Posted by Anthony Carillo
When the New York Giants offense takes the field for the first time this season, there will be a lot of new faces in the huddle. There will be no Hakeem Nicks, no Kevin Boothe, no Andre Brown, No Bear Pascoe, and No Brandon Myers.
There will be Rashad Jennings in the backfield, Weston Richburg at center, Geoff Schwartz lining up at left guard, Odell Beckham Jr lining up at wide receiver, and Ben McAdoo calling the plays instead of Kevin Gilbride.
Let us start where every great team should start, the offensive line. The giants gave up 40 sacks last season, and where that is not a staggering number, the additions to the line will help bring that number down. Weston Richburg was a great draft pick for Big Blue, because of his upside.
He has great mobility, very quick feet and is very smart and can command an offensive line. Weston started 49 games at center for Colorado State, so you know he is durable. Replacing Kevin Boothe with Geoff Schwartz was also a solid move.
Schwartz is a mammoth, at 6’6’’ 340 pounds he is a people mover. Playing him at the guard position will help the Giants run game as well as help with the interior pass protection to keep Eli upright.
Rashard Jennings may be 29 years old, but there is still a lot of tread left on his tires. Playing behind Darren McFadden in Oakland, and playing behind Maurice Jones Drew in Jacksonville, has given Jennings the opportunity to get playing time, but not put a pounding on his body like most backs do.
He is a very versatile running back, with the ability to catch passes out of the back field, and with the giants love for the screen pass, this should let Jennings flourish in the offense.
The biggest shoes to fill has to be Hakeem Nicks on the outside. Drafting Odell Beckham Jr from LSU looks to be a great replacement with the potential to turn into one of the NFL’s best play-makers. With blazing top end speed, and elusiveness and quickness, Beckham Jr can take a five yard completion and turn it into an eighty yard touchdown in no time.
When the Manning to Beckham connection finds its groove, look for Victor Cruz to flourish as well, because of the single coverage he will get since the attention will be brought to Beckham Jr.
With the return of Mario Manningham, and the free agent singing of wide receiver/kick returner Trindon Holliday, the Giants have made a push to add more offensive weapons around their franchise quarterback, Eli Manning.
Holliday will also give a boost to the return game, with his blazing speed and his vision on returns, he will help set up the offense with positive field position, thus creating a shorter field for the offense to work, hopefully ending with more points.