5 New York Giants Who Need to Perform Better in Week 3

Ask any member of the New York Giants about what the team has to do to get back to its winning ways, and he'll probably tell you that the Giants have to execute better, do their jobs and start making plays.

It sounds simple enough in principle, but the fact remains that in order to make plays, a team needs for every individual to execute his individual assignments.

With that said, let’s look at five players who through two weeks of action have underwhelmed with their performance—and why they have underwhelmed. 

Receiver Victor Cruz

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When you think of the leading receiver on the Giants, you would naturally think that it would be the team’s No. 1 receiver, in this case Victor Cruz.

However, that’s not the case. After two weeks Cruz is actually third on the team in both receptions (seven) and receiving yards (84) behind tight end Larry Donnell and running back Rashad Jennings.

Let’s break down the numbers further.

Per data culled from various pages on Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Cruz has been targeted in the passing game 16 times, Donnell 17 times and Jennings nine times.

That means Donnell has caught 70.6 percent of his pass targets (with zero drops and one touchdown); Jennings has caught 88.9 percent of his targets (with one drop), and Cruz has caught 43.8 percent of his targets with four drops.

Taking Cruz’s performance a step further, let’s look at how he’s done working from the slot, where he’s made his living in the past. 

Out of the five receivers league-wide who have taken at least 75 percent of their snaps in the slot, Cruz, who has been in the slot 91.9 percent of the time, is ranked dead last with a 40.0 percent catch rate.

He’s run 68 out of 74 of his routes from the slot, been targeted 15 times and has caught six balls for 79 of his yards, with all four of his drops coming from the slot. 

Cruz also hasn’t caught a touchdown reception in 12 games, his last score coming in Week 4 of the 2013 season against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Those numbers are simply not good enough for the No. 1 receiver. It’s still early in the season, so perhaps as quarterback Eli Manning and the Giants passing game become more comfortable with what they’re doing, the numbers will start to build for Cruz.

They’ll need to if the Giants hope to win.

Linebacker Jacquian Williams

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After having a strong training camp and preseason, Jacquian Williams, the Giants’ weak-side linebacker, has slipped back into mediocrity.

An every-down linebacker, Williams is supposed to be the Giants’ best option in coverage. However, that hasn’t been the case, as he’s struggled to show any instinct when it comes to making the plays that need to be made with any kind of consistency.

Per Pro Football Focus, he’s allowed 75 percent of the passes thrown at him to be completed for 77 yards, 43 coming after the catch for a putrid 104.7 NFL rating.  

Let’s talk about tackling, the most fundamental of skills for a football player.

According to PFF’s signature stats, Williams has four tackles against the run, three for stops and only one miss. That’s not bad production.

Against the pass, however, is another story. In 68 passing plays, Williams has six tackles, three stops and two missed tackles.

The reason for the missed tackles? Poor angles and a lack of anticipation as to where the play is going.

Williams has the physical tools to be the best weak-side linebacker this team has seen since Michael Boley.

However, at this point, it’s unknown if he’ll fully develop the instincts needed to play the position at a level that matches his physical talents. 

Center J.D. Walton

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Center J.D. Walton probably isn’t going anywhere, not with the injury situation being what it is on the offensive line.

However, Walton, who signed a two-year deal as a free agent this offseason, is apparently keeping the seat warm until the Giants can move second-round pick Weston Richburg in at center—a move that could potentially come next year if not sooner.

Getting back to Walton, his Week 2 pass- and run-blocking grades from Pro Football Focus were minus-1.4 and minus-1.2 respectively, leading to a minus-3.3 overall grade, which puts him 22nd out of 25 starting centers in the league.

According to the Week 2 issue of Inside Football (subscription required), Walton lacks the balance necessary to sustain his blocks, which is why he seems to get tossed aside at times.  

The balance issues could be related to his ankle issue that kept him out of football last year, or it could just be an overall lack of athleticism.

While an eventual move to Richburg at center is in the cards, the rookie is in need of additional bulk in order to better hold up in the middle.

Still, it will be interesting to see what the coaches decide to do when Geoff Schwartz returns to the lineup, as it would be surprising if they put Richburg back on the bench.

Defensive End Mathias Kiwanuka

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The good news is that after two games, defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka is no longer Pro Football Focus’ lowest-graded 4-3 defensive end in the NFL (based on having taken 75 percent of his team’s snaps).

The bad news is that his overall grade is still in the red—a minus-2.0 to be exact—which puts him 15th on the list of the 19 4-3 defensive ends who have taken 75 percent or more of their team’s snaps so far.

As a run-stopper, Kiwanuka’ s run-stopping percentage is 4.9, which is the percentage of runs he’s stopped cold that have come at him.

Teammate Jason Pierre-Paul, on the other hand, leads 4-3 defensive ends who have taken at least 75 percent of their team’s snaps with an 11.1 run-stopping percentage.

In Week 2 Kiwanuka played a little better than he did in the season opener, but long gone are the days of him winning the majority of his solo blocks.

Kiwanuka has always been a solid and reliable player, but he simply doesn’t make enough plays on the edge.

With teams knowing they can devote a single blocker to him, that allows them to funnel resources toward stopping Pierre-Paul, a contributing factor in the lack of a pass rush.  

It wouldn’t be surprising if by the end of the season either Robert Ayers or Damontre Moore passes Kiwanuka on the depth chart.

Receiver Rueben Randle

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Rueben Randle, the Giants’ No. 2 receiver, has also been inconsistent so far this year.

He’s currently tied for fifth on the team (with Jerrel Jernigan) with six receptions for 40 yards, though Randle is the only one of the wide receivers to have a touchdown reception so far. 

Still, let’s take a closer look at his production—or lack thereof.

Per Pro Football Focus, Randle has caught six of 10 pass targets for 40 yards, 19 of which have come after the catch (YAC).

That averages out to 3.2 YAC, not exactly a strong indicator of his ability to separate from defenders.  

A little-mentioned fact about Randle is that his downfield blocking has been inconsistent; he doesn’t always finish his blocks, as was the case in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions. (He did, however, do a better job of that in Week 2.)

On the plus side, quarterback Eli Manning’s rating when throwing to Randle is an impressive 102.1, and Randle seems to be Manning’s choice so far for deep throws, as indicated by his 30 percent deep-target rate.

The bottom line, though, is the Giants need much more out of Randle moving forward, as right now, they really don’t have a second receiver who’s causing opposing defensive coordinators to think twice about bracketing Victor Cruz in coverage when he’s on the outside.

Patricia Traina is a credentialed New York Giants beat writer. All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.