New York Giants: Lack of competent 3rd receiver dooms Eli Manning

Suffice to say, the New York Giants offense took a step back in Week 4 with a 33-18 loss to the New Orleans Saints at MetLife Stadium.

As expected, the Eli Manning adversaries came out ablaze with their pitch forks and torches following the defeat. They criticized the New York Giants 15-year veteran quarterback after his not-good-enough 31-for-41, 255-yard, one touchdown performance.

It wasn’t that Manning posted poor numbers or lost the game by inexplicably turning the ball over. Rather, it was his reluctance to pull the trigger and take shots downfield to put the G-Men in a position to win.

The two-time Super Bowl MVP is having an anomaly of a season thus far. After four games, Manning has the second-highest completion percentage (74.2) in the NFL. According to Pro Football Reference, He hits on nearly three of every four of his passes. Manning ranks in the middle of the pack in passing yards with 1,055 and has only thrown one interception.

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Those stats aren’t conspicuous considering the New York Giants rank 29th in the league in points per game with 18.3 ppg and are an underwhelming 1-3.

The offensive line is what it is at this point and can best be defined as an improved unit that will consistently be inconsistent throughout the year. Head coach Pat Shurmur will likely mix and match pieces on the right side in an effort to get the right formula.

Though Manning has been sacked 15 times and is on pace to hug the turf a whopping 60 times before season’s end, the o-line has proven they can be good enough to churn out wins. With free-agent acquisition Nate Solder and rookie second-round steal Will Hernandez paving the way, improvement can happen.

What the New York Giants haven’t been able to produce in 2018—and for the past few years for that matter—is a competent No. 3 wide receiver. It’s an issue often overlooked by critics who have understandably developed an acute reflex for dogging Manning and the o-line at every turn.

Explosive offenses sport explosive WR trios

Team general manager Dave Gettleman spent all offseason searching for a mainstay third wide receiver. This had to be done after predecessor GM Jerry Reese failed to get anything out of veteran Brandon Marshall last year.

Shurmur shuffled bodies throughout OTAs, training camp and preseason before settling on former Denver Broncos player Cody Latimer and ex-Carolina Panthers wideout Russell Shepard.

Through four weeks, both players have combined for an unimpressive four receptions for 65 yards and no scores.

Yes, the G-Men gave Odell Beckham Jr. a five-year, $90 million contract extension to be the leader of the receiving corps. He is doing his part hauling in 31 catches for the fourth most receptions in the league to date. But the big highlight reel play hasn’t happened – due to the lack of downfield threats in the receiving game other than himself.

The failure to step up from those outside OBJ and Sterling Shepard has caused the Giants to lean on rookie Saquon Barkley as more of a receiver than a rusher.

Look around the league at some of the most explosive offenses who easily put up 30 points in a game—something New York hasn’t done since the final week of the 2015 season.

• Los Angeles Rams – Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp
• Kansas City Chiefs – Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Chris Conley, Travis Kelce
• Atlanta Falcons – Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Calvin Ridley
• Detroit Lions – Golden Tate, Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones Jr.

All teams listed with the exception of the Detroit Lions are top 10 in the NFL in points and have scored over 30 in a game on at least one occasion this season.

The Giants have responded to their persisting receiver deficiency by lining up tight end Evan Engram as the No. 3 receiver, which has created an entirely new problem. The G-Men need to keep him at the line of scrimmage as a blocker more than they would like to, to make up for the right side’s weaknesses. Also, Engram still hasn’t been able to completely overcome his case of the dropsies that plagued his 2017 rookie season.

But is the coaching staff asking him to be the true No. 3 wideout?

In Engram’s entire career spanning 18 games, he has yet to post a 100-yard receiving game, and his recent MCL sprain will postpone achieving that feat along with his evolution into the Rob Gronkowski/Travis Kelce/Zach Ertz echelon of tight ends.

The franchise is banking on the hope that Engram can make that leap. It just hasn’t happened yet leaving the New York Giants with only two options in the vertical passing game at this point—a dynamic that isn’t cutting it and hasn’t for the past couple of seasons.

Sharing the rock

I know what you’re thinking: “OBJ is elite and Shepard is great; we don’t need three receivers to be successful! Look at Tom Brady, etc.” My response is that I implore you to take a minute and conceptualize Manning’s career. You will see a quarterback in a system who has thrived when his wideout trios were consistent.

Here are the New York Giants personnel groups throughout the years excluding Manning’s 2004 rookie season:

• 2005-07: Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer, Jeremy Shockey
  • Regular-season record during that span: 29-19. Super Bowl XLII champions.
  • 2008-10: Hakeem Nicks, Steve Smith, Mario Manningham
    • Regular-season record during that span: 30-18
    • 2011: Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham
      • Regular-season record during that span: 9-7. Super Bowl XLVI champions.
      • 2012-13: Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks
        • Regular-season record during that span: 16-16
        • 2014-15: OBJ, Rueben Randle
          • Regular-season record during that span: 12-20
          • 2016: OBJ, Sterling Shepard, Victor Cruz
            • Regular-season record during that span: 11-5
            • 2017: Sterling Shepard, Evan Engram, Roger Lewis
              • Regular-season record during that span: 3-13

              Final thoughts

              The New York Giants have been constantly reworking their wide receiver corp since it was at its peak in 2011. The departure of Manningham, the decline of Nicks, and the career-ending injury to Cruz several years later set an avalanche in motion that the Giants have been buried under since.

              Manning recently spoke with the media after practice this week and addressed the discrepancy between his high completion percentage juxtaposed to his low seven yards per attempt total.

              Per NJ Advanced Media’s Matt Lombardo, he said the following:

              "“If you think you can complete the pass, you throw it. If you don’t, if it’s a risk of a turnover or throwing it into double-coverage, that’s not what it’s about. You try to put your playmakers in a position to get open. That’s what we’re doing. Sometimes they [defenses] take away certain things, you have to check it down, live with it and try to get a first down, move the chains, and live for another down or opportunity coming up.”"

              Eli’s admission may sound like a lack of confidence in himself coupled with a fear of taking risks, but I would argue based on Manning’s history that there is an undisclosed absence of trust in the personnel around him.

              Of course, the humble Manning—a man who has always taken accountability for his mistakes and has never once directed blame toward his teammates or the New York Giants organization—would never make an excuse. With his career winding down, he doesn’t have time to point his finger at anyone. It’s on to Carolina.