When fans and talking heads talk about the prospects for the 2015 New York Football Giants, it’s rare that they talk about the team’s running game. Instead we encounter such questions as:
-- Will Victor Cruz shake off his calf injury, get past last year’s devastating knee injury and return to a Pro Bowl level?
-- Will defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul overcome the loss of his right index finger in a fireworks accident to be an impact player at some point this season?
-- Will rookie safety Landon Collins be the impact player that the Giants will need to keep from allowing 75 points per game?
Rarely is the Giants’ running game mentioned as a key factor in how this team will fare in 2015, and that’s odd considering how important its running backs were to the team’s lack of success in 2014.
New York had the 10th best overall offense in the NFL last year measuring by yards per game. The team had the seventh best passing offense, averaging 267 yards per game –- just ahead of the Packers and the Patriots.
Heady company.
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Its rushing offense, however, was more or less dreadful, ranking 23rd overall and averaging 3.6 yards per carry, which ranked 28th. Worse still, the team had the fewest runs of more than 20 yards (four) of any team in the league.
Nevertheless, Tom Coughlin remained committed to the run -- be it Rashad Jennings (167 carries for 639 yards and four touchdowns) or Andre Williams (217 carries for 721 yards and seven TDs) – and the Giants ranked 10th overall in rushing attempts per game.
A pass-run balance is something to aspire to, but should you really keep slamming Andre Williams into the butts of his offensive lineman? Seems sadistic.
Jennings averaged more than four yards per carry in only three games last year – the three games the Giants won in a row against the Texans, Redskins and Falcons, right before the wheels came off the team's season.
Williams, to be fair, showed intermittent flashes and passed the century mark in two games, including against a tough Rams defense late in the year.
Overall the Giants ran for more than 100 yards in seven games last year, going 5-2 in those contests. Considering the team only won six games all season, it’s pretty clear its running game was central to its fortunes.
The Giants’ offensive line is a big question mark in 2015, with all five positions featuring new starters, including rookie left tackle Ereck Flowers. Will the line gel and provide steady running lanes for Jennings, Williams or –- provided he makes the team -- Orleans Darkwa?
That, to me, is a question that is not receiving enough attention.
The team’s fourth and final preseason game against the Patriots was most notable for the absence of Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. Oddly, Jennings did play in the game, though he only rushed one time for two yards. Meanwhile, Williams carried eight times for 28 yards and Darkwa ran 10 times for 39 yards.
It seems likely that Darkwa, a second-year player, will make the team. That’s good because the former Tulane Wave is the only Giants running back who had a scamper of more than 20 yards this preseason.
Victor Cruz, JPP, the ongoing development of Odell Beckham Jr., and the shoring up of the Giants’ secondary – all popular topics among fans and writers.
But if the Giants’ rushing offense can just finish in the top half of the league, it could help alleviate such concerns.
