Giants Mailbag: Skattebo, the Run Defense and Winston’s Misses

Welcome to the weekly New York Giants On SI mailbag! From offseason moves to game-day strategies, we'll do our best to answer your questions. (Some questions have been edited for brevity and clarity.)

From Mike A. (via e-mail): Do you think Cam Skattebo is doing too much outside of football with all these endorsements that it's affecting his performance? Or is he just overrated?

Very interesting question, Mike. While I believe a player has every right to pursue as many opportunities as he can during his heyday, I also think there is such a thing as oversaturation. And I think that’s what we’re seeing with Skattebo.

I don’t want to sound like I’m picking on him because I’m not. I like him when he’s being himself and I’ve had quite a few great chats with him about football and common interests, like our shared love of caring for rescue dogs.

That said, sometimes I wonder if he’s lost the plot and is trying to do too much too soon. He has the opportunities he does because of football and his big personality, but in this town, if you don’t produce, you’ll lose your audience and your appeal quickly.

I’d rather he focus more on football, to be honest, and become a better fit in the system than try to play hero ball and get a charge out of the fan base by trucking over a defender with a stiff arm. 

But I get why he’s doing it. There’s a small earning window, and you never know when your career will end or when the next big personality/advertiser’s dream will come along. 

From Adam B. (via e-mail) What are the chances we see Darius Slayton back with Big Blue?

Probably zero.

I think it's a combination of factors. First, with no real running threat from the quarterback, defenses have been loading up the box with eight or more defenders against the Giants.

New York has faced a loaded box on 77 of their rushing attempts this season, tied for sixth most in the league. That said, the O-line hasn't been sharp at all in run blocking.

Guys are not sustaining their blocks (biggest culprits remain the interior guys). It's my hope, and I suspect the coaches', that inserting J.J. McCarthy, a more mobile quarterback, will discourage teams from loading up the box against the run.

Brian, if the decision were mine, I would get a defensive tackle in here yesterday, especially now that Tremaine Edmunds is lost for the season.

In my opinion, the run defense's inconsistency has been the biggest problem on this team, and the guys behind starters Shelby Harris and D.J. Reader haven't stepped up. You now throw in the loss of Tremaine Edmunds, and that run defense has taken another huge hit.

I understand the O-line and running backs haven't played well, but I suspect switching to J.J. McCarthy may help both, though we’ll see.

But as I have said repeatedly, what good is having a dangerous pass rush if you’re never really in a position to unleash it fully? And the way you fully unleash it is to stop the run, which this team has struggled to do consistently.

I’d like to see them call the Chargers and see if they can pry Dalvin Tomlinson away for one of their two sixth-round picks. We’ll see what direction they go, but that’s what I would do.

Kris, the Giants can move on from Runyan after next year. 

As to why they extended him, I think part of it was to open up cap space, which the extension did, and the other part of it was that, rather than have to replace both his spot and center, they prioritized center. 

Does this mean Bryan Hudson hasn't played well enough? Not necessarily. I think they're looking to see how he does with extended action, and he hasn't been bad. 

But is there any doubt they'll move on from John Michael Schmitz after this season and need another center?  

James, according to PFF data, here is the breakdown of Winston's incomplete passes: 

• Coverage: 17
• Pressure: 8
• Inaccurate: 31
• Misread/miscommunication: 3
• Receiver Error: 8

So as this data shows, the majority of his incomplete passes were a result of him being inaccurate, followed by the coverage just being good enough to thwart the pass attempt.

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