It’s no secret that the Giants need to give quarterback Daniel Jones a better collection of weapons. At any time, the Giants will cut off the wide receiver Golden Tate to free up space, leaving only Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard as proven wide receivers, and both have their own flaws.
Evan Engram comes from a difficult season, and running back Saquon Barkley only played two games last season before suffering an ACL break.
Sign up for Giants Extra: Receive exclusive news, behind-the-scenes remarks and the ability to send text messages directly to reporters
The point: the Giants’ priority this offseason will be to give Jones a better support cast to help one of the NFL’s worst offenses (17.5 points per game, 31 overall) to get a little more firepower.
ESPN analyst Mike Clay exposed a free agency scenario that is slightly different from what most predicted the Giants will do in this off-season.
In an article in which Clay projects which teams will play in this off-season and what it means for fantasy football, he attributed two moves to the Giants:
1. The wide receiver Jaylen Waddle’s draft with the 11th choice.
2. Subscribe to Colts running back Marlon Mack as a free agent.
His explanation: “Barkley-Engram-Shepard-Slayton-Tate sounds like a respectable quintet of offensive weapons, but what is missing is an alpha in wide receiver. Waddle is arguably the No. 1 wide receiver in this year’s class and could immediately fill that role for the Giants. Alabama’s fast product is extremely explosive and, although well rounded, will make its name with pieces in the field. New York also needs help behind Saquon Barkley, so a one-year contract for Mack, who is recovering from a torn ACL, makes sense. “
The idea of writing Waddle is not entirely unique. Many simulation writers designed the explosive wide receiver to land with the Giants if it falls to 11th choice. It would be an obvious choice.
The interesting part of this equation is the idea of hiring Marlon Mack as a back running back.
Barkley is the only running back on the 2020 list who is currently under contract for 2021. Wayne Gallman, Dion Lewis and Alfred Morris will all join the free agency. The Giants may be interested in bringing Gallman back, who had a great season replacing Barkley in 2020, but that is no guarantee.
Mack presents an intriguing alternative.
He tore the Achilles tendon in week 1 and missed most of the 2020 season, so that would depend in part on his health, but before that Mack was one of the most productive running backs in the NFL.
Only eight running backs (including Barkley) had more than Mack’s 1,999 yards in 2018-19. He also scored 18 touchdowns in total in those two seasons. He’s not much of a pass catcher (17 catches per 2017-19 season), but he would be more than capable of replacing Barkley if he got hurt again.
Impressively, Mack only missed three times in 539 career shipments.
Pro Football Focus predicted that Mack will get a one-year contract and $ 2.5 million to re-sign with the Colts, but Indianapolis may no longer be the best place for him. The Colts have a rising star on the running back, Jonathan Taylor, who managed 1,169 run yards and 12 touchdowns in total as a rookie. Nyheim Hines is a first-rate option for capturing passes (63 receptions in 2020) behind him and would probably have more playing time than Mack too.
The Giants, on the other hand, can offer Mack the chance to be second, behind a Barkley player who has wasted time in each of the past two seasons and in an attack that prioritizes running the ball.
Receive text messages from Giants: Eliminate social media and text clutter directly with traditional copywriters. In addition, exclusive news and analysis. Sign up now for a free trial.
Please apply now and support the local journalism you trust and trust.
Zack Rosenblatt can be contacted at [email protected]. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip on here.