Russell Wilson appropriately recognized a void within the Giants‘ locker room during his Wednesday introductory Zoom press conference:
A lack of leadership. A void he intends to fill.
“This team is really looking for somebody to lead them in every way,” Wilson said. “In terms of process and the offseason, during the season, our habits and our thought process, how we create a great winning culture, and how do we continue to establish that, to really build on things that we do well and things we need to continue to do.”
The question is whether Wilson, 36, is a wise choice to be that leader.
A glaring weakness of GM Joe Schoen‘s personnel evaluation has been his inability to recognize leadership qualities and their necessity on a team.
Various players tried to step into the void created last season by the departures of Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney, and the marginalization of Daniel Jones by the Giants’ publicized lack of perception in him. However no participant on the 2024 Giants roster proved succesful.
Dexter Lawrence tried to be the man because the workforce’s finest participant, however the weight of the dysfunctional season obtained to him.
He misplaced his cool on the bench as soon as, needed to apply respiration workout routines on the sideline a second time, disappeared with an damage down the stretch of the season and didn’t do an interview on breakup day.
Not everyone seems to be reduce out for a vocal, front-facing management function, although. Some gamers are higher main by instance with their play.
Brian Burns was new to the workforce and appears extra like a gentle sounding board. Malik Nabers, 21, was and continues to be studying find out how to be a professional. Andrew Thomas is the quiet, cerebral kind. Bobby Okereke’s affect within the new defensive scheme didn’t match the ‘C’ on his jersey.
Proper sort out Jermaine Eluemunor talks, and Kayvon Thibodeaux obtained louder later within the season. However the Giants’ locker room was so starved for a steadying voice halfway by way of the season that proper guard Greg Van Roten was giving postgame speeches.
So in steps Wilson, who has gained a Tremendous Bowl, performs quarterback and has the pedigree to command a room’s consideration. The query is whether or not his voice will carry and if Schoen once more has misjudged what management appears to be like like.
Wilson, for instance, didn’t miss a single organizational speaking level in Wednesday’s introductory interview. He gassed up an alarming variety of teammates. He even mentioned tight finish Theo Johnson’s title 4 occasions.
Saying Johnson’s title as soon as may very well be considered as being an uplifting teammate. However the extreme gross sales job borders on not real or, on the very least, studying from a script.
This issues as a result of Wilson’s lack of relatability was an unlimited drawback in Denver, the place the Broncos soured on him shortly each on and off the sphere.
His former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll didn’t pursue him this offseason after getting the Raiders job, buying and selling for Geno Smith to begin his new program as a substitute. Wilson wore on some Seattle teammates throughout his time within the Pacific Northwest, too.
Not a peep got here out of Pittsburgh final season, however Steelers coach Mike Tomlin stored a lid on Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown for years. Tomlin is completely different.
Wilson frankly sounded extra like a PR extension of the entrance workplace than a participant on Wednesday, calling rarely-used receiver Jalin Hyatt — who needed to be traded final fall — an “untapped” useful resource that he’s already embraced.
A lot of his enthusiastic opinions crossed the road from constructive to hokey, and he sounded quite a bit like a Large when he attacked outdoors narratives, saying that Brian Daboll is “a tremendous football coach” and “it’s funny how people forget something how great of a person or coach the person is over some tough times.”
The workforce went 3-14 final season, Russell. That’s why. And a divide between the entrance workplace and training employees now exists due to it.
There may be one good signal that got here out of Wednesday’s presser: Wilson’s emphasis on management as a serious want clearly got here from the Giants’ brass.
Which means that Schoen acknowledges it as an issue that must be solved. That’s a step in the best path.
Is Wilson the best man to fill that void? He’s going to attempt, however Wednesday was an odd and unsettling begin.
