What a Healthy Victor Cruz Means for the New York Giants Offense

When selecting an analogy they’d like to hear for a better understanding of a knee injury, “car accident” is right around dead last for any football player—especially one like New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz, who finds success through explosiveness and cutting abruptly.

Cruz ruptured his right patellar tendon in Week 6 of 2014. That's a severe and rare injury. There were immediately questions about not only his ability to recover, but also if he’d be the same receiver ever again.

For Dr. David Chao, an orthopedic surgeon and the former head team physician for the San Diego Chargers, the answers were complicated.

“He can return to 100 percent,” Chao told Ebenezer Samuel of the New York Daily News shortly after the injury. “But it (his knee) is a car in a car accident. Never brand new when fixed.”

The knee can be healthy in terms of functionality, but maybe not quite at the same level as it was pre-injury. Only the future can make a final ruling on that daunting possibility, and right now we’re dealing with the present.

The rosy and hopeful present in which Cruz has cleared a major hurdle: planting and cutting.

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Victor Cruz says his knee experienced no swelling after vigorous agility drills last week and that he even ran some pass routes today.

— Bart Hubbuch (@BartHubbuch) May 12, 2015"

Cruz is perhaps the final piece for a Giants offense that took a bounding leap forward after some early struggles in coordinator Ben McAdoo’s first season. The Giants went from averaging 307.5 offensive yards per game in 2013 (28th) to 367.2 in 2014 (10th).

They also scored 12 more touchdowns than the previous season, and quarterback Eli Manning’s interceptions fell from 27 in 2013—both a single-season career high and the league-worst mark—to 14 as McAdoo introduced a West Coast system emphasizing timing, rhythm and high-percentage throws.

Most of that—Manning’s career revival and an offense averaging 5.4 more points per game—came without Cruz, who played less than half a season before suffering his uniquely devastating injury.

Initially, he couldn’t even straighten his leg. That was seven months ago, and by late April, he cleared the first looming hurdle: running in a straight line. Now being able to go through drills even somewhat resembling football activities—albeit with only air as a defender—is more fuel for optimism.  

“We started running some intermediate routes on air and stuff like that,” Cruz told NJ.com's Jordan Raanan on Tuesday night at the United Way of New York City Gridiron Gala.

Then came this comment, courtesy of ESPN's Josina Anderson, which we'll call an optimism rainbow:

Let’s pump the brakes a little here because it’s easy to get wrapped up in the business of happy thoughts when the calendar still says "May."

Cruz’s arbitrary health estimate was slightly less encouraging than the one provided by Giants general manager Jerry Reese, who told WFAN 660 (h/t NJ Advance Media's Nick Powell) that his star slot receiver has recovered to about “85-90 percent.”

That’s only notable because players are typically far more generous with their offseason health percentage guesses than coaches or team executives.

There’s also the matter of facing defenders who aren’t invisible and having to drive off his knee to battle for separation. Finally, Cruz has to face contact at some point this summer, which is still frightening.

Disclaimers aside, Cruz has yet to experience a setback and still seems on schedule for a Week 1 appearance in some capacity. If the Cruz who returns is the same receiver we saw in 2014, he has the potential to elevate the Giants offense, taking it from ascending to soaring.

Consider his production through five games and a little over two quarters—Cruz was injured in the third quarter of Week 6). During that time, he had the most yards in the league from the slot and the second-most yards per route run among slot receivers:

Receiver	Receptions	Yards	Yards/route run
Victor Cruz	18	300	1.72
Jerricho Cotchery	17	233	1.88
Randall Cobb	21	223	1.16

Much of Cruz's yardage came during back-to-back 100-plus-yard games when he showed how he can create space after the catch in McAdoo’s offense and why his speed from the slot is still a key asset.

Cruz’s value lies in his ability to turn a seemingly simple play design into something significant.

For McAdoo, he did that through quick-hitting slant routes allowing him to catch the ball at full throttle. Then he could either force missed tackles with his elusiveness or eliminate tackling angles by using sheer speed.

In Week 3 against the Houston Texans, Cruz offered some variety, beating defensive backs with both quickness and joystick-like maneuvering. The former came on a 61-yard catch-and-run in the first quarter.

At their own 24-yard line, the Giants came out with four receivers and Manning in shotgun. Cruz was to his right in the slot and ran a slant that broke off about three yards downfield.

Cruz would often be greeted by a linebacker or safety on such a short route up the middle, or there would generally be a mess of bodies in the area, leading to a moderate gain at best. But in this case, he saw mostly pleasant green grass.

Why? With the defense in man coverage, safety D.J. Swearinger was forced to follow Giants tight end Daniel Fells, who drifted out to the flat:

Credit: NFL Gamepass

That image is the essence of McAdoo’s system and Cruz’s place within it.

Space is created and an area of the field is isolated. Then an opportunity is capitalized on with a precise, high-percentage throw. Just like that, the skills of a dynamic player are optimized. In this case, Cruz was able to turn a throw that traveled about nine yards through the air into a 61-yard gain.

Later in the same game, a similar short, quick-strike slant route from the slot again placed Cruz in an ideal situation. But this time, he was asked to win with more than raw speed. This time, he was given some space and had to find more through abrupt cutting and nimble feet.

The ball was already almost out of Manning’s hand as Cruz planted just three yards past the line of scrimmage. Cornerback Kareem Jackson was respecting Cruz’s speed by giving him a sizable cushion, and he immediately broke with the ball in flight.

After corralling the throw, Cruz was faced with a quickly closing gap between cornerback and receiver. That is when the play should have ended:

Credit: NFL Gamepass

Instead, Cruz halted, pivoted and moved in the opposite direction, all while having the agility to dodge a defender who was now grasping at little more than air:

Credit: NFL Gamepass

The play resulted in a 26-yard touchdown. Much of the yardage was the product of Cruz’s shaking and/or baking—the same jarring movements that are now a concern.

This brings us back to the car accident his knee endured. Chao spoke to Bleacher Report and elaborated on his analogy.

“I’m not suggesting Victor Cruz can’t return to be a ‘car’ that’s super-reliable and gets you everywhere you want to go,” he said. “But I am suggesting that if you put that car up on the rack, you’ll see the weld marks. You’ll see where things have been fixed.”

Chao added that he “doesn’t doubt for one second” that in this case the car will be drivable, and indeed Cruz appears headed toward a timely return.

“The question is, will the car win any races? Victor Cruz will be able to play football. But will he be Victor Cruz?”

Cutting is a notable step, but doing it against actual moving and swatting defensive backs is an entirely different environment. One that requires powering through contact and violent stress on the injured knee.

“Is he going to be as explosive?” Chao said. “I’m not doubting him, but if you took 10 guys with patellar tendon ruptures who are wide receivers, I would wager you any amount of money not all 10 are returning to the NFL.”

The Giants are hoping for the cutting, slashing and creative Cruz because that’s the only Cruz the NFL has ever really known. That guy is the missing piece in a rising offense and the perfect complement to breakout receiver Odell Beckham Jr.

Anything less would feel strange for the Giants, Cruz and those who enjoy watching an explosive receiver set off his fireworks. So basically, everyone.