Shane Vereen Offers a New Dimension to New York Giants Offense

Shane Vereen is another step for the New York Giants.

Since Eli Manning threw for an astounding 27 interceptions in 2013, the Giants have taken steps to alter the philosophy of their offense. Then-offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride wasn't retained. Gilbride had been Eli Manning's quarterbacks coach or offensive coordinator since 2004, when Manning was drafted.

Under Gilbride, the offense took a direct route to creating big plays. Manning would regularly be asked to push the ball down the field to receivers who were running deep routes by design.

While this strategy could work for stretches when Manning was at his very best, it stressed the quarterback position a huge amount. Those stresses became fatal for the quarterback in 2013 when the team had one of the worst running games in the league, subpar pass protection and unreliable wide receivers.

It wasn't a coincidence that Gilbride was replaced by a coach with a completely different philosophy to his. That coach was Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach Ben McAdoo.

McAdoo was brought in to implement a focus on more quick passing concepts. Instead of asking Manning to hold the ball for a long time in the pocket, the quarterback was being encouraged to make more quick decisions to find receivers on shorter routes.

Instead of asking Manning to make difficult throws into tight windows all the time, he was now being asked to use his intelligence to find easier throws to open receivers underneath. To effectively run this offense, the Giants would need to revamp their personnel.

Odell Beckham Jr. can work in any offense. He was selected by the Giants with the 12th overall pick in 2014 to replace the departed Hakeem Nicks as the team's No. 1 receiver. His debut would be delayed, but once he was on the field, he proved to be one of the best receivers in the NFL.

Geoff Schwartz, J.D. Walton, John Jerry and Weston Richburg were brought in to revamp the interior of the offensive line. Rashad Jennings and Andre Williams were brought in to be the team's running backs.

Even though the Giants offense was hit with various injuries throughout that season, of which many proved to be severe, the impact of the new direction on Manning was clear. The unit as a whole was inconsistent, but that was to be expected with such turnover in a new scheme.

To further move their offense towards fulfilling its potential, the Giants needed to take a few specific steps this offseason.

Upgrading over or adding competition to Larry Donnell as the team's starting tight end should have been a focus, and it still could be in the draft. The same can be said about the second wide receiver position, in spite of Victor Cruz's expected return and the signing of Dwayne Harris.

In the backfield, the Giants had Jennings and Williams, but they lacked a real receiving threat. This is where Vereen comes in.

Not since Ahmad Bradshaw have the Giants had a running back with the receiving ability that Vereen boasts. Even Bradshaw wasn't used that way and isn't as talented as Vereen in that area. The former New England Patriots player is going to add a new dimension to what the Giants can do because of his relatively rare skill set.

Through four seasons with the Patriots, Vereen carried the ball just 217 times and caught 107 passes. He was primarily a bit-part player during his early years before featuring more prominently in recent times.

It's very important to note that 239 of his 324 total touches came during the third and fourth seasons of his career. Vereen played in just 24 regular-season games over the past two seasons. He missed eight games in 2013 and played through a wrist injury for much of that season.

Despite that, he still caught 99 passes for 874 yards and six touchdowns during that time.

Vereen's role in the Patriots offense was still somewhat limited during those two seasons because he wasn't featured much as a runner. Too often he gave away touches in the running game to Stevan Ridley, Jonas Gray or LeGarrette Blount.

Even in his role, though, Vereen proved to be a crucial player for the Patriots. He caught 18 passes for 144 yards during the postseason run to last year's Super Bowl victory, including 11 for 64 in the Super Bowl itself.

With the Giants, Vereen's role may only expand marginally, but his impact can be great.

He should be the primary complement to Jennings in the backfield, while Andre Williams acts as a short-yardage back or simply as Jennings' backup. Vereen is adept at running from shotgun formations, running routes from the backfield or even lining up as a receiver out wide.

Jennings can do those things too, but not to the same level of effectiveness as Vereen.

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Being a good receiving back is valuable, but in order to get on the field you also need to be able to run the football or pass block to avoid becoming too predictable. Vereen likely can't be an every-down, between-the-tackles runner, but he is strong enough and talented enough to do it on occasion.

This play comes from late on during the Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks.

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As Vereen takes the football from Tom Brady, a wide running lane opens between his offensive guards. The running back has his center out in front of him as he angles toward that running lane. However, the Seahawks have penetration coming from the left side of their defensive line with Kam Chancellor and Bobby Wagner advancing on the second level.

Vereen has to be smart and quick to create yardage on this play.

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The running back attacks the right shoulder of his center just enough to draw Wagner into the middle of the field. At the perfect point of the play, he cuts to his left, away from the incoming Michael Bennett, to run into the space that his initial movement created.

By escaping Bennett and setting up Wagner, Vereen has already advanced to the second level of the defense.

With his speed, it was no surprise that Wagner was able to recover his positioning against the blocker before Vereen could advance past him. However, Vereen had the leverage advantage in the tackle, so he was able to run through the linebacker's shoulder for an extra yard or two.

This play gained nine yards. It's the kind of play that any receiving back needs to be capable of making to keep the defense honest when it goes into nickel formations.

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Having that ability to still be an effective runner from shotgun formations comes with the added benefit of keeping more linebackers on the field instead of defensive backs. Although the NFL is evolving, it's still often better for a player to be matched up in space against a linebacker than a defensive back.

On this play against the New York Jets, Vereen is able to show that he doesn't need much space to create separation against linebackers.

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How Vereen set this route up was just as important as his footwork through the break that can be seen in the above image. That footwork was precise and quick, allowing Brady to find him for a touchdown. However, that footwork needed the initial stem of the route to be right to set up that situation.

If Vereen had angled his way out of the backfield or sauntered slowly without precision, he wouldn't have had a two-way go against the linebacker in space.

Instead of being sloppy with the beginning of his route, Vereen worked sideways initially so he could approach the linebacker from a head-on position. This meant that the linebacker was forced to freeze in his spot instead of taking the outside or inside away from Vereen.

The running back didn't close off space with his own movement; instead he maximized it at the goal line, an area of the field where space is at a premium, forcing the linebacker to try and cover him. 

Considering the current construction of the Giants' offensive depth chart and the potential moves they can make moving forward, Vereen looks set to do most of his work from the backfield. Yet, if the Giants want to use him in the slot or split wide, that option will be there.

His intelligence, footwork and overall speed allows him to be an effective route-runner even when moved to the outside. He won't be beating the best cornerbacks in the NFL consistently, but he can be a matchup problem for the defense to account for.

With Beckham drawing the defense's attention and Cruz likely playing in the slot if he is healthy, Vereen's best chances to attack downfield will be when the defense plays man coverage and puts a linebacker on him out wide.

This is a strategy that can work very well against lesser backs but less so against a player of Vereen's caliber. It's part of what will make it so difficult for opposing teams to keep their base defense on the field.

Making this transition on offense is something the Giants should have done years ago. Yet, they haven't waited too long to do it despite Manning's age. Adding Beckham, improving the offensive line, changing the scheme and adding Vereen will all combine to prolong the career of their franchise quarterback.

Vereen is 26 years of age. He is just entering his prime. The Giants didn't overpay him, and they aren't bringing in a player who doesn't fit what they want to do.

He is the kind of signing that every NFL team aspires to make.