A lot of talk at the Giants’ training camp has revolved around Eli Manning adjusting to a new offense, after eight years of Kevin Gilbride’s system.
But the bigger question may be who Manning will be throwing to, and that will begin to get answered on Sunday night when the Giants take on the Bills in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. The Giants have five relatively unknown tight ends battling for the starting spot, but the wide receiver situation could be of equal concern.
Victor Cruz is the clear-cut No. 1, but after him, it’s a wide-open race. The hope that first-round choice Odell Beckham Jr. would grab a starting spot has been dampened by a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined for most of camp.
“Beckham may have a redshirt year,” former Giants receiver and SiriusXM host Amani Toomer said.
“If you are not up to speed in training camp, you are really under the gun and I don’t expect him to be a contributor at this time — not until midway through the season, or at all. … You are a rookie. It’s just not good. Everybody’s Spidey sense is going off in terms of: Is this guy tough enough to play? Is this guy serious enough to play? He’s saying all the right things, but in the NFL that’s not good enough.”
That would also be an apt way to describe the Giants last season, when their offense ranked 28th in the league and Manning threw a league-high 27 interceptions amid bad decisions and miscommunications with his receivers.
That led to Gilbride’s “retirement” and Packers QB coach Ben McAdoo taking over as offensive coordinator.
“[Manning has] definitely taken a step back throwing 27 interceptions and you can’t put him in the top 5, like he was after 2011,” Toomer said. “I don’t want to put a number on it, but he needs to have a year like he used to to get back in that top-5 group.”
But to do that, Manning will need major contributions from unknown quantities. The other receivers battling for reps are underwhelming Rueben Randle, speedster Jerrel Jernigan and Mario Manningham returning from two injury-plagued seasons in San Francisco.
The chance to step up starts Sunday in their first of five preseason games, and a day after Giants great Michael Strahan gets inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“Manningham is back and he’s kind of hobbling around in practice, not too confident in his knees, yet,” Toomer said. “It’s a very competitive group. [After Cruz] no one has anything secured. Randle is really excited about the new offense, but you have to go out on the field and do it and that’s what we are all waiting for. We are waiting for someone to break out in this receiving group. There’s a lot of positions up for grabs.”