NY Giants: Booms and Busts at the Halfway Mark
While the rest of the NFL conducts business as usual in Week 8, the New York Giants will spend the mid-point of the NFL season on a bye.
Their current record of 3-4 certainly isn’t what anyone in the organization hoped for—head coach Tom Coughlin told reporters that he had hoped his team would be 7-0 by now.
Certainly there are a number of reasons for the disappointing record, specifically some underwhelming performances by the offensive line, the defense’s inability to curve the big plays, and the up and down showing of special teams all come to mind.
In this slide show, we will focus on some of the individual booms and busts in the first seven games.
In choosing the criteria to make these picks, we looked at players who were physically able to contribute for the majority of the first seven games; thus receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and linebacker Jon Beason, for example, didn’t get consideration for either the “boom” or “bust” label.
We also focused solely on individuals rather than units, which is why the offensive line or special teams did not earn bust labels.
Be sure to let us know if we missed any individuals by leaving a comment below.
Boom: RB Rashad Jennings
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Long before the season began, running back Rashad Jennings told reporters that his goal was to be a complete running back—one who could not only carry the rock 20-plus times a game but also be a receiver out of the backfield and excel in pass protection.
So far, Jennings, who, per Over The Cap, signed a four-year contract worth $10 million as an unrestricted free agent this offseason, has delivered for his team in a big way.
Despite missing two games, his 505 all-purpose yards (receiving and rushing) still leads the offense.
Jennings, who has taken 209 snaps per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), has accounted for a team-leading 21.6 percent of the Giants’ total net yards so far—amazing when one considers that he has missed the last two games because of a knee injury.
Want another reason why Jennings has been such a boom for the Giants? Pro Football Talk noted that 286 of Jennings’ 396 rushing yards came during the team’s three-game winning streak.
The hope is that Jennings will be back after the bye week, when the Giants take on a grueling four-game stretch that features four teams with winning records, three of which were playoff participants last year.
“We worry about that when the time comes,” Jennings said. “Right now, the only thing I can control is the next couple minutes of my life, so I’m just controlling what I can right now and preparing for the future.”
Bust: DE Mathias Kiwanuka
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Defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka is one of three players remaining from the 2007 Super Bowl championship team and, per Paul Schwartz of the New York Post, is a trusted member of head coach Tom Coughlin’s leadership council.
Unfortunately, Kiwanuka, who has bounced back and forth throughout his career between his native defensive end spot and outside linebacker, has not had a solid season since 2011, the last time the Giants made it to the postseason.
That year, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Kiwanuka finished with an 8.6 overall grade, having played every game for the Giants as the strong-side linebacker.
From 2012 onward, Kiwanuka’s performance has declined. Last season, he was the lowest-rated 4-3 defensive end on PFF’s list of those who took at least 75 percent of their team’s defensive snaps.
Kiwanuka, was also the only one of that PFF group of 4-3 defensive ends to take 75 percent or more of his team’s snaps that didn’t earn a positive grade in any of the four categories (pass rush, coverage, run and penalty).
Kiwanuka still gives everything he has, but he struggles to win matchups against individual blockers. His production after seven games isn’t exactly eye popping—per NFL.com, he has 18 tackles, 1.5 sacks and one forced fumble in 370 defensive snaps played.
As a pass-rusher, Kiwanuka is currently ranked 31st (out of 34) of the 4-3 defensive ends in total pass rushing productivity, according to PFF’s signature stats.
In 197 pass-rush snaps, Kiwanuka has generated pressure just 15 times—hardly impressive for a starting 4-3 defensive end.
Boom: CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
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It is unfortunate that cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is dealing with lower-body injuries that might limit his effectiveness moving forward, because when he was healthy, the Giants' biggest offseason free-agent signing was truly giving the team its money’s worth.
Rodgers-Cromartie, who turned an ankle against Washington in Week 4, had recorded 12 tackles in his first three games.
That number has since dropped to three from Week 4 onward.
Where Rodgers-Cromartie has really stood out for the Giants has been in coverage. Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he has given up a completion percentage of 48.6 percent, allowing 234 receiving yards (99 of those yards coming after the catch) and two touchdown passes for an opposing quarterback rating of 75.7.
Given the Giants’ depth issues at the position—remember they have already lost Walter Thurmond III and Trumaine McBride to season-ending injuries—if Rodgers-Cromartie has to be shut down for a significant length of time to allow his injuries to heal, his absence could be insurmountable for that defensive unit.
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Bust: WR Corey Washington
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After having a dynamite preseason that included 10 receptions for a team-leading 155 yards, with four touchdowns, Corey Washington, who was the subject this summer of some comparisons to Victor Cruz, disappeared from the landscape.
Washington has appeared on offense in just three games so far this season. He has had 24 snaps but has been targeted once in the passing game, that coming on a Week 1 incompletion.
Why hasn’t Washington seen the field more?
Art Stapleton of the Bergen Record got some answers from Giants receivers coach Sean Ryan—answers that Stapleton shared in a series of tweets catalogued by Big Blue View, in which Ryan said that Washington has to earn the game snaps by being more consistent in practice.
That is a big disappointment, considering how the 6'4" Washington, with a seemingly size for the red zone, dominated his preseason competition.
Boom: DE Robert Ayers
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When it was revealed that defensive end Robert Ayers Jr. was assigned former longtime Giant defensive end Justin Tuck’s No. 91 jersey, it initially was a bit of a hard pill to swallow.
Ayers, however, has come through with some fine play as part of that defensive end rotation, his production being so solid that it boggles the mind as to why he is still behind Mathias Kiwanuka on the team’s defensive depth chart.
Playing a dual role much like Tuck once did, Ayers also moves inside on passing downs. The six-year veteran has made the most of his opportunities.
Per NFL.com, he has recorded 10 tackles, 2.0 sacks and has one pass defensed.
He is currently the fifth-best 4-3 defensive end (out of 34), according to Pro Football Focus’ pass-rush metrics (subscription required) for ends who have taken at least 50 percent of their team’s snaps.
Ayers’ grade of 11.2 not only tops that of both Jason Pierre-Paul and Mathias Kiwanuka, Ayers has managed to rush the passer on 14.1 percent of his pass-rushing snaps, which is also a team best among defensive ends.
Simply put, Ayers has done lot more in his limited snaps than Kiwanuka. Yet, as of the bye week, there was no indication of him possibly moving ahead of Kiwanuka on the depth chart.
Bust: WR Rueben Randle
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If there is one player on this team whose performance has been like a box of chocolates without a guide, it is receiver Rueben Randle.
Now in his fourth season, Randle began the year as the No. 2 receiver on this team. He's caught 34 passes for 321 yards (9.4 yards per reception) with two touchdowns, and per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he has caught 60.7 percent of the passes thrown his way. He has dropped just one pass all season.
So why is Randle a bust so far? Put his production up against the league’s other receivers that have taken 75 percent or more of their team’s snaps and his 9.4 yards per reception is ranked 26th out of 44 receivers.
In this case, what the stats don’t reveal (but what film study does) is that there still are instances in which Randle and quarterback Eli Manning are not on the same page—the receiver runs in one direction while the quarterback expects him to be in another spot.
That these communication breakdowns continue to happen despite this being Randle’s fourth year in the league is simply inexcusable.
Randle has been a participant of every offseason program and has not missed much, if any, practice time due to injury. It is disheartening to see that he and Manning still struggle to get in sync with each other.
Getting back to stats, Randle, has 44 yards after the catch. That puts him 33rd out of 43 receivers who have taken at least 75 percent of their team’s snaps on offense.
Simply put, the Giants need to get better production from Randle moving forward, especially now that he is their No. 1 receiver with Victor Cruz gone for the rest of the year.
Boom: DT Johnathan Hankins
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If you are looking for a Giants defensive MVP candidate through the (almost) midpoint of the season, look no further than second-year defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, the Giants’ 2013 second-round draft pick.
Currently ranked by Pro Football Focus as its fourth-highest graded defensive tackle, Hankins has delivered consistency and sound gap control since taking over for Linval Joseph. Hankins is ranked second by PFF among defensive tackles with 14 run-game stops in 128 snaps played.
Robert Nunn, his position coach, told reporters that Hankins’ strong play so far doesn’t come as a surprise.
“You felt it at the end of last year. You saw him start to come along. You saw it in training camp with his pass rush showing up in one-on-ones continuing to push the pocket,” Nunn said.
The veteran defensive line coach also revealed that Hankins, who is just 22 years old, has the maturity of a much older veteran.
“I have been impressed with Johnathan as far as being a professional. What he did in the offseason—he went away and came back in here in great shape," Nunn said.
"He went home and finished some school up and you could tell he was focused when he came back in here.”
Advanced statistics courtesy of Pro Football Focus (subscription required) unless otherwise noted.
All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced. Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.
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