NY Giants Facing a Make-or-Break Season in 2015

New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese, when asked during his year-end press conference whether it would be necessary to make wholesale changes on the roster following 6-10 season, said, “Well, not wholesale changes.

“Last year we had to turn the roster over and we are not going to go out and spend a huge amount like we did this past offseason in free agency. (Last year) the roster was getting a little older, so we did have to turn the roster around.”  

While there will be tweaks made to a core group Reese and head coach Tom Coughlin are currently working to identify, there will also be an opportunity for some younger players who either didn’t get much in the way of opportunity, or who started to take a step forward toward becoming part of that core.

Here is a look at five such young players who will need to have a solid offseason and summer camp. 

WR Rueben Randle

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

Receiver Rueben Randle has been an interesting, albeit frustrating player to follow throughout his career.

A second-round draft pick in 2012 out of LSU, Randle has been the very picture of inconsistency since turning pro for many reasons.

First, despite his talent and the fact that he often draws single coverage, he has yet to turn in a season in which he has caught at least 60 percent of the passes thrown to him, according to data gathered from Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Even this season, one where he saw his highest number of targets (122) and had his highest yardage total (938), Randle was up and down. He was tied for second on the team in dropped passes (four) with Preston Parker and tight end Larry Donnell.

Elevated to the starting lineup after Hakeem Nicks left via free agency, Randle, at one point late in the season, was benched in consecutive weeks by head coach Tom Coughlin for unspecified violations of team rules.

To his credit, the light went on for Randle, who finished the 2014 season strong, recording 12 of his 71 receptions and 290 of his 938 yards in the final two games.  

Assuming Randle finally does understand how important it is to prepare and take care of the little details, the Giants might finally get the return on investment in this 6’3”, 208-pound talent, who, by the way, happens to be entering his contract season in 2015.

DE Damontre Moore

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Defensive end Damontre Moore, who just finished his second season, is another of the young players whose development has probably taken a little longer than the coaches hoped it would.

Per Pro Football Focus, Moore received 326 snaps on defense, where he excelled as a pass-rusher (3.6 grade) but continued to struggle against the run (minus-3.4 grade).

The defensive coaching staff, perhaps leery of putting a one-dimensional player out there on the field, instead opted to stick with an aging Mathias Kiwanuka until his season came to a crashing halt due to a knee injury, the result of which forced them to use Moore on a more frequent basis.

The good news is that Moore, who is just 22 years old, still has a lot of football left in him, but he also several rough spots around the edges of his game.

According to Inside Football (subscription required), Moore could probably stand to add more bulk to his frame in order to better hold up against the run.

Inside Football also notes that if Moore can better grasp how to set up offensive tackles with speed, he can become an even greater threat as a pass-rusher off the edge.

"

I promise you next year is MY YEAR!!! #NuffSaid #DamonsterYear

— Damontre' Moore (@tmoore94) January 8, 2015"

With Kiwanuka unlikely to be back and Jason Pierre-Paul’s status as an unrestricted free agent unsettled, the Giants' defensive pass rush could sure use a big boost from a player with Moore’s talents.

TE Larry Donnell

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

Although he was a starter in 2014, tight end Larry Donnell’s season came up short in a number of areas.

First, despite finishing with 63 receptions for 623 yards and six touchdowns, his ball security was an issue.

Donnell led the Giants receivers and tight end with four lost fumbles, a stat that certainly didn’t sit well with the coaching staff.

Per Pro Football Focus, Donnell was also the target on three of quarterback Eli Manning’s interceptions this season, and the tight end had four dropped passes, all of those coming in the second half of the season.

Second, his run blocking lacked power. According to PFF, Donnell’s minus-12.1 run-blocking grade was the worst of the Giants’ tight ends, and it wasn’t even close.

The biggest problem for Donnell in the run-blocking department was that he struggled in-line, an issue that, per Inside Football, was due to his plodding feet, which resulted in him failing to establish an anchor against his man. 

So what can he do to take his game to the next level?

"I have to hit the weights. Really, overall, that is what I want to do," he told Jordan Raanan of NJ Advance Media.

It’s a start, but he also might want to look into ways to improve his footwork as well as his ball security, as a repeat of his 2014 showing probably won’t bode well for his future with the team.

WR Corey Washington

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Before there was Odell Beckham Jr., there was Corey Washington.

Washington, the 6’4”, 214-pound receiver acquired by the Giants off waivers, came into camp as a little-known player from Newberry College.

He then went on to set the league on fire in the preseason, catching 10 out of 13 targets for 155 yards and a team- (and league-) leading four receiving touchdowns.

Shades of the next Victor Cruz?

Not quite. Although Washington made the 53-man roster out of camp, he suddenly dropped off the landscape, having just seven pass targets sent his way in 2014, according to Pro Football Focus, five of which he caught for 52 yards and one touchdown.

While that was more than what Cruz received as a rookie—remember, he landed on injured reserve with a hamstring ailment—the lack of action didn’t sit well with Washington, who griped to Tom Rock of Newsday about it.

"I'm not happy," he told Rock the day before Christmas.

Why didn’t Washington see the field more despite head coach Tom Coughlin’s praise of the youngster, whom he told reporters “can play multiple positions”?

"My standard operating procedure is that I'd like the fourth and fifth wide receivers to be outstanding contributors on special teams, and we're not there right now," Coughlin explained toward the end of the season. "That would help a lot."

While fans might not like it or understand the thinking behind Coughlin’s decision regarding Washington, it boils down to Coughlin wanting his players to prepare for every facet of his game, not just the ones the player wants to prepare for. 

With football being such an unpredictable sport—all it takes is one season-ending injury to change the complexion of a team’s season—every player needs to show the coaches that he is ready for anything and everything.

Once Washington understands that he is there to help the team however the coaches ask him to—including the less glamorous roles on special teams—his second season will probably be a lot different in terms of his snaps on offense. 

OL Brandon Mosley

Uncredited/Associated Press

When Chris Snee announced his retirement at the start of the 2014 training camp, many people (including yours truly) through that third-year man Brandon Mosley might have the inside track to Snee’s right guard spot.

That was not the case, as the Giants’ fourth-round pick in 2012 received a whopping 12 snaps on offense, per Pro Football Focus.

In fact, Mosley, who has had some injury issues in his first two seasons in the league, was inactive for a streak of seven games, finally setting back on the field when injuries started to eat away at the offensive line late in the season.

The problem with Mosley, according to Inside Football, is that he doesn’t have great mobility, thereby eliminating tackle, the position he played at Auburn, from his offering to the team.

Still, his inability to get on the field is troubling. Perhaps it was a matter of not fully grasping the new offense, something that another year will help resolve.

Maybe it was a deficiency he showed during practices (remember, in-season practices are closed to the media).

Whatever it was, if Mosley wants to have a future with this team—with the NFL, for that matter—he’ll need to make sure he leaves no stone unturned in his preparation, training and understanding of his position’s role.

Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced. Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.