If I was the GM, I'd keep Matthews as our #3. Let Hartline walk. Sign one of the top 3 WR free agents. Then either draft a receiver high in the draft (my personal favorite) or sign another good WR to come in at #2.
Question...what happens if Victor Cruz gets to be a restricted free agent? It would cost the #12 overall pick and a big contract, but would it be worth it?
Oh that's tough. If our needs were strictly WR then I'd do it. But that's not the case, so no. An unrestricted FA would be the best bet.
I think ultimately the Giants and Cruz are interested in figuring a way to make it work between them but that could change, especially if Miami really puts on a full court press.
I was a big fan of Mike Wallace...but then took a closer look at him this year. I get that he really brings that one dimension to the field, but often I wonder if it's too much just one dimension, and his hands look real inconsistent to me.
Funny how injuries get more pronounced and frequent when a player drops in the depth chart. Like the old cliche goes. If he comes at the right price,you grab him. He has talent and something to prove off of his injury. Playing on grass in Florida with a up and coming team/QB can cure may an illness.
One of the reasons I'm high on Wallace is i feel like he is an ascending player. At 26 he did miss 2 off seasons in a row wich obviously has hindered his overall development. Especially this year when the Steelers brought in a new OC. Yet the kid still has 32 TDs in his young career. His play at the Giants this year where he took a short pass 60 yards for a TD shows the type of threat he is. Getting him would open up everything else for everyone in the running game aswell as the passing game. Sign Mike Wallace and Jeff could draft 6 OL this year and I would still be happy.
I threw this out a while back when people suggested trading for Fitzgerald. I think it has to be a consideration.
AND IF WE KEEP THAT MINDSET WE WILL HAVE A ROSTER OF nobodys and tgat isnt working at all. we needsome stars on this team Miles would a good player but we could also use another wr to this jokeof a offense.
I'd be tempted on Cruz. It might depend on how I saw the draft playing out. If I expected that my best choice come draft time might be a probable future #2 CB like Banks then I'd prefer Cruz over Banks/Wallace. If I thought a potential impact player would fall to my spot then it would be a much harder choice.
I think we should all just come to the realization that Jeff Ireland will most likely blow this, and we end up with someone that none of us have been talking about. And on top of that, he will probably give that person a huge contract.
I'm not sure I see Wallace as ascending. I don't think he's any better of a player now than he was in 2010.
The Giants are up against the cap, but at this point I still expect them to get something done. Cruz grew up minutes from MetLife Stadium and is a local hero up here, so unless the Giants just can't afford it or Victor is just looking for top dollar this one may be a little tough to pull off.
He doesn't need a pass, the fact remains. He's better now than anything we have by far, and he will improve imo.
He missed a lot of time in 2011, but not much in 2012. 888 snaps was good for 26th among WRs. Hartline had 914 in comparison.
I don't think so, especially not in the context of opportunity costs. I'm not sure if Victor Cruz will be the best player available to us, much less more valuable than the opportunity costs in losing #12. Cruz is a talented player in a vacuum, but to use him to his full effectiveness, are you basically going to have to use him as a slot receiver and then graft a bunch of run and shoot concepts into your offense, and then hope you end up with the same kind of chemistry? That's less palatable and potentially problematic. Same thing with Mike Wallace. He switched offenses, and quite a bit less magical this year than in past years. How much does he miss some of Bruce Arians stuff? 'Cause Mike Wallace this year is n't worth big money to me.
I agree with you on Wallace. Also consider that a lot of his downfield stuff comes with Roethlisberger hanging around the pocket for an inordinate amount of time throwing defenders off his back. But I'm not sure I agree with you on Cruz. IMO he's a pretty well rounded player that would fit the offense.
Cruz is just as good a Flanker as he is in the slot, if not better. The majority of his big plays come as an outside receiver. Wallace was a combination deal imo...switching offenses and holding out definitely hurt him, as it usually does to most players. Holding out in the NFL usually leads to crappy years
Mike Wallace had somewhat of a down year. But so did Antonio Brown (he upped his TDs though from 2 to 5). Their top 2 WRs were down in yardage. Wallace still scores 8 TDs.
I don't know if that's true. He doesn't look like a stereotypical slot receiver, but he's very much a slot guy with the Giants. Here's the PFF numbers: 2012: 69.7% of his routes out of the slot, produced 58 receptions for 867 yards(out of 86 receptions for 1,092 yards) 2011: 72.5% of his routes out of the slot, produced 64 receptions for 1208 yards(out of 82 receptions for 1,536 yards) It's probably more of an Alen question than anything, but I think specialization might be a bit problematic.
Three things happened in Pittsburgh this year that didnt happen in years prior... 1. Arians left 2. Wallace (rightfully) held out 3. Hines Ward retired. Say what you will about him being a few years past his prime but hes always been a good target in the redzone. Youre mistaking the fact that NYG used him out of the slot as him being a better slot guy then outside guy. The Giants simply dont like other players in the slot as much as they do Cruz and the reason they like Cruz in the slot so much is because of his route tree and speed. Kevin Gilbride calls a lot of vertical routes and a lot of crossing routes. Nicks is strictly an outside guy when hes healthy (and an excellent one). Randle, Barden, Hixon and Jernigan all work better outside right now. Long term they want Jernigan and Randle to be slot guys but right now they love to use Cruz on all routes inside, outside, left side, right side, short and long and he can run all of them from the slot which is a matchup nightmare for defenses because its basically putting your 2nd or 3rd best CB on an elite deep threat in many cases. Its advantageous to the Giants to use him there.
What I posted isn't just that he lines up there more often. He's proportionately more effective in the slot than out of it statistically. He's a slot receiver in an offense with a lot of Run and Shoot influences. It demands a lot of route option decisions from its slot receiver, and not everyone can do that. But what I'm also saying is that those specialized few who can do it well are rewarded and can be quite productive, more so then they might be outside of it.
Hes more effective there because he spends the majority of his time there. Hes more effective there because of the way the Giants scheme teams. Its not because he cant be effective outside.
Wallace was also hurt by Ben being beatup and that OL being demolished by injuries. Still there's no way Cruz is worth that 1st and all that money. If you really wana shoot the moon then the only guy worth it and possibly available is Fitz.
Me either but he's about it. Obviously Calvin too but they're both pipe-dreams, imo. Fitz to a slightly lesser degree.
I'm not sure you can say that outside of a sense of optimism, because it isn't true in practice. The devil is in the details with this kind of stuff.
