in 2010. It will not be a rookie though.