New York Giants: Fifth Round Draft Pick Could Emerge As Major Contributor
The New York Giants made some very interesting choices in this years’ NFL Draft. The Giants received some criticism from analysts for what many felt was “reaching” for cornerback Eli Apple. The Giants chose him with the tenth overall pick in the draft when he was projected to be a late first round pick. Despite being condemned for making Apple their first round choice, Giants’ general manager Jerry Reese received rave reviews for the way he went about the remainder of the draft. One of his best draft picks this year may have been former UCLA running back Paul Perkins.
Perkins was drafted in the fifth round and was highly regarded as one of the top running back prospects. Pro Football Focus rated him as a second round talent. The UCLA product rushed for 3,491 yards and scored 29 touchdowns in his college career.
He stands at 5 feet 11 inches and weighs 210 pounds. He is smaller in stature for a running back, but that hasn’t stopped players before. Many major NFL talents have molded themselves into superstars despite their small size. Barry Sanders, one of the NFL’s best running backs of all time, was 5 feet eight inches tall. Clearly, small running backs have had success in the NFL before.
Paul Perkins is not Barry Sanders, but he can definitely carve a major role in New York Giants backfield. Perkins is going to have to beat out Orleans Darkwa, Andre Williams, and Bobby Rainey for a roster spot. It’s safe to say that Shane Vereen and Rashad Jennings are guaranteed a roster spot going into training camp.
New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese had nothing but high praise for Perkins on draft day. 247 Sports reported comments made by Reese about the Giants’ fifth round selection.
“All-around player,” Reese said of Perkins. “He can run it. He can catch it. He can block. He’ll play on all of the core teams, just like [rookie linebacker] B.J. Goodson will, as well. Solid football player. People say he doesn’t have home run speed, but I saw him on an 82 yard touchdown against Colorado. Really good, solid football player. I like him a lot. He’s a three-down player.”
What the New York Giants desperately lack is a three-down running back, which Reese made clear. Jennings has the ability to be that kind of player, but he is injury prone and brittle. Vereen is usually strictly used as a third-down specialist and pass catcher. He was never signed by the Giants’ to be an every down running back.
Perkins needs to come in and be that bell-cow back the Giants need. Rashad Jennings is 31 years old and his years are numbered in the NFL. Running backs have a small window of being able to perform at the top of their game. There a very few running backs that are able to be effective past a certain age. Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte, and Justin Forsett are a few running backs that are still perform well despite their seasoned age.
Even though those running backs have been able to perform past their prime, Jennings is definitely not one of them. Perkins was drafted to become the long-term solution the same way Andre Williams was. Jerry Reese’s patience has clearly run out for Williams, whose skills never translated from college to the NFL.
New York Giants’ head coach Ben McAdoo is going to implement a different kind of running style than former head coach Tom Coughlin. Coughlin emphasized “run the ball at all costs” kind of approach, which was effective back when Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs were members of the team. McAdoo will opt to take a different route while developing Perkins into the lead back.
McAdoo’s offense will have a lot more focus on the passing game than the running game. However, the Giants are well-aware that using the running back by committee approach isn’t very effective. McAdoo is going to assess the talent that Perkins has and try to make him the Giants’ go-to running back. Perkins is not the kind of player that will become a superstar overnight. He needs time to be developed into a major contributor on the New York Giants’ offense.
[Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images]
