Don't you just hate it when you're trying to make a point, and in making said point you accidentally find yourself making a strong case for the opposite point?
Look, nobody likes seeing players on the injury report, but acting like the New York Giants failed just because a few guys are banged up... I'm not buying it. That kind of mindset misses the point of the early offseason and ignores everything else happening on the field.
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The recent post-OTAs breakdown from Kristopher Knox is a good example of letting those intrusive thoughts in, slapping the G-Men with a ‘loser’ label in large part because of Roy Robertson-Harris' injury.
But if the attention is only on who's sitting out of unpadded practices, you might be looking at the wrong things. Injuries aren't great, but a lot of good came out of New York's spring sessions, and the showings on the field seemed to vastly outweigh the losses.
Calling the Giants losers after OTAs feels like a stretch
In a recent Bleacher Report analysis, writer Kristopher Knox explicitly laid out the case for why he believes New York failed OTAs:
"In general, New York has plenty of reasons to feel optimistic. However, that doesn't mean the Giants can be pleased with how their OTAs unfolded. The worst development involved defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris, who suffered a season-ending Achilles tear.
And while running back Cam Skattebo (ankle) was healthy enough to be a partial participant in OTAs, star receiver Malik Nabers appears to be a long way from returning.
The Giants could still be in store for a bounce-back season under Harbaugh, but they're certainly not where they'd prefer to be health-wise."
I'm confused... the Giants have plenty of reasons to feel optimistic and could be in store for a bounce-back season, but they aren't where they want to be health-wise (which we won't know until training camp or really Week 1) so they're losers?
That seems a bit off. This team has spent the last decade being miserable, so yeah, it’s not great that they aren’t perfectly healthy. But we knew about Nabers and Skattebo well before the offseason started. And RRH’s injury isn’t ideal, but let’s not pretend the defense can’t survive without him, no offense.
Bringing up Leek and Skatt also feels like a reach. Both guys went down with brutal season-ending injuries last year. The team has known for months now that them being ready for spring was always going to be a stretch.
The reaction to Roy Robertson-Harris is getting a bit blown out of proportion here too. He started every game last year, but his 51.8 Pro Football Focus grade suggests he was more of a rotational piece anyway.
Big Blue practically pre-planned for this disaster, adding plenty of insurance by bringing in D.J. Reader, Shelby Harris, Sam Roberts, Zacch Pickens, Leki Fotu, and Josh Tupou earlier in the offseason. If anything, losing RRH just opens up more snaps for sixth-round rookie Bobby Jamison-Travis to show what he can do.
Having a glorified depth piece get hurt and a pair of guys follow their expected recovery timelines doesn't exactly sound like a failed spring to me.
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