Breaking Down New York Giants’ Situation at Receiver

In this installment of my New York Giants position previews, I look at the receivers.

 

2015 in Review

There was Odell Beckham Jr., and then there was everyone else.

That’s what the Giants found out the hard way when they had to go at it in Week 16 without their star receiver, suspended for one game after allowing now-former Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman to live rent-free in his head during the previous week’s matchup.

How bad was it? Last season, Beckham finished with 1,450 yards on 96 receptions with 13 touchdowns.

The rest of the Giants receivers who had at least one reception—Ben Edwards, Geremy Davis, Myles White, Hakeem Nicks, Preston Parker, Dwayne Harris and Rueben Randle—combined for 1,408 yards on 115 receptions and 13 touchdowns.

Again, those numbers are combined.

Want more proof of how ineffective the receivers were outside of Beckham? Take a look at the following table:

¡Ay caramba!

 

2016 Outlook: Where Can This Unit Improve?

The 2015 numbers pretty much speak for themselves as far as where the improvements need to come from a statistical perspective.

To get to that point, the first thing the Giants have to do is establish a definite pecking order behind Beckham.

Last year after Victor Cruz went down for the second season in a row, the Giants were left scrambling to find both a consistent No. 2 and No. 3 receiver.

Randle, as the No. 2, ran hot and cold. So too did Harris, who ultimately replaced Parker as the slot receiver.

Were it not for then-offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo’s creativity in moving Beckham around to get favorable matchups, this group’s production could have been a lot worse than what it was.

And while McAdoo remains with the Giants—now as head coach, which ensures his offense remains in place—it’s just a matter of time before some defensive coordinator comes up with a blueprint to minimize Beckham’s effect on the game.

Simply put, the Giants can’t keep going to the well named Beckham.

Using 2015 stats from Pro Football Focus as a base for Beckham’s efficiency, which by the way was 62.6 percent for the season, let’s look at how he did in games in which he was targeted more than 10 times versus games in which he as targeted less than 10 times:

Beckham aside—he was, after all, the Giants’ best and most consistent receiver—another big area in which the receivers can improve is in yards after the catch. Per Pro Football Focus, Beckham led the way, averaging 6.2 yards after the catch, followed by Harris (3.9 YAC) and Randle (3.5 YAC).

 

The X-Factor: Victor Cruz

The 2015 season was supposed to be the year of “the return”—Cruz’s triumphant return to the field after a devastating torn patellar injury suffered the previous October that some initially thought might have been career-ending.

It was not meant to be as Cruz, perhaps thinking he was further along in his rehab than he actually was, went and overdid it during a training camp practice, injuring the calf muscle in his other leg.

The injury was initially not considered serious, yet the days stretched into weeks and then months before Cruz and the Giants finally came clean and admitted that his issue required season-ending surgery.

So “the return” is back on for 2016, with all the same hopeful chatter and proclamations about Cruz feeling great or being ahead of schedule filling the airwaves.

As the old saying, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”

Cruz might very well be ahead of schedule, feeling great and feeling optimistic. But until he gets on the field with pads on and starts going against live competition and has no setbacks as he did last summer, no one will truly know …

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