Where Have You Gone Harry Carson?

The inspiration for this blog came in the form of a simple question: "Who the hell is going to be the Giants' middle linebacker?" I was asked this in an email from a friend, and it is the question that is on the mind of every Giants fan. How could it not be? I mean, we don't exactly have a Harry Carson on the roster right now. The OLB's seem set with Michael Boley and Clint Sintim apparent shoe-ins to be the starting WLB, and SLB, respectively (we'll get to how I feel about them in a later entry). But the middle is an open competition.

Reports from OTA's are that Jonathan Goff is taking most of the snaps with the first team defense. As the incumbent, Goff has got to be the favorite to start week 1. Not sure how to feel about that since Goff did not exactly wow anyone last year--in fact, he seemed to disappear most of the time. Still, the Giants organization have expressed some faith in him, claiming the poor play of the defense in general, especially the defensive tackles last year hampered the young linebacker's progression. And, let's face it, everyone looked confused and pathetic under Bill Sheridan's defensive tutelage. New defensive coordinator Perry Fewell is known as a Tampa-2 guy, which generally requires an athletic backer in the middle who can cover. This is not Goff's strength. However, according to some reports, Fewell is very open to adapting his system to fit the personnel, and is not averse to playing a more aggressive (i.e. blitzing) defense. Be that as it may, I have to imagine he isn't going to abandon running the defense that got him this job, and the NFC east is loaded with good pass catching TE's and RB's, so I have to question Goff's ability to hold onto the starting job long-term. The Giants also made no secret of the fact that they were targeting Rolando McClain in the draft, so no matter what they say now, it's clear they must have some questions about Goff's ability to be anything more than a short term stop-gap. The problem is, who else can do it? Here's a look at the other options:

Philip Dillard -- I think the Giants do believe Dillard has a chance to be a long-term solution at MLB, and he seems to be a Fewell type of player, but I can't believe a 4th-round draft choice will be in line to start early in the season. However, I wouldn't be shocked if he starts to push Goff for playing time late in the year.

Gerris Wilkinson -- Wilkinson supposedly has the talent, but who the hell would know it? A stiff breeze knocks this guy out for a month--my bet is he is not even on the roster come week 1.

Bryan Kehl -- I think Kehl is the dark horse in this race. He's probably a better fit as a WLB, but he seems to be athletic enough to have a shot at playing the middle in a Tampa-2. If he can't make it as a 3-down MLB, I could see him replacing Goff on 3rd downs.

Chase Blackburn -- Oh Chase. Who doesn't love this guy? Unfortunately, he's just not that good, and is nothing more than a solid back-up/special teamer.

Michael Boley -- Some have speculated Boley may move inside, with presumably Kehl taking his place on the weakside. I don't buy this for a second, if either of these two end up in the middle it will be Kehl not Boley.

Zak Deossie -- I think Deossie is special--as in nothing more than a special teamer.

Lee Campbell and Micah Johnson -- These two undrafted free agent signings likely have no chance of starting this year, but the fact the Giants went out and actively signed two MLB's after the draft concerns me a bit. This is not a team that is comfortable with that position right now.

If I were writing this article a year ago, I could have written the same piece about the Giants' WR corps. Just like this year, Jerry Reese and Tom Coughlin were saying "we have guys on the roster that we expect to step in and perform," and just like this year, no one was believing them. Well, as it turned out, they were right and we were wrong then--could it be again? I sure hope so, but right now it's hard to be encouraged. Maybe the reason the Giants haven't gotten around to retiring Harry Carson's number yet is because they are hoping he'll come back and play MLB for them this year.