Giants Should Use Sorgi To Slow Down Peyton And The Colts

Zach Berman of the New Jersey Star-Ledger has a good piece on New York Giants backup quarterback Jimi Sorgi.

Well, he’s not exactly the backup anymore, thanks to shoulder surgery that will sideline him for the entire season. Still, Sorgi remains on the roster and as Berman writes, clearly knows the Indy offense better than just about anyone.

“Sorgi said he knows the strengths and weaknesses of the Colts’ offensive personnel. He was on the Colts longer than all but nine players on their current roster. He worked with Manning and former offensive coordinator Tom Moore, who installed the system that perennially keeps the Colts among the top offensive teams in the league.”

As someone who spent six years with the league’s best QB (with apologies to Drew Brees), Sorgi could undoubtedly provide the Giants coaching staff with useful information on Manning’s offense… or am I wrong? Apparently, he hasn’t been asked.

For his part, Sorgi is pretty generous in praise for his former team and mentor:

“I can give the defense all the information that I can, and it’s, ‘Can we get to Peyton? Can we knock him down? Can we get to him before the ball’s out?’ You can know what route’s coming and still not cover it.”

“When it’s crunch time, they’re going to run the same play they ran 10 years ago in that situation,” Sorgi said. “They just feel they got the best quarterback, the best receivers, the best O-line, and they’re going to execute better than the defense will.”

Still, I’m not buying it. I know Tom Coughlin is a very good head coach and that Perry Fewell has been impressive as the defensive coordinator, but it makes no sense to waste a potentially valuable asset. Nobody can tell me those guys know more about Manning, Reggie Wayne and their teammates than Sorgi. The picture above was commonplace for more than half a decade.

At the very least, he should be able to give Coughlin and company tips on what to avoid, by explaining what Peyton looks for pre-snap to pick defenses apart. Sorgi watched the guy in practice, studied film alongside him and helped diagram the playbook… for six years!

I’ll let people in on a not-so-well-kept secret: I’m a Giants fan, and I’m rooting for little brother Eli to even the score on Sunday night. But please Tom, ask Jim Sorgi to help you this week, both for you and me.

It can’t hurt.

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Dan Levine is the Editor-in-Chief for Rivalspot.com. You can contact him at danlevine@rivalspot.com.