New York Royal Giants (4-6)
New York has clawed their way to .500 twice, but hasn’t been able to get beyond that point. Nobody has really claimed the QB position, although Eli Manning has had some great games. But it would be nice if whomever is back there could stay healthy.
New York has been decent enough offensively (indeed, their 6.3 yards per play is 4th in the league), but have struggled on the other side of the ball, and are one of five teams in the league giving up a 100 QB rating.
Their 21 turnovers and -11 ratio are each worst in the league so far.
#Bottom Line
Roster Moves. Beadles down the depth chart. Make Haynes the starting CB.
Draft Needs. All over the place. WR, G, DT, QB, LB.
Week Four Draftee Update: Mark Haynes, has stepped in as productive member of secondary, deserves a starting spot.
#QB
The numbers for Eli Manning, Y.A. Tittle, and Blake Bortles are all pretty similar: 55%ish completions, a QB rating in the 80s. Manning is the starter, but will be out at least another month, while Tittle is likely done for the season.
So, for now, it’s Bortles …
#RB
The Royal Giants seem to be at their best when Maurice Jones-Drew is being used in tandem with Tiki Barber. Make no mistake, Barber is the star, with 965 yards rushing on the year, including 4 hundred yard games. But Jones-Drew has added nearly 350 yards and is averaging over 6 yards per carry.
Ron Johnson has been a red zone success, scoring 3 times. Dave Meggett has been slightly disappointing from the backfield, but his contributions elsewhere have been very strong.
Regardless, this is a position of strength for the team.
#WR & TE
Odell Beckham, Jr has been fantastic: 46 catches, 840 yards, and 8 TDs, with 5 games over 100 yards. Behind him, Victor Cruz and Plaxico Burress have been solid, but both are out with injuries. That has left the team in a hard spot: Allen Hurns looks promising, but there is little proven depth there.
Larry Donnell has been solid at TE.
Cruz should be back next week, but Burress is out for another 2 months, leaving this still an area of potential need.
#OL
Chris Snee has been good, but a bit inconsistent: 19 big holes, 10 bad runs, and 0 sacks allowed. Tony Boselli and Mel Hein have been more overwhelmingly dominant blockers. On the negative side, Zane Beadles has struggled quite a bit at G.
#DL
The defensive line has been strong, but perhaps not strong enough: Jason Pierre-Paul and Michael Strahan have combined for 6 sacks, 16 hurries, and 12 stuffs. A few more sacks would be quite useful. Neither Sen’Derrick Marks nor Mike Patterson have really seized the DT role, although both have been passable.
#LB
Jon Beason has been fantastic, leading the team with 83 tackles and 4 forced fumbles. Behind him, Lawrence Taylor has been, surprisingly, less than dominant–3 sacks, 3 hurries, and 30 tackles is fine, but not the anticipated level of performance for him.
Brad Van Pelt‘s injury–and he’s likely to miss the rest of the year–has hurt.
#DB
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie has 61 tackles and 1 interception to lead the secondary. He and Antrel Rolle have 8 deflections each, with Rolle adding 2 picks of his own. Mark Haynes has taken over from Mike Harris and, in fact, has performed well enough to displace Demetrius McCray as one of the starting CBs.
That churn is a direct result of Prince Amukamara‘s early season injury, which looks to have him out for the rest of the year.
#P & K
Josh Brown has been adequate, perfect on XPs, but his 75% rate on FGs is concerning.
Bryan Anger has pinned opponents inside their 20 yard line 10 times, and his net is approaching 40, which is solid.
#Returns
Meggett has been solid on kickoff returns, but excellent on punts where he is averaging over 15 yards a return with 2 TDs.