G-Men apply subtle measures to improve the run game
EAST RUTHERFORD » The Giants slipped on shoulder pads Tuesday, the first sign of increased physicality in the trenches as a key question surfaces in training camp: Will New York be able to run the ball this season?
The Giants rushed for a leagueworst six touchdowns and 88.3 yards per game in 2016 — the franchise’s second-lowest mark since the 1999 season. But instead of turning to a high-priced running back or offensive linemen, the Giants are striving for improvement with subtlety.
The same five offensive line starters are back. The ball carriers are the same save for rookie Wayne Gallman, a promising fourth-round rookie out of Clemson who will likely spend much of the year on special teams. Second-year running back Paul Perkins has supplanted the released Rashad Jennings as the starter.
So the Giants are breeding in-house development, and they’re also banking on the additions of hybrid tight end/ fullback Rhett Ellison and receiving weapons Evan Engram and Brandon Marshall to diversify the offense.
“They want versatile guys, and I don’t think it’s just in the tight end room,” Ellison said. “They want guys that can move around all over the place. Just so you’re not stuck with a vanilla offense, you can change it up. Adding guys that can be versatile is going to help you with that.”
Vanilla is an adjective that suits last season’s Giants offense, which lined up in 11 personnel (one tight end, one halfback) a league-high 92 percent of the time, according to Sharp Football Stats. Shoddy offensive line play doomed the unit to onedimensional status, but injuries to tight ends and an overall lack of personnel versatility did not help.
The Giants showed cognizance of that by signing not only Ellison but tight ends Shane Smith and Jacob Huesman to compete this summer.
Ellison, 28, spent his first five seasons with the Vikings in an H-back role. According to Pro Football Focus, Ellison lined up in-line 66 percent of his snaps, the backfield 16 percent, the slot 15 percent and out wide 3 percent last season. Despite having a more challenging path to leverage at 6-foot-5 when playing fullback, Ellison takes pride in his technique.
“It’s a different technique, blocking, different reads,” Ellison said. “You have to see how the shells fall in. In-line, it’s a smaller triangle. At fullback, you need to see when safeties are coming down, corners outside — it’s all going to change the flow. So you have to be able to know if your read is inside out or outside in. It’s just a little different.”
Perkins, the Giants’ 2016 fifth-round pick out of UCLA, is stepping into a significant workhorse role after running the ball only 112 times last season — 37th in the league. Head coach Ben McAdoo indicated in the spring that Perkins would receive heavy work on first and second down, and Perkins has worked throughout the offseason to become a complete back in pass protection and pass-catching.
Coming into last season, Perkins wasn’t able to participate in Organized Team Activities as he finished his college semester,
“I’m not playing catch up as opposed to last year,” said Perkins, who is listed as 5-foot-10, 208 pounds. “So it’s good getting the hang of the playbook, getting a feel for the guys, the offensive lineman, the defense. I feel really confident.”
Staying healthy is also key this year for the Giants’ running game, as third-down specialist Shane Vereen and power back Orleans Darkwa missed significant time with injuries last year.
For about 20 reps early in Tuesday’s practice, the Giants emphasized setting blocks properly during a halfline run drill.
“You have to make sure you maximize your reps in pads, in the time with pads,” McAdoo said. “We’re going to be smart about how we load the practices, how much time we’re on the field and what we ask players to do. But at the same point in time, when we’re out there, we need to squeeze all the juice out of the orange and make sure we get it to look the way we want it to look, and that’s players and coaches.
INJURY NOTES » Vereen and defensive end Devin Taylor missed Tuesday’s practice with lower body injuries, McAdoo said . ... Wide receiver/ return specialist Dwayne Harris left practice with a shoulder injury . ... Running back Shaun Daughn and linebacker J.T. Thomas remain on the PUP list.