Mike Groh isn’t one to show his emotions.
The Giants’ receivers coach is affable but not as talkative as his father, Al, was when he was an NFL assistant.
When it comes to speaking to the media, Mike Groh seems like a coach who prefers to stay behind the scenes rather than on the front lines.
But Groh, ever since he was filming an HBO episode of “Hard Knocks” about the Giants this offseason, hasn’t shied away from going all out for his most trusted receiver as the team prepares for the NFL Draft.
You may have seen the story where the Giants, short on receivers, invited three of the top college prospects at the position – Malik Neighbors, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Rome Odunze – to take a look.
“So now you have to decide one of those three?” Giants president and CEO John Mara asked Groh about which one he would choose.
“I choose Neighbours,” Grow said without a moment’s hesitation.
The Giants naturally selected Neighbors with the sixth overall pick and believe they have finally found their No. 1 receiver after years of struggling at the position.
“I have absolute confidence in his performance,” Groh said Sunday. “There’s no doubt what kind of competitor he is and what kind of player he is. He’s risen to any challenge.”
“I read that in the two practices with Detroit, they threw the ball to him 11 times and he caught 10 of them, which is a pretty good percentage.”
The Giants had a mini-crisis late in practice Sunday when Neighbors landed awkwardly and sprained his left ankle, forcing him to miss Monday’s practice. The Giants have been without a true No. 1 receiver since mysteriously trading Odell Beckham Jr. to Cleveland after the 2018 season.
Beckham’s career with the Giants was punctuated by injuries, contract disputes and controversy, but before that, the team featured a top duo in Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks.
Now the Giants are hoping the time has come for Neighbors and last year’s third-round draft pick, Jalin Hyatt, to become a powerful duo.
There’s no question that the most important player on their offense is quarterback Daniel Jones, and if Jones leaves, so does the Giants’ offense.
Jones’ health (which has been a concern due to past injuries) and his performance will undoubtedly be key to the Giants’ success in 2024.
Same goes for Neighbors. If Jones is the offensive line’s 1A, the 21-year-old former LSU star is the 1B.
Early reports about Neighbors have been met with rave reviews from within the organisation.
“He’s shown that he’s a true No. 1 receiver in this league,” Giants defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson said. “Some cornerbacks on other teams are going to have their hands full watching this guy. They’re going to know this guy is a big name.”
“It was good for our guys to play against him. It’s good for our outside cornerbacks to play against him every day because when you play against him you can’t take a break.”
Giants cornerback Nick McCloud agreed: “Obviously he’s different than other guys. You’ve got to be totally focused when you play against him. He’s explosive, he’s smart and he’s going to be able to compete at the highest level.”
The Giants have lost more games than they won the past few seasons, and there are a variety of reasons for Jones’ struggles, but whether you call them excuses is up to you.
Chief among those reasons (excuses?) are injury issues, poor play from the offensive line and a lack of production from the receivers.
The addition of Neighbors, along with 2022 second-round draft pick Wan’Dale Robinson’s return from a knee injury and the addition of Hyatt should remove one of the reasons for Jones’ struggles.
“We transformed the room,” Groh said of the receivers, “definitely the fastest team I’ve ever been around. We can intimidate opponents at every level.”
And no one is a bigger threat than Neighbours.
