New York Giants Shane Vereen health is key to offense success
New York Giants running back Shane Vereen is healthy for OTA’s. His health will be a key to the Giants offense succeeding this season.
The New York Giants have a lot of potential on the offensive side of the ball. Last season it was expected to be the strength of the team. That didn’t happen, as the offense sputtered much of the year. Instead, it was the defense that carried the team.
The additions that Jerry Reese made in the offseason greatly improved the Giants defense. Olivier Vernon, Damon Harrison, and Janoris Jenkins signed as free agents along with Jason Pierre-Paul being re-signed. They greatly improved the defense, which saved the Giants season.
On offense, the Giants came up woefully short. Despite having some good talent things never came together on offense. Eli Manning was erratic. The running game never got going. The offensive line was inconsistent. Outside of Odell Beckham Jr., the Giants didn’t have consistent receiving threats.
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There were a number of factors that went into the Giants struggles on offense. One of them was the health of Shane Vereen. The versatile running back was plagued by injuries in 2016. He tore his triceps in Week 3 against the Washington Redskins. He was sidelined until Week 14 against the Dallas Cowboys because of the injury.
He did not stay on the field long. Vereen would suffer a concussion in that game. His season would end the following week against the Detroit Lions. Vereen would tear his triceps again, ending his season.
With Vereen sidelined the Giants offense was missing a bonafide receiving threat. Vereen was by far the best passing down back the Giants had. He was versatile enough to catch the ball out of the backfield or line up in the slot. What compounded the problem was other injuries in the backfield as Vereen was joined on the sideline by Rashad Jennings as well.
Without Vereen, the Giants missed a huge component of their offense. They were not prepared for a Vereen injury as they didn’t have anyone to fill that void. They changed that this year, as they signed Shaun Draughn, who excels in the passing game as well.
Should Vereen be forced to miss time again the Giants will have a viable backup. The Giants are hoping that Vereen remains healthy as he would add another dimension to an offense that is already loaded with weapons.
Luckily for the Giants, Vereen looks to be on track. ESPN’s Jordan Raanan says that Vereen is fully healthy. He will be ready for OTA’s, which is a great sign for the Giants.
If Vereen is operating at top speed the Giants offense will be borderline unfair. At wide receiver, the Giants have a strong group with Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard, and Brandon Marshall. Tight end Evan Engram was added in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
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The Giants have an embarrassment of riches in their receiving corps. Vereen will give them another viable option to help exploit defenses and make themselves tougher to defend.