New York Giants: 5 Players To Watch vs. New York Jets

Orleans Darkwa

Darkwa has been the odd man out of the running back picture thus far. He has been on the field for only nine plays as a running back, receiving two carries. For perspective on how far down the pecking order he is, Andre Williams leads the way with 15 carries this preseason, followed by 10 for Paul Perkins.

Rashad Jennings is locked in as the starter and Shane Vereen has his role in the passing game. Bobby Rainey is another person that Darkwa has to compete with for touches, and even he has more carries, six, than Darkwa this preseason.

The one glimmer of hope for Darkwa is that he has been running with the first-team special teams unit. If he is contributing in that area, the Giants could afford to hold onto five running backs. It is not an ideal situation, but one they could opt for is they like everyone enough to keep them around.

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The game against the Jets will be telling into some of the Giants thinking with their backfield. Why Williams continues to receive a heavy workload is anyone’s guess, as there are other backs worth taking a look at. Darkwa is one of them. There aren’t many chances remaining for Darkwa to make ground in the running back battle, so he has to make the most of his opportunities tonight no matter how few there are.