Star-Ledger: Giants sign new DE
DoctorElefant
<<Giants: Ex-Vikings' defensive end comes aboard
BY MIKE GARAFOLO
Star-Ledger Staff
Chuck Wiley wasn't about to be fooled on national TV. There was no way the
Minnesota Vikings were going to cut a seven-year veteran defensive end who had
started two games this season.
It had to be a prank.
"It was funny. We were getting ready to play the Monday night game (against the
Colts) and I thought I was going to be on that '(You've Been) Sacked!' (ABC's
practical joke halftime segment)," Wiley, the newest member of the Giants, said
yesterday. "I thought it was a joke at first. I was just playing along with it,
let's see how funny this is going to be.
"But it wasn't funny when I was signing papers and on my way out."
There was no punchline. Wiley hadn't been "Sacked" or "Punk'd," as MTV calls
it. He had been released on Nov. 2.
"I think they wanted to keep their young guys and work with their draft picks,"
he said. "And they had some injury problems they needed to fill on offense."
Substitute "defensive line" for "offense" and Wiley easily could have been
talking about his new team: the Giants.
With ends Michael Strahan and Keith Washington out for the season with injuries
suffered in Sunday's loss to Chicago, the Giants went on a two-day, three-night
hunt for linemen to fill the void. They found Wiley one day after activating
Lorenzo Bromell from the physically-unable-to-perform list.
Wiley, 29, is a former third-round pick of the Carolina Panthers who played two
seasons with the Falcons before signing with the Vikings in 2002. He started
all 16 games for Carolina in 1999 and had 67 tackles, but did not register a
sack. He had four of his six career sacks with the Falcons in 1999.
"He has been effective (against) the run," coach Tom Coughlin said. "He is a
big kid, (but) he showed good athleticism and movement in his workout."
Wiley and Bromell will compete with Lance Legree, a tackle who has also played
end, for one of the open spots. The 6-5, 275-pound Wiley will be better served
playing on first and second downs.
Bromell, who had eight sacks in his rookie season with the Dolphins, can be a
good pass rusher when healthy. But he sees himself as a more well-rounded
player.
"I've been told I play the run pretty good," Bromell said before noting also
that he can play anywhere on the line. "In Miami, I went from right end to left
tackle to left defensive end."
Osi Umenyiora, last year's second-round pick, will be needed to fill the other
starting end position. Though he is much smaller than Washington -- about 15
pounds lighter -- he has played well against the run in limited duty.
The problem is that playing Umenyiora full-time will take away from his
effectiveness on third downs. He had been used as a roaming end/linebacker in
the dime package who could blitz from anywhere or drop into coverage.
It was the role in which the Giants felt he would be most disruptive for
opposing offenses. But he won't be able to play it anymore -- at least not
exclusively.
A likely scenario would have rookie linebacker Reggie Torbor playing
Umenyiora's old position in obvious passing situations. Though he was an end in
college, Torbor (6-2, 254) is too small to play on an NFL line.
But he has pass-rushing skills and is quick enough to cover a running back or
tight end in defensive coordinator Tim Lewis' schemes.. He appears to be the
perfect fit to replace Umenyiora, who would line up at end.
"There are multiple things ways that I can contribute," Torbor said. "Whatever
role Coach Lewis puts me in, I'll have to step up. It's up to him really. I
don't think he'd put me in a position where I wouldn't be successful."
Torbor's play and Umenyiora's ability to adjust to a full-time role will
determine if the defense can recover from the loss of Strahan and Washington.
All of the replacements said they are ready to contribute. But none expects to
make the Giants forget about the two players they lost -- especially Strahan, a
future Hall of Famer.
"I'm not trying to be Michael Strahan," Bromell said. "You can't do that
anyway. We just have to do what we have to do to salvage the season.
"Right now, we're at the crossroads. We did pretty well, had a little bit of
adversity. Now we have to dig in because we have eight games left."
>>
DocE
--------
"The future ain't what it used to be." -Yogi Berra
Bill A.
news:20041111023906...@mb-m03.aol.com...
Wiley's background in Atlanta may help us with that game.
Funny, I've never heard someone with a 5-3 team say "We just have to do what
we have to do to salvage the season". 3-5 maybe, or 2-6 for sure, but at
5-3? Or it's a warning and he's really saying they're gonna be really bad
without Sta and Wash.
Bill
Jeff Gersten
have made me wonder how desperate they were, Hopefully, Chuck Wiley will
work out much better for the team.
And in the every could has a silver lining department, at least Strahan
and Washington were not injured before Lorenzo Bromel could be
activated.
GaryFL
Seems like Bromell is still injured. I wonder if he's going to be
active on game days.
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Kevin McClave
wrote:
>I read that they also worked out Kenny Holmes. Signing him again would
>have made me wonder how desperate they were, Hopefully, Chuck Wiley will
>work out much better for the team.
Did Holmes never land anywhere at all? Or did he sign and get cut?
I was no fan of Holmes, but under the circumstances, I don't know that he
would have been that bad a choice. It sounds to me that he's probably had
more NFL success than Wiley has...though not with the Giants.
>And in the every could has a silver lining department, at least Strahan
>and Washington were not injured before Lorenzo Bromel could be
>activated.
The other DLs they signed in the off-season have worked out very well so
far. Let's hope Bromell is the solid contributor that Robbins and Hand
have been. And that Wiley is, too.
=====================================
Kevin McClave
www.kpmcclave.com/splash.html
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere." ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
=====================================
Kevin McClave
>On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 06:33:25 -0500, JeffG...@webtv.net (Jeff
>Gersten) wrote:
>
>>I read that they also worked out Kenny Holmes. Signing him again would
>>have made me wonder how desperate they were, Hopefully, Chuck Wiley will
>>work out much better for the team.
>>
>>And in the every could has a silver lining department, at least Strahan
>>and Washington were not injured before Lorenzo Bromel could be
>>activated.
>
>Seems like Bromell is still injured. I wonder if he's going to be
>active on game days.
I wondered that, too. Especially right away. He may replace Kendrick Allen
on the Inactive list for a couple of weeks.