With Brandon Jacobs’ season ending with a nice vacation to the Injured Reserve list (knee), and little dynamite Ahmad Bradshaw likely looking at potential off-season foot/ankle surgery/rehab, are the Giants in the market for an addition to their backfield?
Even assuming Jacob’s poor season (3.7 yards per carry and a frightening inability to convert short yardage situations) was due to a knee injury that Jacobs suffered in week one (to his credit, Jacobs played through the injury), the Giants have to expect that Jacobs, due to his punishing running style, is going to continue to deal with injuries as the feature back.
Bradshaw was easily the Giants most explosive running back in 2009, if not their most explosive offensive player. But, he also shares a violent running style, despite his size. Expect both Jacobs and Bradshaw to return (along with 2009 4th round pick Andre Brown, who ripped up his Achilles heel in the pre-season).
Could the G-men have interest in one of the recently released running backs (Westbrook of the Iggles or Tomlinson of the Bolts?) Westbrook has long been a Giant killer and yesterday a collective sigh of relief could be heard coming from the Meadowlands upon hearing of Westbrook’s departure. Both Tomlinson and Westbrook come with the not so quiet whispers that they are well past their prime and significant injury risks at this point in their careers. I don’t see a featured back role available for either Westbrook or Tomlinson, but on 3rd downs and in the passing game, either of these guys can still make an impact.
Jerry Reese and company have to think long and hard about bringing in yet another running back due to ongoing injury concerns with Brandon Jacobs, but a re-tooling of the offensive line may also help the now ineffective Giants run game. With not a lot of options in free agency, could the Giants look at a running back or an offensive lineman with one of their first picks in the draft?