HEAD OVER HEELS: Giants rookie running back David Wilson hasn’t had many chances to flip like he did after his first — and only — touchdown this season. (
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Doug Martin was the second running back taken in the 2012 NFL Draft, selected 31st overall by the Buccaneers. Less than 10 minutes later, the Giants took David Wilson as the first round concluded, inextricably linking the two tailbacks’ careers.
Through 10 weeks of their rookie seasons, the two backs hardly belong in the same conversation.
Martin has given Tampa Bay more than any team could reasonably expect from a rookie and is tied for fourth in the NFL with 862 rushing yards and tied for second with seven rushing touchdowns, while Wilson remains buried as the Giants’ third-string running back behind Ahmad Bradshaw and Andre Brown, and has tallied only 18 carries.
Wilson said he has taken notice of what Martin has done, but he does not display envy — just patience and understanding.
“To come in and have that great impact on the team, I’m very happy for him,” Wilson said. “Everybody wants to go out there and make plays. I’m just working hard. Whenever my number is called, I’ll be ready. I’m just learning as much as I can so when I go out there I’ll be ready.”
Coach Tom Coughlin said the Giants wanted to use Wilson more in Sunday’s game at Cincinnati, but the early deficit into which they fell altered that plan. The Giants are ready to use Wilson to run, noting his explosiveness and the need for big plays in a slumping offense, but they have qualms about Wilson’s ability as a receiver, and more importantly, a pass protector.
Running backs coach Jerald Ingram said the predictability in Wilson’s usage has limited his time on the field.
“We can’t just throw David in a run and have everyone in the stands say ‘Oh, watch David right now.’ Everybody can figure that out,” Ingram said. “David has to learn you can’t be just a runner. You have to be a complete running back. He’s in no different situation than when Brandon [Jacobs] was a rookie. Tiki [Barber] wasn’t going to let him on the field unless he knew how to protect the quarterback. It was all protection.”
Though Wilson has struggled to see the field on offense, the 21-year-old’s 37 kick returns and 939 yards lead the NFL. His speed is evident on each return, his potential is palpable. Wilson said he is “past due” to return a kick for a touchdown.
Although Wilson is likely to make his biggest impact on special teams this season, Ingram served a reminder that Bradshaw, a rookie who was seldom used in the first-half of 2007, became the change-of-pace runner needed to help the Giants win a title months later.
“It’s making him hungrier, just like it made Ahmad hungrier during that playoff stretch,” Ingram said. “It was a difference-maker when Ahmad was a rookie for him to come out there, especially in the second half of the season when you got a fresh guy. We’re still there. There’s a lot of football left.”