As the 2013 New York Giants opened training camp over the weekend, they face many questions and doubters. The Giants are no strangers to being ‘discarded’, and have preformed the best while in that position. Both in 2007 and 2011, the Giants were afterthoughts, and wound up shocking the NFL world, beating the New England Patriots in both Super Bowls to become NFL Champions.
Is the 2013 version of the New York Giants better than the 2011 version? Yes, the 2011 team did win the Super Bowl, but they were also 7-7 going into the final 2 weeks of the season. Who knows, but if it weren’t for the Jets covering the Giants previous Super Bowl trophies before meeting in Week 16, would they have won the final 6 games of their season, on the way to capturing their second Super Bowl title in 4 years? Today, let us take at look at the Giants offense, and see why this years’ New York Giants are better than the 2011 New York Giants.
The first reason being their backfield. The Giants have a new look to their backfield this time around, without the likes of Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs. While both of those RB’s helped the Giants to 2 Super Bowl titles, as we all know in the NFL, it is what have you done for me lately. Brandon Jacobs was tailing off the second half of the 2011 season and not brought back for the 2012 campaign. Jacobs was more of an emotional leader than the power back we all became accustomed too seeing, and he sparingly used for the San Francisco 49ers last season. Ahmad Bradshaw’s foot troubles proved too much to overcome, and the Giants could not count on him to become a reliable number 1 back. It is now up to second year pro David Wilson, and Andre Brown to shoulder the Giants running game. David Wilson broke out near the end of the 2012 season, and showed flashes of why the Giants used a rare first round pick on a running back in the 2012 draft. Andre Brown also looked well versed before going down with a broken leg last season. In today’s pass heavy NFL, the running game is not used as much as prior seasons, however with the change of pace that Wilson provides along with his elusiveness, he may become a breakout star for Big Blue in their 2013 campaign. The knock on Wilson is that he is still raw and needs to develop in pass protection situations before becoming a 3 down back. Look for him to get extra reps during training camp, and hopefully he will be able to translate what he learns from the practice field to the game field.
The Giants also have a much improved offensive line this time around. With the addition of Justin Pugh (the Giants 2013 first round pick), look for Eli to feel more comfortable in the pocket than he did last year. David Baas says he feels much better than he did in years past, after undergoing multiple off-season surgeries. Will Beatty also showed tremoundous improvement throughout last season, showing why the Giants used a second round pick on him back in 2009. Chris Snee also underwent off-season surgery, and feels like that should help him for the upcoming season. If the Giants are able to protect Manning like they have in prior season, there should be no reason why Big Blue is not competing for a playoff spot this time around.
Next up, is the receiving corps. With Hakeem Nicks nursing his foot/knee, and Victor Cruz also missing OTA’s during his contract squabble, look for Ruben Randle to take a major leap this year. All the extra repetitions he was afforded during the off-season and OTA’s will become invaluable when it comes to the regular season. In the 2011 Championship campaign, it was Mario Manningham who often found himself as the beneficiary, with 1-on-1 match-ups due to opposing teams focusing in on Nicks and Cruz. This year, Randle will find himself in those positions, and in my opinion, he is better suited for it than Manningham was. The Giants always find a hidden gem to step up in the receiving game, whether it be the ‘other’ Steve Smith, David Tyree, Mario Manningham and even Jake Ballard. This year should be no different, as Eli Manning has another year under his belt and somehow manages to elevate the play of everyone else around him. Manning, like last year has a tight end play with. Martellus Bennett last year had one of his most productive seasons, earning himself a payday from the Chicago Bears. Bennett went quiet in big spots last year, and although it would be nice to have him back, the Giants think Brandon Myers will be able to fill that void. Last year with the Oakland Raiders, Myers was able to haul in 79 passes for 806 yards and 4 touchdowns. The belief is that Myers will be one of the best talents at TE that Eli has had to work with, and look for Myers to become a key focal point of the Giants attack once he fully understands the offensive scheme.
Justin Lerner: PureSportsNY