A Giant Task: How New York Can Improve Without Adding a Receiver

As the NFL offseason has progressed, the New York Football Giants have been connected to just about every prospective No. 1 wide receiver in both the NFL as well as the NCAA.

There is simply no way around the fact that the Giants' passing game struggled after Plaxico Burress removed himself from the lineup.

In the month of December, Eli Manning threw only two touchdowns, one to a wide receiver. But was Plaxico Burress’ absence truly the reason The Giants struggled?

The day that Plaxico Burress shot himself, New York traveled to Washington to face The Redskins. During that game, Eli Manning threw for 267 yards and a touchdown in the first half, which was played outdoors.

Clearly the Giants had the capacity to succeed in their passing game minus Burress, so it begs the question as to where the deficiency in the passing game truly lies. Allow me to dissect the facts in an attempt to get to the bottom of it.

Plaxico Burress lined up to Eli Manning’s left whenever he stepped on the field (he may have gone in motion, but that was a rarity for Plaxico in The Giants’ offense).

When throwing to his left, Eli Manning had a 69.1 completion percentage, with seven touchdowns and only two interceptions. To his right, his completion percentage was not far off, sitting at 68.7 with four touchdowns and two interceptions.

As Eagles defensive coordinator so eloquently stated, Plaxico Burress was the best player he ever had to plan against.

That said, his plan would frequently allot Burress a safety over the top as well as a linebacker underneath to take away certain shorter routes. When that amount of attention is given to any one player, it becomes much simpler to put together an offensive game plan.

The most interesting statistic is the following: in two wide receiver sets this season, Eli Manning was 18th in the conference in passer rating (69.8), ahead of only Rex Grossman and Shaun Hill. This is a very telling statistic, as Amani Toomer (known for disappearing at times in his career) was playing at a very inadequate level.

In three wide receiver sets, Eli was sixth in the conference, with an 84.3 rating. Moreover, in four wide receiver sets, Eli put up a rating of 93.8, the best of any quarterback in the conference (who played a full season).

Now, allow me to consider the implications of Jim Johnson’s (and surely others, as he did have the best way to shut down Plaxico despite having some of his best games against Philadelphia) said coverage on The Giant’s strategy offensively.

New York would simplify the game plan for Eli Manning by cutting his reads in half, ignoring the side of the field that all the coverages were rolled to (which makes total sense considering that almost all the coverage was on one side of the field).

Amani Toomer (who I did previously knock, but he knows more about the Giants offense than do any of us) confirmed this when asked if the game plan (each week down the stretch) was in Eli Manning’s hands.

In response to that, he said “Yeah, but I don't think he's back there footloose and fancy-free. They (Kevin Gilbride) have an agenda. They (Gilbride and Eli) have their little quarterback meetings on Thursday for a reason. And they don't just have them and not have the receivers and anybody else who's involved in the offense around for a reason.”

When the Giants were victorious in Burress’ absence, the ratio of passes to the left and the right sides was nearly 1:1, whereas when they faltered, New York threw almost exclusively left (Hixon’s side).

What does all that mean?

First and foremost, it confirms my suspicion that New York reduced Manning’s reads to one half of the field, and it also confirms that Toomer was not an adequate target. With him being inadequate, it is understandable why they would remove him from the reads, yet asinine why they would not remove him from the lineup.

In all of this, the target of my ire is offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride.

The statistics regarding Manning’s rating are very telling; when Eli is given enough adequate targets, he thrived.

Without Plaxico, Eli’s only real adequate target was Domenik Hixon. In only seven games started, Hixon had 43 catches and 596 yards. With 2008 being Hixon’s second season in the league, he was essentially a rookie receiver (he also only started playing receiver his third year of college at Akron).

For the less informed, those statistics are very good for any rookie, and I personally view Hixon as a player with a lot of room for improvement.

Steve Smith was Eli Manning’s most reliable target, as he was fourth in the NFC with 22 third down receptions, and should be the number two target on Big Blue next season.

Sinorice Moss was thrown at 12 times the entirety of the season, and caught 12 passes.

All that any of the aforementioned statistics, assumptions, and recollections are indicative of are the fact that the New York Giants have a few blossoming young receivers who have proved in limited work that they can contribute (put the tape of the Seattle, Arizona, Carolina, or even Pitts burgh on for proof of this), that Toomer was a big part of the passing game’s decline, and that offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride is a fool.

I think the “Plaxico Burress effect” (drawing constant double and even triple coverages) has been extremely exaggerated in the mind of New York fans. I understand that a few hours of post season football can change a lot, but the sense of urgency resulting in the interest of every receiver in the league in totally unwarranted.

There is more than just some truth to the fact that New York struggled (especially on the ground) when Burress was not in the lineup, but Plaxico himself was not the reason for the decline of The Giant offense.

All that having a “number one receiver” does is cause the defense to play loose on the supporting cast of receivers and keeps the safeties back out of respect for the deep threat. Furthermore, there are fewer blitzes, pressures, and so on, and the quarterback can step up in the pocket and deliver with plenty of time.

There are a myriad of ways to replace that presence.

The first one that comes to mind is that you sell the farm for a number one receiver who will demand double coverage. That is what everyone on Bleacher Report and ESPN has been fixated on (and I can assure that Reese won’t do).

The best way to address the offensive issue is to line up the best receiver on the roster out wide, who can be enough of a threat to draw the attention of the opponent’s best corner.

Someone like Hixon has already proven that he can make plays, and I am convinced that this will continue to be the case, helping fill that role of “threat” which draws the opponents’ best corner.

With Steve Smith across from Hixon, teams will be forced to line up their number two corner across from him. Smith has shown in both of his first two seasons that he runs great routes, is always where he needs to be, and has great hands.

With that in mind, teams will regret playing man coverage on Smith, as he can be reliable enough to get open in man coverage situations almost every time.

Here is where opponents will truly pay in 2009.

Mario Manningham will be in the slot where he cannot be played physically (pressed). Manningham has the potential to be an explosive playmaker who can get behind defenses on a play to play basis.

If he is in the slot, he will average over 20 yards a reception without a doubt. Add Kevin Boss to the mix, who can hardly be defended with a linebacker, and The New York passing game is in great shape.

If opponents line safeties at the line of scrimmage, you can rest assured that they will pay for it in the form of long completions by the aforementioned group.

What I outlined above is only a microcosm of the strategy itself, and there is a plethora of ways to manifest it in the game. The "Plaxico effect" is how one forces the defense to play honestly, yielding an effective offensive approach.

The solutions have nothing to do with dealing valuable draft picks for Braylon Edwards or Anquan Boldin.

In short, an approach (which Gilbride will be largely responsible for) which plays to the strengths of our current receivers will undeniably result in an even better offense than New York sported in 2009.

How can Edwards and Boldin not being in the lineup allow the team to be better?

New York’s defense is very close to being one of, if not the best in the league. That said, with one or two more versatile players in the fray who can help make the Giants’ pass rush more effective by forcing mistakes, New York will have the top defense in the league.

Defense wins championships, and the most sure-fire way to improve in that aspect of things is by bringing in young talent through the draft.

That strategy will be severely compromised by dealing away high draft picks for a receiver.

I am not opposed to obtaining one, but price is the prime factor.