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1:01Tickets are on sale at UNLVTickets.com. Get 20% off by using code TeamUSA. The New York Giants first two games are going to tell us pretty much all we need to know about what kind of team they're going to be in 2026. You are Lockdown Giants, your daily New York Giants podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello New York Giants and welcome to another edition of the Lockdown Giants podcast. I am your host Patricia Trayna and today's episode of Lockdown Giants is brought to you by Koushi, where limited time download the Koushi app and use the promo code Lockdown to get up to $10 in bonus credits when you trade $10. All right Giants, on today's episode, first off, happy Friday to everybody. On today's episode, as usual, we're going to have some blue notes later on in the program.

2:03We're also going to take a look at the question of Joe Shane and does he, too, deserve a clean slate? There was a big debate that was generated by a column that Art Stapleton wrote and I'm going to weigh in on the issue. If I think I agree or disagree and why, but first, the first two games of the New York Giants 2026 season are going to tell us a lot about the direction that this team has headed. Now, there's a few things that I'm going to be looking for outside of the final score. The Giants in the first two games, number one, how ready are they really for the regular season? Now, I don't have to tell you that the last few years, the Giants have come out of the gate looking sluggish. And since 2020, they are three and nine in their first two games of regular season play.

3:04That is not good enough. And by the way, they have only made the playoffs once in that span. That in 2022, when they were 2 and 0 to start the season. So a fast start is going to be vital. And the question of whether or not they're going to have a fast start, the Giants as a whole have barely played together. The starters I'm talking about, they have barely played together if at all, all summer long. They practice together. They've gotten quality reps. But you have heard me say many, many times on this program that there was no substitute for live reps. And even though some of the starters didn't play like the Shelby Harris' and the DJ readers and the Chermaine Edmonds, the Andrew Thomas' they will play before. They all know the score as far as how fast the game goes and all that stuff. There's still something to be said about building cohesiveness, especially when you're playing next to or playing with new teammates.

4:07So practice is one thing, but how quickly and how cohesive are they going to look coming out of the gate. So that's the first thing. More importantly, the Giants as we know, they have two prime time games to start the season. One at home, on Sunday night, one on the road, on Monday night. The Giants are 0 and 3 in prime time games that have been played in the first two weeks of the regular season since 2020. So they have not fared well. And part of that is because they haven't looked ready. They haven't been ready. So are they ready for prime time? Now that I think the reason why prime time games can be so tricky is because it kind of takes you out of your routine, if you will. Now it's interesting because John Harbaugh in having the Giants practice pretty much all the time at 130, starting practice at 130. He's been trying to get them into a kind of a rhythm that, okay, most of our games are

5:10going to start at 1 o'clock. So we'll start practicing at 130, which is only a half hour difference. We'll go to about 330 or so. And that's about when they would normally play. So what I'm kind of curious to see in the week ahead is, is Harbaugh going to adjust the practice time, maybe have them practice a little later so that they get into a bio rhythm, if you will, for the later start. The Giants just, for whatever reason, they struggle in prime time. And their readiness, not only for the start of the season, these first two games, which, by the way, if they can go to an O great, but at the very minimum, they have to go one in one. If they do not go one in one and they end up going only two, we got trouble. So I'm curious to see how Harbaugh approaches that, because, you know, everything he's done up to this point to get this team ready has had a purpose to it.

6:11And, you know, if you're going to adjust the practice time and whatnot, slide it around a little bit, it kind of makes sense to do it for your night games. So that's going to be something to keep an eye on. So what we're going to learn in these first two games is how far along Jackson Dart really is. Now the last time everybody saw Jackson Dart play was back on August 13. That was the first preseason game and he only played for about a quarter. We have not seen him since. I mean, we've seen him in practice, obviously, but not since. So how much more comfortable is he? You know, now he's going to be throwing more to Odele Beckham, Jr. He's going to be throwing more to, you know, Darry is Slayton to possibly to Malik neighbors to Maliky feels. These are guys that maybe he didn't throw as much to because of, you know, injuries or whatnot or the way the strings were set up. So how comfortable does he look?

7:11And look, I wouldn't be surprised if the Giants lean very heavily, not just on the, you know, on the running game, not just for the first like week or two, but throughout the season, because that's going to help take some of the onus off of Jackson Dart as he continues to get acclimated to working under center towards doing things in this new offense that maybe he hasn't done before in a live game setting. There's a big difference, folks, between playing in a live setting and practice practice. You're wearing the red jersey. Nobody's going to touch you. And again, you're not wearing the red jersey. You're there and you can be touched by the defense. So that's a couple of things that kind of stand out to me regarding the first two games. And then the other thing that's kind of important is the transition to the leadership of John Harbour. Now so far, the players have bought it. You haven't really heard of anybody complaining.

8:12You haven't really seen anybody dogging in at practice. Everybody's been bought in. Everybody's been focused. And as I've said before, training camp, off season, it's the honeymoon period. Once you start going up against different guys and different jerseys, now it's kind of a different ball game. So preseason results, the Giants went two and one in the preseason. That doesn't mean a darn thing. We saw last year the Giants went undefeated and they only won four games. But moving forward, the first two games definitely are going to underscore just where this team is. And if the Giants again, even if they go one in one, as long as they are competitive, you know, I can tolerate a loss to the Los Angeles Rams. I think the Rams are going to be the team to beat this year, to be honest with you in the NFC. As long as the Giants are competitive and not being blown out as they had been early in

9:15the season in past years, I think we can chalk that up as a step forward in the right direction. So that's some of what I'm looking for. The two games, like I said, important because they're going to set the tone for what is to come. The Giants, you know, right now if I had to take a conservative guess, realistically speaking, I think I probably go five and two in the first seven games before they're by, but you know that something's always going to throw a monkey wrench into the mix. All right, they're going to steal a game someplace and they're going to lose a game that they really should win. So we'll see how that plays out. But the first two games to me are the key to the season. How do they look? How do they respond? If they do hit adversity, how do they bounce back from it? All right, Giants, coming up next. It's Joe Shane, the general manager. Just really deserve a clean slate. We're going to talk about that right after this. Hey, Giants fans, football is finally back and that means Sundays are about to get a

10:21whole lot more interesting. Every week brings new matchups, breakout players, big performances and plenty of storylines to follow. And if you like getting even more engaged with the players and the stats that you're watching, there's a new way to make game day more exciting because prize picks is bringing out its best offer yet for kickoff. New users who sign up can get $150 in lineups if they win their first $5 line up. With prize picks, you're building daily fantasy lineups by choosing two to six players and selecting more or less on their projected stats, such as passing yards, rushing yards, or fantasy score. For weeks, one's opener, Sam Darnall needs just one yard against New England to cash his pick. It doesn't get any easier than that. And for me, I'm really interested in seeing what New York Giants tied in. I say I likely does this season. And I'm going to be watching his projections on prize picks to see if his numbers match what I expect. If you want to check out projections for your favorite players, all you got to do is download the prize pick app today and use the promo code, Lothan NFL, to get $150 instantly

11:26in lineups if you win your first $5 line up. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Shave dice by the beach, a trip to the state fair, and a throwback flick at the local drive-in. They're more than just items to check off the summer bucket list. There are also opportunities to earn 2% daily cashback when you use your Apple Card with Apple Pay. Apply for Apple Card now and use in minutes with Apple Pay. Subject to credit approval, Apple Card is issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch, Terms and More at Apple Card dot com. All right, giant fans, welcome back to the Lothan Giants Podcast. Lothan Giants is part of the Lothan Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network in America, celebrating our 10th anniversary and I am your host Patricia Trina, a credentialed member of the Giants media for Lothan, as was for New York Giants on SI, which is where all of my written work can be found.

12:31And as always, welcome to the Blue Crew. And especially, we have a couple new members of the Blue Crew. I saw signed up for it. So a big welcome to them. And of course, as always, welcome to anybody who's new to the podcast and everybody in between, whether you're making us your first listen of the day or if you're just spending a few minutes with us, it is all appreciated. So thank you so much for checking out Lothan Giants. All right, in this next segment, this was in so much fun. Inspired by Art Stapleton of northjersey.com. Art Stapleton wrote a column in which he argued that if you're going to have John Harbock get the players a clean slate, Joe Shane should get one as well. In other words, everything just resets. And just looking at the feedback that Art got on X, formerly known as Twitter, a lot of people were like, no, no. You can't give Joe Shane a clean slate. He doesn't deserve it. You know, look at his record from the past, et cetera, et cetera.

13:33And I thought that might make for an interesting topic to talk about. Now before I go into my thoughts, I'm telling it to you straight. All right, I'm not trying to be a homer. I'm not trying to be a hater. I'm giving it to you straight based on facts, based on history, based on everything. All right, now, do I think Joe Shane deserves the clean slate? Yes, I agree with Art's column, but not quite for the reasons that Art laid out, which is, you know, if Harbock is giving the players a clean slate, Joe Shane should get a clean slate. Why I think Joe Shane should remain in his job is because he's gotten better at his job. Now, let me explain that. His first couple of years, the drafts were terrible. There's no disputing that. I mean, 2022, 2023, there's not very many guys left if any from those draft classes.

14:39They were terrible. 2024, 2025, 2026, the draft classes have gotten better. Now, remember, Joe Shane, when he was hired, it was his first job as a GM. He was also working at first year with a coaching staff that had never worked together that really wasn't organized in terms of what they wanted and how they envisioned putting together a football team. And it made Joe's job a lot harder, I think. You bring in a John Harbock who has done this before, even though John put together a staff that maybe has an old work together, John at least knows what he wants. And he is able to communicate that to Joe so that Joe can go to his staff and say, hey, coach wants this stat and the other thing. Let's put up a list together, coach watch film, and he'll tell us which guys we want. So that helps Joe Shane moving forward.

15:39But let me backtrack. Before even John Harbock got here, the Malik neighbor's draft was impressive. The draft last year was also strong. The one this year, 2026 looks really, really good. So yes, the first couple of years are so terrible. And look, I know you're going to say, well, what about the record? How much of that record was on coaching versus the actual talent that was assembled? There's a reason why the coaching staff from the past is not here anymore. And that was because, look, can we all agree that the giants had a better roster than what the record showed? I mean, I think an argument could be made for that. There were high expectations and then this coaching staff just couldn't get enough out of it. And I point to defense to start. Shane Bowen, I think if we can all agree that Shane Bowen was a disaster, does that mean that the talent was bad?

16:41Not necessarily. Not necessarily. You look at the offense. This is scheme, a good fit for what the giants were trying to do. It was a different scheme under Brian Dable, who by the way, a lot of times gave up on the run and just leaned so heavily into the pass. And by the way, also leaned heavily on his quarterback to be the running game. So if we can go back and look at all the things that went wrong with the coaching, that was kind of outside of Joe's domain, if you will. Now maybe you might say, well, why didn't Joe as the general manager step in and say, hey, Brian, get with the program. Get rid of Shane Bowen. Change your philosophy. I question if he viewed himself as Brian Dable's boss or his equal. The two of them, if you remember, they always used to do their pressors together whenever

17:42Joe was scheduled to talk. And at first I thought, oh, that's pretty cool. It's the same message. One matches, one voice and whatnot. In retrospect, it created the illusion that they were on equal playing territory. So that's a place where Joe went wrong. So now let's go forward down. John Harbaugh comes in. Harbaugh is on equal ground as Joe. They both report to ownership. You throw in Donna Ponte into the mix. Donna Ponte is handling the salary cap, which by the way, previously held by Kevin Abrams who at one time was a brilliant salary cap manager. But in recent years, I don't know what happened to him, but the salary cap just wasn't very good. So what the restructuring did is that it took some of the onus off of Joe and allows him to do what he does best, which is scout talent.

18:46So if you think that the last few drafts are strong, that's because it's a strength of Joe Shane's scouting talent and being able to go to John Harbaugh and say, okay, look, you wanted a player who could do ABC and D. Here's what we found. You tell us what you want. So it's just a better structure for Joe Shane. And I've said it before. I'll say it again. John Harbaugh was the best thing that could have happened to Joe Shane because you had a first time GM, a first time head coach, the blind leading the blind, and it was not a good setup. So yes, the results were great. I understand there was frustration by the fan base. So I was frustrated too. And I get it. If it hurt me, it also hurt you, the fans who invest your Sundays and your hard earned money into the tickets. So I totally get it. But in terms of, you know, this Joe not deserve the second chance, I think he deserves

19:51a second chance. He has grown as a general manager. Now he's not perfect. He's going to make mistakes. And I know everybody's like, oh, the Evin Neal pick, flame down. And the Jalen Hylet pick did work out. And Eric Gray got cast aside. And so did Josh Wazoo. They traded him. Those were early draft picks that didn't, you know, that were part of that growing paint's phase, if you will. So folks, I realized some of you are going to come at me and say, you're wrong, Joe Shane should have been fired. I get it. I do get it. But that's how I feel. You know what? Joe's not perfect. None of us are. But I think over the last few years, the personnel selection has been a little bit better. And I think with John Harbour now in that head coaching seat, things are going to be looking up for the giant. So, well, fingers crossed that I'm right because if it's not, then trust me.

20:55I'll be first to admit I was wrong on this. But I think things are going to get better for giants country. All right, giant fans, coming up next. I have some miscellaneous blue notes, some thoughts that, you know, as usual, just little bits and pieces here and there. I'll go over those with you right after this. Hey, giant fans, before the season kicks off, everybody's making predictions. On CalChi America's number one prediction market platform, you can trade those predictions in a live market. The giants are currently listed with a 41% chance to be Dallas Cowboys in week one, which means a $100 investment can pay out $162.11 if they do. On CalChi, your trading against peers in a live market. And as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position. So, go on. Download the CalChi app and use the promo code. Lock on, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N to get up to $100 in bonus credits when you trade $10.

22:00That's K-A-L-S-H-I. CalChi, 18 and over only, restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. CalChi products are not available in all jurisdictions, prices, values and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, please see CalChi.com slash regulatory. For the first time ever in the US, the best U23 wrestlers in the world descend on Las Vegas for the 2026 Galaxy U23 World Wrestling Championships at the UNLV, Thomas and Max Center, from October 12 to the 18th. Don't miss your opportunity to see Team USA's wrestlers battle for gold on the world stage right here in the United States. I think it's a Ron sale at UNLVTickets.com. Get 20% off by using code Team USA. All right, giant fans, before we get to the last segment here of Lock on Giants, the

23:04all-new Lock on Giants every day or club is here. Perks include ad free episodes and expanded newsletter delivered to your email box five days a week. Sign up for a monthly subscription and get one month free when you sign up for an annual subscription. Details and sign up can be found at Lock on NYGiants.supercast.com. Again, that's Lock on NYGiants.supercast.com. All right, giant fans, in the final segment here of the Lock on Giants podcast. And as always, I've got a little list of things I call them blue notes. So just a little miscellaneous things when I was putting the show together that I want to mention. All right, the first thing I wanted to take a look at is now that the 53-man roster is set, where did the Giants stand, salary cap wise?

24:05According to over the cap, the Giants have 10.392 million in cap space. That is the fifth least in the NFL. Now it should be enough to get the Giants through the regular season without having to make any kind of transactions or restructuring of contracts or whatnot. But it's kind of, it's, it's, it doesn't leave much room to, you know, to do a whole lot if you want to, I don't know, make a trade or your acquire a player or whatnot. I looked at how the Giants could potentially get more cap space. Short of trading dairy is slating. And again, I don't know that they will. But even if they do trade dairy is slating, I can't see them totally getting rid of the entire contract. I think they're going to have to eat some of that contract. But even if they split it 50-50 with the acquiring team, it's still better than nothing.

25:06And it's still, you know, maybe about five, five million or so that they can get back if they, you know, if they made that transaction. Now I looked at Paulson the Debo and Javon Holland who have base salaries of 17.25 million for a Debo and 12.9 million for Holland. That money is guaranteed for each of them. So if you are going to look to restructure either one of them because they have guaranteed money, you've got pretty much guaranteed that they're going to get that amount one way or another this year. You can't just, you know, say, oh, hey, Paulson, we're going to cut you down to, I don't know, six million a year. No, he's guaranteed 17.25. And by the way, with the guaranteed money, I would not be surprised at moving forward with the giants, maybe change up how they dish out guaranteed money because there's fully guaranteed and then there's guaranteed it's signing. And I think they're probably going to lean more towards the guaranteed it's signing than

26:09the fully guaranteed moving forward. But that's for another show. So really, I mean, it's got to be, like I said, it's got to be something with Slayton, I would think. But are they going to trace Slayton? I don't think they will. I mean, it's going to be tough to do it. But look, like I always say, I didn't think they would trade Daniel for Lailie or Joshua Zoodoo and get something for those guys and they did. So you never know, maybe a team needs a wide receiver and they're willing to give something up, you know, a day three pick and take on some of the contract. It's possible, never say never, right? The reason why I bring this up is the giants, you know, Jochen talked about they want to add a defensive tackle. If they're going to add one, it's going to have to be somebody on the cheap. It's going to be somebody who likely goes to the practice squad. So if they want to get somebody who's like, like, I don't know if there's anybody really

27:12high quality out there, but if they really want to do that, they're going to have to be prepared to dish out more than just the federal minimum. So I'm not going to say that they're hamstrung in trying to attempt to sign a defensive tackle, but I'm curious to see what kind of money they devote to the guy if they do indeed sign a defensive tackle. One other point I want to mention, and this has to do with offensive coordinator, Matt Nagy. Now this is something that I hope to get this question in next time, you know, the coordinator speak, but Matt Nagy this past summer spent his game time, two games up in the press box, and one gave down on the field. So this might seem like no big deal to you, but I always find this very interesting. Where is he going to be calling plays from for the regular season?

28:13Because obviously he was trying out upstairs and he was trying out on the field. There are pros and cons to each. Obviously when you're sitting upstairs, you're in a little bit more quiet environment, and you've got a bird's eye view of everything. But what you don't have that you have when you're down on the sideline is the face-to-face communication with the quarterback and the offensive players. And there's something to be said about that, especially when you are dealing with a young quarterback. So I don't know what Matt Nagy has decided or maybe he hasn't decided and maybe John Harboss is going to make that decision for him. But if it were up to me, I'm hoping that Nagy goes to the sideline to call plays, not up in the booth. He can have Greg Roman up in the booth and other guys up in the booth to give them the birds eye view and stuff like that. But I would like to see Nagy down on the field. You might say, well, what differences does it make on this Brian Callahan?

29:16The quarterback's coach is down on the field with Jackson Dart. You need the offensive coordinator down there. You definitely do. And I would hope that's the approach they take. But again, they haven't set it. And what I'd be curious to know if I can get the question into Matt Nagy in the coming week is what advantages and disadvantages do you see given that you're working with a second year quarterback? Is it more advantageous for you to be downstairs than it is to be upstairs? So we'll see how they play it out. You know, defensive coordinator usually there on the field. And if I'm not mistaken, I think Denard Wilson was on the field for all three games. Special teams coordinator Chris Horton also, I think, was on the field for all three games. But really, the offense is where you tend to see sometimes the offensive coordinator obstacle upstairs. So we'll see how that plays out. All right, Jeff, and this is going to do it for this edition of Black Don Giants. Again, thank you so much for spending part of your day with us here on the Black Don Giants

30:18Podcast. Or if you made us your first lesson of the day, appreciate that as well. We'll be back next week with all new episodes. Cross over Thursday. We'll return. We'll have another episode of the squad show. I'll let you know when that's going to be. And we've got so much more coming for you as we get into regular season mode. It is here. And I will see you next week. Giant fans have a great weekend. Every game day, you show up for your team. Now it's your time. We go. We go. Ask your prescriber about Wigovie, some magnified injection 2.4 milligrams, a G.O.P. 1. Call 1-8334 Wigovie or visit Wigovie.com to view the medication guide and to learn more about Wigovie.

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