Let’s open it up and take a look

Let’s open up the Big Blue View mailbag and see what New York Giants fans have on their minds as we await the 2018 Super Bowl between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots.

Patrick Calvert (pataroons) asks: If you could take one player from each of the Super Bowl contenders and put him in a Giants’ uniform, which players would you choose and why?

Ed says: Oh man, it always makes me squirm when somebody throws my own favorite question back at me. So, here goes. Oh, and ‘pataroons,’ you’re banned!

Patriots — Will Tye! Just kidding, of course. The truly amazing thing about this question is that as often as the Patriots win it is ridiculously difficult to answer. Maybe that is why they win so much. Yes, they have Tom Brady but a 40-year-old Quarterback isn’t the right choice. They have Rob Gronkowski, but his body is held together by duct tape and the Giants have Evan Engram.

So, where do you go from there? Running back Dion Lewis? Cornerback Malcolm Butler? Placekicker Stephen Gostkowski? I’m going to go with safety Devin McCourty. Even though he will be 31 next season I would love to see what McCourty could do paired with Landon Collins.

If you guys have a better idea on this one, I’m listening.

Eagles — I have always been an Eli Manning booster, but this one is a no-brainer for me. I’m taking Carson Wentz all day, every day. Sorry, Eli. There is your franchise quarterback for the next decade.

Tony Del Genio asks: High first-round QBs have been hit-and-miss in recent years, with many mediocre or worse results (Bradford, Locker, Gabbert, Griffin, Tannehill, Bortles). All this year’s QBs have question marks or need work. Only Cleveland, Denver, and the Jets in the top 10 seem likely to draft a QB. Meanwhile, the Giants have multiple immediate OT and LB needs. If a trade-down chance in the top 10 for a 1st and a 2nd came up, would you take it, use it for who is left among Rosen, Darnold, Allen, Mayfield, then go OT and LB in 2, OT in 3, and LB in 4? Or even OT or LB in 1 and wait until 2 for a QB? If not, do you see a strategy for satisfying the QB, OT, and LB needs given the Giants’ cap space limitations?

Ed says: In different ways, Tony and Seth have both asked the “what might a trade down from No. 2 look like” question. So, let’s have a look.

In my view, trading down from No. 2 makes a lot of sense for the Giants. Maybe the player they ABSOLUTELY WANT is at No. 2 and they don’t want to take any risk that he wouldn’t be there later. In that scenario, you take him second overall. Here are some trade down scenarios:

Cleveland Browns at No. 4: Let’s suppose new Cleveland GM John Dorsey takes the quarterback he wants first overall — for argument’s sake we’ll say that is USC’s Sam Darnold. What if Dorsey, with five picks in the first two rounds and 12 overall, wants to go for the home run here, is dying for either Penn State running back Saquon Barkley or N.C. State defensive end Bradley Chubb and wants to get ahead of the Giants and Indianapolis Colts, who have the No. 3 pick.

The traditional trade value chart shows the No. 2 pick worth 800 more points than the No. 4 pick. Based off that, the Giants could ask Cleveland for their second-round pick (No. 35) worth 550 points and first pick in the third round (No. 65 overall) worth 230. So, in exchange for the No. 2 pick the Giants end up with four picks between No. 4 and 65, and STILL get a QB at No. 4. The Colts, with Andrew Luck, are not taking a quarterback that high.

Denver Broncos at No. 5 or New York Jets at No. 6: Let’s assume for our purposes that one of those teams signs Kirk Cousins, leaving the other one desperate to make sure it gets the quarterback it wants. By the trade value chart, there is a 900-point difference between the No. 2 and 5 picks, and a 1,000-point difference between Nos. 2 and 6.

The Broncos would need to give the Giants their second-round pick 40th, 500 points), third-round pick (71st, 235 points) and something else.

The Jets would be a great dance partner here. Gang Green has two second-round picks (37th, 510 points) and 49th (410 points).

In any of those scenarios, the Giants could still find a quarterback — maybe even the one they want the most — and have extra high draft picks to add offensive linemen, linebackers and to simply supplement a roster that needs help after a 3-13 season.

Ed says: All of the speculation at this point is centering on Duce Staley being most likely to fill that role, and that makes sense to me.

Staley is, of course, a former player and has been on the Eagles’ staff since 2011. He worked with Pat Shurmur for three years in Philly. By all accounts, he seems to be a good coach and seems ready for a step forward in his career, which this would be.

I know that John DeFilippo is a hot name out there. Here is the thing, though — he has been an offensive coordinator and play caller before, and is already getting some head-coaching interest. Shurmur will install his own offense and call his own plays in New York. A job without those responsibilities wouldn’t really be a step up for DeFilippo, so I don’t know why he would do it. Plus, there is no prior working relationship between Shurmur and DeFilippo.

As for Steve Spagnuolo, he acknowledged the other day that itis getting late in the hiring cycle and he could wind up on the outside looking in for the 2018 season. I don’t know if anyone would hire Spags as defensive coordinator for 2019 — he might have to go back to working as a position coach.

I honestly wonder if Spags would have any interest in a college head coaching job. I think it’s a role he would be well-suited for. He is the kind of man parents would want their sons to play for.

Ed says: I think you will see noticeable differences on both sides of the ball.

Offensively, Shurmur doesn’t appear married to one particular way of doing things. I believe you will see multiple personnel changes on the offensive line. You may see changes at running back. You may see changes in how Evan Engram is utilized.

Defensively, James Bettcher ran a 3-4 base with a lot of multiplicity while with the Arizona Cardinals. That means some 3-4, some 4-3, some fronts with only a couple of guys down and a lot of guys standing and moving around. The Giants need some help at linebacker regardless of the scheme. They need another pass rusher. They have a lot of decisions to make in the secondary. So, no doubt the defense is going to look different.