The elephant in the room has been replaced by a rabbit. Thunder has been replaced by Lightning. A Streetcar Named Ire has been replaced by a Speedboat Named Desire. Goliath has been replaced by David Wilson.
“I don’t know if we’ve had a guy as explosive — regardless of the position — here,” Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said as mini-camp ended Thursday. “I think Da’Rel Scott gives you a guy that probably in a 100-yard dash may be able to beat him, but I don’t know that you see quite the darting, the explosiveness and short burst that you see with [Wilson].”
Brandon Jacobs would take a linebacker’s breath away with the force of his 264-pound fury. If the Giants are right about Wilson, he will take their fans’ breath away.
“This guy’s got the kind of explosion that I’m not sure how many guys in the league have,” Gilbride said.
The pre-Jerry Reese Giants missed on Jarrod Bunch and Tyrone Wheatley and Ron Dayne, all first-round draft picks, but The first impressions around the Timex Performance Center about the Giants’ latest top pick will make the rest of the NFC East uneasy with worry that Eli Manning may now have the kind of lethal weapon he has never had in his eight seasons.
“If you leave a sliver, or a peek of a gap open, he is a young man that can see that sliver or that little peek of a gap, and accelerate through that hole before you can close that gap up,” defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said, “and be gone.”
There is the tiny matter of Wilson learning the playbook first, so he doesn’t get Manning killed when he spells Ahmad Bradshaw.
“Obviously, he has the ability to run the ball and make some big plays, but unless he understands a lot of our checks and protections and change of protections, Until you have a great grasp of that, you’re not gonna be able to get on the field,” Manning said. “But it seems like he’s learning and picking up things.”
Wilson used to catch and pick up rabbits in Danville, Va., as a hobby.
“I like him a lot,” Justin Tuck said. “We’re gonna attack him in training camp to make sure he’s still holding that ball, but as far as things we like to do and him being an impact this season, I think he’s gonna really upgrade our running attack. I look at him as a great third-down back too.”
Chase Blackburn can’t wait to see Wilson in pads in training camp.
“He reminds me of LT when I first came into the league a little bit, just the speed and like the vision and stuff,” Blackburn said.
Wilson smiled broadly when he heard that one.
“Hope I have the same career — or better,” he said.
I told him if he somehow were to have a better career, I would drive him to Canton, and he laughed.
“Gotta get some gas. … I’m competitive, so I’m gonna get after it,” Wilson said. “You always gotta try to be the best, that’s how I figure it.”
Wilson proudly said he led the nation in yards after contact at Virginia Tech.
“I’m going in expecting to make an immediate impact,” Wilson says.
He isn’t one of those Dancing With the Stars backs.
“He’s more of that one-cut-hit-the-hole kind of back, which I like,” Tuck said.
Prince Amukamara was quick to check out Wilson’s highlights and backflip video on YouTube.
“If I was scouting him, I would just say he’ s some person who hits the hole, and when he hits it, he hits it hard, and he doesn’t lose a step … especially when he cuts, he continues his acceleration, and he seems like a very tough kid.”
Wilson is Tiki Barberesque at 5-foot-9, 206 pounds.
“He’s almost like a [LeSean] McCoy a little bit,” Linval Joseph said. “He’s very quick, very crafty.”
Bradshaw promised to take the kid under his wing.
“He’s talented, he’s fast, he’s shifty, he can read holes, he can read blocks, he has a lot of talent,” Bradshaw said.
Wilson turns 21 today, but don’t expect a wild celebration.
“I don’t drink,” he said. Music to the Giants’ ears, especially this week.