2026 O-Line

[Offthedome]

I can confirm as much. They apparently think he’s very good at the mental aspects of the position. Between him and Stewart we have ale good potential there.

Hawn is a very smart guy. I can see him excelling at that part of the game.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I think it was a combination of coaching and a lack of talent. I’m excited to see how Cooper develops and whether he can earn early playing time, similar to BIG Byron Washington. I also expect some reinforcements to arrive through the transfer portal. And Jojo White is very intriguing — I could see him getting on the field early as well.

“BIG” Byron Washington?
Is that you, RutgersAl??

 

[IthacaMatt]

By the time September hits he’ll be close to 300 if not a little over.

I could see him redshirting till next year, he has nice feet and is able to move well but needs to work on strength like you said

You can’t gain 30 lbs of good weight that fast.

 

[IthacaMatt]

144% THIS.

It was shocking how many times we’d have unimpeded defenders making a beeline into the backfield, while one or more OL stood around blocking air.

“Just” upgrading our OL play from turrible to average will be a massive improvement.

Keeping PB Angeli clean and upright will go a long way towards another record setting season.

And creating actual holes for the RB’s will make us that much harder to defend.

After DC, new OL coach was possibly the 2nd most important and impactful “portal” addition.

… which will also hopefully make the fact that we also added viable QB2 & QB3 a luxury and not a necessity.

Not sure how good the portal QBs are. We didn’t get the guy we wanted most.

 

[Ttk.gman2]

“BIG” Byron Washington?
Is that you, RutgersAl??

Bro what?

 

[IthacaMatt]

Bro what?

There was this poster from Big East days called RutgersAl. The guy’s a legend and came to a couple tailgates.

He was a rabid Rutgers football fan. If you’re old enough to remember the Iraq War, they had this media guy for Saddam Hussein’s government, basically saying “All is well!” as we bombed the hell out of their country.

It was reminiscent of that scene during the riot at the end of Animal House. “All is well!”

Anyway, Al was always over-enthusiastic about every new Rutgers recruit, back in the Pasqualoni days when we beat them something like 17 times in a row.

Al always used to call all of their linemen “Big Bob Smith”, or “Big Dakota Jones”, or whoever. Every single time! That’s what made it funny - along with the fact that they never used to beat us back in those days.

So that’s the “deep cut” I was making.

 

[007]

Not sure how good the portal QBs are. We didn’t get the guy we wanted most.

Who did we want most?

 

[LpoolNative]

Bro what?

It’s you… isn’t it…

 

[Ttk.gman2]

It’s you… isn’t it…

 

[CbusCuse]

Not sure how good the portal QBs are. We didn’t get the guy we wanted most.

Did you really think we’d get the QB we wanted most, considering we had Angeli returning? I sure as heck didn’t.

I agree we don’t exactly know how good they’ll be. But considering they all have previous college experience to varying degrees, I think it’s pretty likely the unit is in better hands than it was last year. How much better though is TBD, or rather hopefully not TBD.

 

[RF2044]

Did you really think we’d get the QB we wanted most, considering we had Angeli returning? I sure as heck didn’t.

It agree we don’t exactly know how good they’ll be. But considering they all have previous college experience to varying degrees, I think it’s pretty likely the unit is in better hands than it was last year. How much better though is TBD, or rather hopefully not determined.

Agreed. The QB we landed led a team to a bowl. Collins wasn't very good. This is a net-positive replacement.

The kid from USC / Boise / UTEP has never lived up to his HS recruiting ranking. But he's better than Carney. Another net-positive.

We got a third kid from a lower level, who started at that level. He's better than Filardi. Another net positive.

And the staff likes Lott.

So all in all, I feel better about what we have behind Angeli, and excited that Angeli will be returning, and that his rehab appears to be ahead of schedule.

Now, let's fix the OL to protect him better.

 

[shu 49]

New coach will get the oline ready. Thing I noticed is Williams just never let the guys block downhill in zone or power. Our guys were never taught to step forward and drive thru guy. They would only step sideways. Drove me nuts. U have Byron in there who should have o problems moving guys backwards. Mack, Cruz, and Hawn can pull with good speed. Hoping he can get Byron to pull also cause that would be another tool in his belt. My biggest thing is we need to be 2x more physical than we were. I watched Indiana with their 3* guys come downhill and be more physical on both lines than Miami. Here’s to coach teaching them all they need to know.

 

[Franz69]

Not to pee in your Cheerios on this chilly Wednesday morning, but there's some totally unfounded snooping and speculation from some of my fellow Giants fans that they might try to poach Castillo, as he has previously worked for Harbaugh and Nagy. No clue if they will actually inquire and no clue if Castillo would actually leave. Have a nice day...

 

[FrancoPizza]

Not sure how good the portal QBs are. We didn’t get the guy we wanted most.

Who?

 

[IthacaMatt]

Who?

That first guy who we were all over. The FCS player of the year kid. I'd have to go look him up.

 

[CbusCuse]

That first guy who we were all over. The FCS player of the year kid. I'd have to go look him up.

I assume you mean Marcus Stokes who went to Memphis. Looks like he will likely battle it out for QB1 with another transfer in Air Noland who was a highly rated '24 South Carolina commit that hasn't done anything yet.

 

[007]

That first guy who we were all over. The FCS player of the year kid. I'd have to go look him up.

Markus Stokes, West Florida. Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Year. DII. Threw 21 INTS in 2 seasons. He visited, but to my knowledge he was never offered. So highly unlikely he was "the guy we wanted most."

 

[Hawknate144]

I assume you mean Marcus Stokes who went to Memphis. Looks like he will likely battle it out for QB1 with another transfer in Air Noland who was a highly rated '24 South Carolina commit that hasn't done anything yet.

Noland started out at Ohio St in 2024, transferred to South Carolina Last year and now is at Memphis.

 

[Franz69]

Well, there it is:

 

[cusefan88]

That stinks. Hopefully he decides to stay or the Giants throw some $$$$ at Cuse for a contract buyout.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Well, there it is:

Ah, damn. That would suck.

 

[sufan59]

Well, there it is:

 

[Sdot]

Would be a real bummer as the o-line needs to be a at least average to win some games. Could also put a lot of pressure on Fran for year 4.

 

[richmondcuse03]

Markus Stokes, West Florida. Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Year. DII. Threw 21 INTS in 2 seasons. He visited, but to my knowledge he was never offered. So highly unlikely he was "the guy we wanted most."

Yea he was not our first choice. I think our first choice ended up being lower because we got someone better in Odom.

 

[richmondcuse03]

Well, there it is:

that would suck. Not an ideal time of year to look for a new OL coach.