New York Giants Free Agency: 3 Reasons the G-Men Will Recover from Departures

The New York Giants have had an extremely difficult free-agency period so far. They have lost a top defensive lineman in Barry Cofield early on and a favorite target for Eli Manning in Kevin Boss as recently as last Friday.

Now, make that two favorite targets. News broke late yesterday that the Giants most reliable slot receiver, Steve Smith, has signed with another team. That team? It is, if you didn't hear it by now, is the Philadelphia Eagles.

The immediate reaction for most fans was like a gut punch. I know it was for me. After a not so good night's sleep to mull it over, I have come to a conclusion: the Giants will survive. There are three reasons I've come up with for this conclusion. I will address them per player lost. At first glance, it will seem like these are similar reasons, but they are not.

They all have to do with the youth movement that the Giants are moving toward, but the solution goes deeper than just youth. It involves dedication, execution and embracing new roles. For posterity's sake, I will go in chronological order.

The Giants Are Deep Enough to Replace Cofield

First, the loss of Barry Cofield. Cofield seems like he will be difficult to replace. A closer look suggests otherwise. The Giants have players to fill that gap up the defensive middle.

They have Linval Joseph, Marvin Austin and Rocky Bernard in the middle, with Jason Pierre-Paul, Osi Umenyiora (provided that he is healthy and plays to his potential), Justin Tuck, Chris Canty and several others on either side of the defensive tackle positions.

That makes for a complete line up front that can produce a ton of pressure on opposing offenses. The best receivers in the world (yes, I'm talking to you NFC East receiver corps) can't catch it when their QB is on the ground.

Boss Leaving Results in Change in Look of Offense

Next, the Giants lost Kevin Boss to the Oakland Raiders less than a week ago. This was a favorite target of Eli Manning's in the red zone and when under pressure last season. He is difficult to replace too.

However, his 6'7" frame that complements his agility and allows for big-play potential can, in fact, be replaced if done correctly. It is true that the Giants have not obtained anyone of his size and abilities to man the tight end position in 2011, but they have looked for the future there when deciding their next move.

Case in point: Travis Beckum. While he is smaller (6'3") than Boss, he has a better ability to make the tougher catches. That will make the Giants offense more flexible as they look to spread the ball out and use their tight end in the four receiver sets on more frequent occasions. That would cause matchup difficulties for opposing defenses.

With a faster, better receiving tight end on the outside, they can place him against a smaller, weaker-in-comparison cornerback and utilize his strength. This makes the offense a little more similar to teams like the Indianapolis Colts, who use an athletic tight end to create havoc and gain field position while extending drives.

On occasions when they decide to run, they have signed another option. Coach Tom Coughlin has stated that he wants to give Brandon Jacobs more carries. That means a slowdown pace and smash-mouth football. It's a welcomed return to the Giants way of winning offense. To accomplish this, however, they need big bodies.

Enter Bear Pascoe (6'5"), Daniel Coats (6'2") and Henry Hynoski (6'1"). They will use Hynoski and/or Pascoe in the fullback role in an I-formation set. When they go to the full (or two tight end) set, they will use a combination of Pascoe, Coats or Beckum at the two end line spots. The better blocking should help open holes more consistently for Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw when they get the chance to carry the ball.

The loss of Boss for this season does make the offense have to change a bit, but sometimes, that can be a blessing in disguise. They can be stronger and more agile without Boss. If they can use all these players properly, they will not be predictable and therefore be a dangerous power running team with good receiving tight ends—a change for the better.

Steve Smith Is Not the Only Receiving Option the Giants Had

Finally, the biggest loss to date has to be Steve Smith. Giants fans have every right to be angry at him. This is a player that was a diehard Giants fan as well as a player for four years. He would repeatedly post on his Facebook account about the rivals in the NFC East. He posted a picture of an empty trophy case with an Eagles logo on his Facebook wall just last year.

Fans have every right to feel betrayed by him. This was the biggest betrayal since Fredo unknowingly set up a hit on his brother Michael in Godfather II. I can just see all the Smith Giants jerseys being burned now. It is painful. It is so for two reasons.

One, he went to the Giants most hated rival. The Eagles are a team that has won repeatedly in the past few years in head-to-head meetings. They have been playoff contenders. They have been the ones to either knock the Giants out of the playoffs or eliminate from even entering the playoffs in the past few years.

Their fans are unbearable when the team is winning, and their players are loud-mouthed and full of controversy. They deem themselves the "Dream Team" of the NFL before they even hold their first and they talk smack on twitter all off season long.

There are numerous reasons to root against this team. Steve Smith just gave Giants fans one more reason.

Two, Smith was the most reliable receiver the Giants had. He was a security blanket for Eli Manning. Even Manning himself admits as much in a recent interview. He said:

""When we've gotten in trouble in the past, we always had Steve in the slot, and that's kind of all we worked on—Steve's in the slot, there you go, he's got it down," Manning told ESPN NFC East blogger Dan Graziano on Wednesday prior to the Smith news. "And so last year, when he got hurt, we were in trouble. No one else really knew how to play it.""

I have long been under the assumption that the Giants fell apart last season because Smith went down to injury. They missed that fallback, saving grace option for Eli Manning. When in doubt, go to third and Smith. When that option was lost for the season, the season was lost. While I have said this multiple times and debated it as much, Manning has never been public about that admission until now.

With that said, though, they can and will move on this year. They have had a chance to bring in receivers to adjust to that slot receiver role and learn to properly run those routes. It takes practice and learning to properly execute the timing of it, but Manning and the Giants offense are confident that this is something that can and will be mastered. Manning went on to say:

""So this year we're putting everybody—Hakeem [Nicks] is in there, [Mario] Manningham's getting in here, we're getting a lot of people in there to get them to learn some of it," Manning added. "So that'll probably create some more opportunities for us to move guys around and get some mismatches."
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In other words, Eli is saying that he knows it was an issue, and he is addressing it. While Smith was a favorite target for the past four years, someone else will step into that role for Manning. They have a great group of fast and agile receivers with great catching ability and even greater big playmaking capabilities.

Among these long-range weapons that Manning has in his downfield arsenal are Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham, Domenik Hixon, Victor Cruz (who Big Giants Boom's "G-Men Girl" wrote about yesterday), rookie Jerrel Jernigan, Devin Thomas, Michael Clayton and Ramses Barden.

All are capable of filling that void when healthy. Only Barden's health is still in question, but the Giants are hopeful that they can remove him from the PUP list before the season opener in five weeks.

Eli Manning and Company Will Have Many Questions to Answer

All in all, the Giants have suffered dramatic losses before the season has even began.

I didn't even go into Plaxico Burress (do you think I would have gone without mentioning him?), but overall, the team has the potential to actually be better by losing these players than by keeping them.

They re-signed Ahmad Bradshaw, Mathais Kiwanuka and several other important role players for this team. They may still have some signings up their sleeves, but even if they don't, the season is not lost just yet. In fact, they have yet to even play a game this season.

For today, though, it just feels like it.

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