Paul Schwartz

Paul Schwartz

NFL

Giants don’t have young talent to evaluate over final weeks

There are no September call-ups from the minors (or December call-ups, for that matter). No youngsters stashed in the D-League and no prospects to promote playing down in the minors in outposts such as Albany or Hartford. The Giants are most assuredly out of it, but that doesn’t mean they can play “Let’s Take a Look’’ in their final three games.

“I don’t know where else we can go,’’ coach Tom Coughlin said either glumly or matter-of-factly (it’s hard to tell nowadays). “Our team is our team. This is who we are.’’

Who they must be is a very deserving 5-8 team heading for home in what is likely to be a quiet and, quite frankly, boring fade-out to a season that never really got started. After three weeks, the Giants needed to call for a “do-over.’’ Now all that’s left is three weeks of resignation as the coaches and players work and everyone knows on Dec. 30 they will gather and talk about it one last time before packing up and going their separate ways.

It is impossible for the Giants to already turn the page on 2013 and begin a fact-finding mission for 2014 with a youth movement in the last three games. The NFL does not lend itself to the “Throw him out there and let’s see what he’s got’’ approach. Sure, it could be the way to go for a team if there’s an inexperienced quarterback waiting for his shot as a way to delve into the future, but that doesn’t apply here. Eli Manning is here now and will be here next season and no one is taking snaps away from him so Curtis Painter can make his Giants debut or to allow rookie Ryan Nassib to remove the prefix “Inactive’’ from his game-day designation.

It would be interesting if a few of the seldom-seen first or second-year players received some extra work, just to, you know, determine if they can accomplish anything out there on the field. But the sad truth is this roster is not teeming with talent waiting to be revealed.

Everyone has been breathless for Damontre Moore to break out, but the rookie defensive end seems destined for a developmental first year. He got 15 snaps on defense in San Diego and his name did not appear on the stat sheet, meaning he did nothing noteworthy. There is no reasonable way anyone can say he’s a better option than Justin Tuck, Mathias Kiwanuka or Cullen Jenkins when he moves outside to end. Who cares about the performance? Just let the kid play? It’s not going to happen, nor should it.

“Certainly we’ll look at as many players as we possibly can … and we may be able to do some things in terms of maneuvering some numbers of plays or perhaps even getting someone a suit that hasn’t had one,’’ Coughlin said. “But we’re going to try as hard as we can to win football games and the guys who deserve to play are going to play and if there are some people that haven’t been involved that can make a mark here in practice or whatever to gain what we think has earned them a right to have ‘X’ amount of snaps, then that will take place as well. We’re not going to change any of our objectives or goals.’’

Rueben Randle already gets plenty of action at receiver for the Giants to know he’s a major part of the plan moving forward. No one needs to see any more from Jerrel Jernigan or Louis Murphy Jr. to know they are not. You want to give Brandon Mosley a try at right guard, replacing veteran David Diehl? Go right ahead, but do you think the Giants have a gambler’s spirit when it comes to who protects Manning? Maybe Mosley for James Brewer at left guard makes more sense. It would be nice to see Adrien Robinson on the field, if only to see if general manager Jerry Reese’s contention that Robinson is “the JPP of tight ends’’ is conjecture or a punch-line. Peyton Hillis and Brandon Jacobs are not part of the future at running back; giving rookie Michael Cox a few carries probably wouldn’t negatively change the balance of world affairs. Cornerback Jayron Hosley replaced Trumaine McBride in the second half last week and figure Hosley gets an increased workload moving forward. Maybe even let Hosley return a punt or two.

It’s not exactly enticing stuff but it’s what the Giants are left to sort through. Three weeks and counting.


Tip of the iceberg for Eli

Interception No. 19 off Eli Manning this season came in the first quarter Sunday in San Diego when cornerback Shareece Wright deflected a pass intended for Rueben Randle into the air, allowing linebacker Donald Butler to snatch it. Of the 20 interceptions thrown this season by Manning, four have come off tipped passes.

That’s par for the course with Manning. Of his 164 career interceptions, 41 first have been deflected — 25 percent. No quarterback in the NFL has as many interceptions off deflections in the past 10 years, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Drew Brees is second with 35 deflected interceptions. When a quarter of a quarterback’s interceptions are first deflected, it certainly has something to do with the hands of his receivers, but in Manning’s case it has more to do with inaccuracy, or not putting the ball exactly where it needs to be placed.

If the season ended today — a tired phrase, but bear with us here — the Giants would own the No. 12 pick in the 2014 draft, as they are one of four teams with a record of 5-8 and would be behind the Steelers and Titans and ahead of the Rams in draft order based on a more difficult strength-of-schedule tiebreaker. There are five teams with records of 4-9, so it is conceivable, with a 0-3 finish, the Giants could work their way up into the No. 5 pick. They haven’t had a top-10 pick since going No. 4 in 2004 (when they traded to get Manning); before that their most recent top-10 pick was 1997, when they took Ike Hilliard at No. 7.

This sort of rumination always leads to the “Should they tank it to get a better pick?” conversation. There are rare moments in time when losing beats winning, if there’s the next John Elway sitting there and you desperately need a quarterback. Or, in the NBA, when Tim Duncan was the grand prize for the in-the-tank Spurs. Otherwise, there’s no reason to think the player the Giants would get at No. 7 or 8 would be appreciably better than the one they get at No. 12 or 13, so they might as well go ahead and try to win.