New York Giants QB Eli Manning

Before we know it, we will blink and NFL training camps will start.  The New York Giants have been pretty quiet for the most part this offseason.  That is, they have been compared to last.

Here’s a look, position by position, at the current Giants offensive roster before it heads to training camp.

Quarterbacks
Obviously there’s no worry here.  Eli Manning will of course head to position and responsibility of leading the Giants offense.  Now that he has two Super Bowl MVP’s, there are no doubts whether or not he can handle it.  His back-up is David Carr, whose press conference for his re-signing we are still waiting for (snicker).

This will be Carr’s third season with the Giants as the second-string QB, and has only seen one stint of playing time with the team.  It was in 2009 when the Giants blew out the Oakland Raiders and decided to give Manning the rest of the day off.  Carr may not see much playing time…again…but if heaven forbid something happens to Manning, I believe the Giants have a solid back-up in Carr.  He knows the Giants playbook and studies it every week.

Wide Receivers
Last season, the Giants had an unstoppable trio of receivers in Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz, and Mario Manningham.  No matter where opposing defenses forced Manning to throw, there was a reliable receiver ready to catch the ball.  That trio is currently broken up.  Manningham left New York for San Francisco, and Nicks is recovering from a fractured foot.  Nicks is expected to recover in time for the start of the season, but until then, what?  There’s still one spot left to be that third guy.  That guy that will make the third down catches.

Luckily for the Giants they have some depth.  Domenik Hixon is returning from missing his second straight season with a second straight ACL tear.  He’ll be used, but should be with caution.  Ramses Barden, who was drafted by the Giants in 2009, is looking to redeem himself of three miserable seasons.  In three years he has 15 catches and 174 yards.  Ouch.  If he has game in him, then this is the opportunity to show it.  If he still can’t prove his worth, then the Giants need to move on.

Finally, there is the rookie Rueben Randle of LSU.  There is a lot of hype around this kid, especially from GM Jerry Reese.  Reese claims him to be “NFL ready” and a lot of analysts called this Giants pick a steal.  NFL ready or not, he is young and still need to develop.  I can see the Giants using him for some of those third down catches, but he may not necessarily be the “third down guy”.

Tight Ends
Yes, the Giants made a mistake when they lost Jake Ballard to the New England Patriots.  But there’s one thing everyone needs to remember:  With or without Ballard, the TEs are limited.  Ballard had a bad ACL tear to his right knee and was ruled out for the entire 2012 season after he failed a physical.  Travis Beckum also tore his ACL.  It’s possible Beckum could be available for the season, but he obviously would be limited.

The Giants have two key players to turn to.  Bear Pascoe has the most experience with the Giants of all the TEs on the roster.  He was the second man to go to after Kevin Boss in 2010 and Ballard in 2011.  Unless another player steps up to the plate as the starting TE, Pascoe will be the guy.

That player that could possibly be Martellus Bennett.  The Giants signed Bennett after he played his first four seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.  He went from being the number two guy behind Jason Witten to now hopefully getting a starting role with New York.  In his career with Dallas, he has 85 receptions for 846 yards and four touchdowns.

Rookie Adrien Robinson can also have a chance to show what he’s capable of, but he has to outshine a ton of TE’s that saw no playing time last season.  I think the show for TE’s this training camp will be an interesting one.

Running Backs
Like the WR situation, the Giants lost veteran Brandon Jacobs when they could not reach a new contract agreement.  Jacobs is now with San Francisco.  Who do they have left?

The Giants have some depth, but it’s not as deep as the WRs.  Ahmad Bradshaw will continue to assume the starting role responsibilities, however he is recovering from a fracture in his foot.  He’ll be healthy to participate in training camp and start the season off, but he’s injury prone.  The Giants need to finalize some reliable backups.

First round draft pick David Wilson from Virginia Tech would be an easy choice, but like Randle he’ll need to develop enough in time to play a key role.  I don’t think he’ll have much of an issue making a statement in training camp, but it’s the question of transitioning onto the regular season field that is always the up in the air for rookies.

The Giants also have DJ Ware who is, in my opinion, pretty underrated.  I’m a little surprised he wasn’t used more, especially when both Jacobs and Bradshaw were battling injuries.  Ware had 46 carries for 163 yards and averaged 3.5 yards per carry.  He showed last season that he has the speed to break through the defensive lines.  I think he should be used more in 2012.

Offensive Line
In 2011, the offensive line behind Eli Manning was pretty horrific.  Manning was sacked 28 times during the regular season.  He’s a tough QB, but no one should have to take that many hits.  Kareem McKenzie failed to do his job of protecting Manning, which probably explains the reason why he’s not back with the team.

The key behind the Giants becoming a strong offensive line is a healthy David Baas.  Baas was brought to the team in 2011 hoping to hone his skills, but he was riddled with injuries that sidelined him for most of the season.

The tackles have a highly important role this season.  They really need to step up and provide better protection for Manning.  David Diehl and Will Beatty will be the go-to guys to protect, and hopefully Sean Locklear can bring a verteran and leadership presence to make the position stronger.

Special Teams
The special teams played a huge role in the Giants run for the Super Bowl.

Their kicker Lawrence Tynes made the crucial FG that put them in the big game, but it was the work of punter Steve Weatherford that made a huge difference.  Weatherford punted for 3,745 yards in the regular season average 45.7 yards.  In the postseason he managed to put the ball deep into the opposing teams end, making it extra difficult to come back down the field.

Overall the New York Giants offense is almost, just almost a match to last year.  A few tweaks here and there and they’ll be better.  The biggest challenge will be getting the offensive line a lot stronger.  A strong o-line gives more freedom to Manning.

Bear Pascoe (PHOTO: Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Last week, Giants GM Jerry Reese took a gamble by placing starting TE Jake Ballard on waivers.  Ballard tore his ACL during Super Bowl XLVI and failed a physical before minicamp.  Reese’s plan was to reclaim Ballard and place him on the PUP-list.

Unfortunately the plan backfired when the New England Patriots scooped Ballard away from the Giants.

Even if Ballard was still a Giant, the team needed to address the TE situation.  Who will be the go-to guy?

The first guy to look at is Bear Pascoe.  The Giants have used him over the years as a second TE behind Ballard and Kevin Boss.  Of all the TE’s he has the most experience with the team and will be looked at to lead the staff.

In 2011 Pascoe played eight out of the 17 Week season.  He had 12 receptions for 136 yards, but no touchdowns.  He made a big impact for the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI with four receptions for 33 yards.

The irony behind all of this is Pascoe and Ballard are good friends and were roommates during their time with the Giants.  Now Pascoe will likely be taking over Ballard’s job.

But as we know, Pascoe can’t do it all.  Travis Beckum is also recovering from a torn ACL, but is expected to play next season.  However, it’s not likely he’ll recover enough to be a full time starter.  The number two guy they should look at is Martellus Bennett.

The Giants acquired Bennett this offseason from the Dallas Cowboys.  He’s 6’6″ and weighs in at 296lbs.  During his four years in Dallas he had 85 receptions for 846 yards.  He has decent speed that could give Eli Manning another moving target on the field in place of Ballard.

After being the number two guy behind Jason Witten in Dallas, Bennett is probably hungry for this opportunity to show the Giants what he’s capable of doing.  Pascoe is the starter for now, but Bennett won’t make it easy.

Rookie Adrien Robinson from Cincinnati can also have a shot at playing a role this season.  However, it’s still too early in the offseason to make any real determinations.  The Giants will have a better idea of what to do with him when training camp arrives.

After losing Kevin Boss, Kevin Gilbride and his coaches were able to train Jake Ballard enough to be a quality starter.  The Giants would not have won Super Bowl XLVI without him.  They have Pascoe ready to go, but need another TE to take the charge.  Bennett is the guy to play that role.

The 2012 NFL draft finally came and is already gone.  The New York Giants wasted no time addressing a lot of their biggest needs to help the team march toward defending their Super Bowl title.

In the first round on Thursday night, the Giants selected David Wilson, the RB out of Virginia Tech.

Brian Spurlock/US PRESSWIR

I was surprised the Giants went with a RB in the first round.  However, Wilson is a great player.  He is 5’9″ and 209lbs.

Everywhere I read talks about Wilson’s off-field personality.  How he’s a well dressed young man that always has a smile on his face.  However, the Giants did not draft him for his smile or personality.

In 2011 he rushed for 1,709 yards, won the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year, and ran the 40 yard dash in 4.49 seconds at the combine.

Despite the Giants winning Super Bowl XLVI, their rushing game finished last in all of the NFL.  Ahmad Brandshaw and Brandon Jacbos both suffered injuries and missed a few weeks and DJ Ware had to pick up the slack.  The Giants released Jacobs and Bradshaw is recovering from a stress fracture in his foot.  Wilson will be a great addition to the depleting RB position.

He recently posted a YouTube video of himself doing 21 backflips.  The Giants now how two extremely athletic, backflipping athletes in Wilson and Jason Pierre-Paul.

http://youtu.be/hLUHG2mWhEQ

With Wilson’s height and speed he is going to have a great advantage against defenses.  It’s going to be very hard to catch him.

John McCusker / The Times-Picayune

Friday night in the second round, the Giants selected Reuben Randle, the WR out of LSU.

I really love this pick.  The Giants originally considered picking up Randle in the first round before choosing Wilson.

Randle is 6’3″, 210 lbs and GM Jerry Reese believes that Randle is NFL ready.  Randle is going to be a perfect fit alongside Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz.  No disrespect to Mario Manningham, but I believe Randle eventually is going to have an even bigger impact on this Giants team.  Whether it’s next season, or the one after.

Randle wasn’t a stand-out wide receiver in 2011, due to the fact that LSU threw an SEC low of 279 passes. However, when opportunity came, Randle didn’t pass it up.

He finished the 2011 season with 917 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.  He has five career 100-yard receiving games, four of which were in 2011 alone.

In the third round Friday night the Giants selected Jayron Hosley, CB from Virginia Tech.

Hosley is 5’10″ and 178lbs.  He has a great physically presence about him that the Giants love.

Sam Sharpe/US Presswire

Hosley did, however, fail a drug test at the combine after testing positive for marijuana.  The Giants were well aware of the situation and have talked with Hosley about it and plan taking it professionally when he arrives at Giants camp.

In 2010 Hosley led all college players with nine interceptions, and fell three short of that mark in 2011.  However, coach Tom Coughlin believes that it was because of his big year in 2010 that quarterbacks started to avoid throwing in his direction.

Hosley will be a great addition for the Giants secondary, which was riddled with injuries last season.  Terrell Thomas,Prince Amukamara, and Cory Webster are all coming off injuries that sidelined them throughout the season.

Hosley finished 11th 2011 in punt returns with a 12.67 average.  Domenik Hixon is coming off his second season in a row recovering from a torn ACL.  Hosley can be a big help with returning punts and kickoffs and provide a lower risk for Hixon reinjuring his knee.

In the fourth round the Giants selected Adrien Robinson, the TE from Cincinnati.

Despite what other analysts were predicting, I still didn’t think the Giants were going to

The Enquirer/Joseph Fuqua II

select a TE in the draft.  Even though they did lose both Jake Ballard and Travis Beckum to ACL injuries, they still have Bear Pascoe and acquired Martellus Bennett from Dallas.

Robinson is 6’4″ and 264lbs and ran 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the combine.  His speed and athleticism caught the eyes of the Giants scouts.  Speed is something the Giants were lacking in the TE position.

The Giants had a second pick in the fourth round and drafted Brandon Mosley.  An OT from Auburn.

Mosley is 6’3″ and 318lbs.  He was the backup OT for Auburn at the start of 2010 and was the started by the time the season ended.

Vasha Hunt / Opelika-Auburn News

It doesn’t look the like the Giants are planning on resigning Kareem McKenzie after the signing of Sean Locklear.  Mosley will have time to work with guys like David Diehl and Will Beatty and developing into a solid tackle.

What Eli Manning was missing from his offensive line last season was protection from his OT.  McKenzie did not provide that protection.  Hopefully one day Mosley will.

The Giants drafted a second OT in the sixth round.  They selected Matt McCants from UAB. He started 42 games for UAB last season.  McCants will only work to try and strengthen the OT position that was very weak last season.  The Giants still have James Brewer, who was drafted last year, but did not play.

The Giants made their final pick in the seventh round, and that pick was Markus Kuhn, the DT from NC State.

Kuhn is from Weinheim, Germany and is the third Euro-trained player to be drafted in NFL history.  He is 6’4″ and 303lbs.

Kuhn was introduced to the game in Germany and played for a the club Weinheim Longhorns before he came to the United States in search of a college scholarship.  He finished the 2011 season with 45 tackles and 4.5 sacks.

Kuhn’s size and power gives him an advantage and can really solidify the DT position if there are injuries to starters.

Overall, my grade for the Giants in this year’s NFL draft is an A.  I think they were able to collect some of the best players available and were able to address current issues the team was facing.

They Giants pretty much have the same team they had that won the Super Bowl, and even with losing some players they have gained valuable replacements.  Giants fans should be very excited going forward toward the new season.