CARRY TALE ENDING
With bigger workload, Perkins could help author Super finish
Paul Perkins does not say much about himself. He starts most sentences with “We’’ rather than “I’’ and is adept at turning questions about himself into answers about the group.
Asked Monday about the increase in his role as a ball-carrier for the Giants, Perkins said, “Oh yeah, that’s what we need right now. We need for the running game to step up and play a huge factor in December.’’
Team-first is always appreciated within the team, but only one player can run with the ball at any given time. With the Giants at 10-4 and one win away from their first playoff berth in five years, it sure looks as if Perkins deserves the bulk of the rushing attempts, starting with Thursday night’s game against the Eagles in Philadelphia, the first chance for the Giants to clinch an NFC wild-card spot.
In the last seven games, Perkins has 66 rushing attempts and his workload is trending upwards. The rookie from UCLA has 26 carries the past two games and is coming off his most productive game: 11 attempts for a season-high 56 yards, an average of 5.1 yards in the 17-6 victory over the Lions. By contrast, starter Rashad Jennings got the ball 18 times against the Lions and produced only 38 yards.
It is growing increasingly clear the most dynamic player on the Giants to hand the ball to is Perkins. He was handled with kid gloves for the first two months of the season, as the Giants wanted to make sure they could trust him to know and fulfil his assignments when the ball was not in his hands, mainly the pass-protection schemes.
Perkins said extra sessions with Eli Manning, the other running backs and the offensive linemen after practice have helped.
“Definitely the game slowing down has been part of me just watching a lot of film and learning from the older guys,’’ Perkins said.
Perkins, at 5-foot-11 and 210 pounds, is not small and has some power and strength to his game. He can hold up as a blocker against the blitz as long as he knows what he is doing.
Some scouts thought Perkins, a dynamic player in his two years as a starter at UCLA, would get taken as early as the third round of the draft. He led the Pac-12 in rushing as a sophomore with 1,572 yards and finished up as the Bruins’ all-time leading receiver among running backs.
“Any running back is more comfortable with more touches,’’ Perkins said. “Whenever any player is able to get in a rhythm, not just running backs, quarterbacks, receivers, anybody, whenever you’re able to get in that rhythm the game starts to slow down and you get more comfortable.’’
Perkins and fellow rookies tight end Jerell Adams and receiver Roger Lewis all are part of the offensive plan. Another rookie receiver, Sterling Shepard, has been a starter from Day 1.
“When you get into the second half of the season, you need those rookies to step up and have a greater role,’’ Manning said. “They’re not really rookies anymore. You can’t have the mistakes. They know what they’re doing and they have to play well. I think we’ve done a great job slowly working them in and getting them some opportunities. Now, all of them are having a bigger role in the game plan and in the game.’’
Perhaps Perkins can lift the offense in these final two games of the regular season and on into the playoffs. Stranger things have happened. If Perk i ns thinks he was brought along slowly, he should dial up Ahmad Bradshaw, the 2007 seventhround draft pick. Bradshaw did not get a single rushing attempt in his first 10 games and it looked as if his first year would be a dud. He had all of six rushing attempts going into a Week 16 game Buffalo. The Giants needed a win just before Christmas to secure a playoff berth and got it, mainly because Bradshaw went wild, running 17 times for 151 yards and a touchdown. Once the spigot was open, Bradshaw kept on flowing, leading the Giants in rushing (48 carries for 208 yards) in their four postseason games, including Super Bowl XLII.
It can happen just like that. The Giants can clinch a playoff berth just before Christmas when they play Thursday night. Can another rookie running back, finally unleashed, show them the way?