Giants news, 9/24: Eli Manning’s early days, Azeez Ojulari, more

New York Giants headlines for Friday

Good morning, New York Giants fans!

David Cutcliffe was early witness to Eli Manning’s greatness

A side of Eli we don’t hear much about: the redshirt freshman practical joker.

“What I would call Eli is: a great crossover leader,” Cutcliffe said. “Because it’s defense, it’s offense, it’s any position. He has the ability of not taking himself too seriously, there’s no ego. He’s easy to like he’s sincere, he’s all of those things. Easy E you know? There’s a lot of people that play with the intensity he has that kinda carry that intensity around all the time or maybe can even be a little standoffish but not Eli, he’s pretty much an open book. He’s a lot of fun.

“He puts my phone in foreign languages, he takes my computer, and when he comes in the past to come work out, I go in there and there’s all these crazy things on my computer and I can’t undo it,” Cutcliffe said. “I have to go get IT people. Some of ’em I can’t even say. He’s just Eli. You better have your guard up.”

1 Player on Every NFL Team Who Has Earned More Playing Time

Azeez Ojulari has recorded a sack in both games this year while playing 52 and 63 percent of defensive snaps. B.J. Hill also gets some recognition for the Cincinnati Bengals.

NFL Week 3: Key matchups and storylines for all 16 games

Biggest storyline: Atlanta’s offense has been one of NFL’s worst through two weeks

There was excitement surrounding Atlanta’s offense entering the year, even after the loss of Julio Jones. Arthur Smith joined as head coach after orchestrating one of the league’s most efficient offenses the past two seasons in Tennessee, and the Falcons drafted the dynamic Kyle Pitts in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

That excitement has quickly turned to disappointment. The Falcons have earned a higher EPA per play than only the Dolphins and Jets entering Week 3.

Matt Ryan’s 5.0-yard average depth of target (31st) is a stark departure from 2020 when his 9.3-yard mark ranked sixth among qualifiers. It’s just one area where you can see the impact of Atlanta’s troubles along the offensive line.

Fantasy Panic Index: Who to Hold and Who to Bench

Saquon Barkley is “on the hot seat” — though I’m not sure who would actually bench him.

Bleacher Report’s Expert Week 3 NFL Picks

Four out of six analysts pick the Giants over Atlanta.

Behind Enemy Lines: Five Questions with Falcon Report’s Dave Holcomb

Ranking 0-2 NFL teams in 2021 – Could the winless Giants, Colts, Vikings and others still make the playoffs?

In case you missed it

• Giants vs. Falcons injury news: Kadarius Toney limited on Thursday with ankle injury
• Giants’ injury updates: Nick Gates’ injury career-threatening? Shane Lemieux back this season?
• Giants’ OC Jason Garrett downplays sideline incident with Kenny Golladay
• Giants’ DC Patrick Graham: “I’ve gotta do a better job”

BBV podcast

You can find and subscribe to Big Blue View radio from the show’s home page.

You can find all the shows on our Big Blue View Radio Hub Page.

You can also find the shows and subscribe on all your favorite podcast apps:

Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS

BBV social platforms

BBV on Twitter | BBV on Facebook | BBV on Instagram | BBV Radio (available on all of your favorite podcast platforms) | BBV on YouTube

BBV mailbag

Have a Giants-related question? E-mail it to bigblueview@gmail.com and it might be featured in our weekly mailbag.