New York Giants: Is there anyone who can run the ball?
The Giants are coming off a bye week to start the second half of the season, and hopefully they used it to help figure out how the heck they’re going to find more success on the ground. Eli Manning currently has 270 pass attempts—fifth in the league. That’s likely because, well, he doesn’t really have anyone to hand the ball to. Some of this has been due to bad injury luck: Rashad Jennings missed a few games with a thumb injury, and in his return against the Rams in Week 7, he had just 25 yards on 13 carries. Shane Vereen is likely out for the season with a triceps injury. Orleans Darkwa, who looked like he was going to get a heavier load due to those injuries, has just 111 yards on the season.
Make no mistake about it, their offensive line needs to be addressed as well, as its run blocking has been very problematic, but it’s at least done a solid job at keeping Manning upright—the QB has only been sacked 10 times on the season. The Giants, quite simply, don’t have an extremely talented group of RBs on hand at the moment, and they don’t have a strong enough O-line to make up for that talent deficit.
Yes, Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. are the anchors of that Giants offense, and they always will be, but New York needs to find some balance. An average of 70.3 rushing yards per game is not going to cut it for them in arguably the toughest division in the league.
