-and it's not close. The constant OL obsession here seems to shield him from all scrutiny. What killed us in that draft isn't the Reese didn't draft an OL, as usual. It's that he tried to get cute and pick up the needed WR in round 2, instead of drafting Alshon Jeffrey in round 1. Of course, had he drafted Jeffrey, he would have been blasted here. Not "NFL-ready", not the "good character" Giants-type player, only runs 4 routes (open on all of them), not the #1 OL that brought us the last two championships. Randle was sold as NFL-ready, which was fine if it was true, but turned out to be a laugh.
I'm still trying to figure out what Randle is good at. He has truly bad hands - lots of easy drops. He's the very worst route runner the Giants have drafted in a long time - 3 years later in his second offense (with "fewer" adjustments etc.) and he's still running the wrong route more times than not. His speed is mediocre - he's not Steve Smith slow, but his speed is hardly an asset. He's not a deep threat and doesn't get behind the defense the way other receivers of his size and body build do (the young Amani Toomer comes to mind). I guess he's an above-average runner when he does catch the ball, which is way too infrequently. Everything else is below average.
I saw a large number of plays this preseason where Eli had plenty of time to throw and held the ball because nobody was open. That's not the OL. It's the receiving corps. In the past Eli has excelled with 3 good receivers, and been pretty good with 2 good receivers. Right now it's Cruz and nobody. The Giants desperately need Beckham to get healthy, and they need to find a big receiver who can play. It hasn't been Randle. (And it's not Jernigan, Parker, Manningham etc., all of whom are/were here to back up Cruz and Beckham.) I understand that Corey Washington has his limitations, and I'm hardly one who thinks that every undrafted WR we find is going to turn into the next Victor Cruz. But Randle has been so bad at times you have to wonder if this guy deserves a shot. If Washington "doesn't separate" - Randle doesn't either. Washington just might learn how to do that and it doesn't appear Randle will.
If Randle is ever going to get it done, now is the time. I'm always rooting for the Giants WRs - but I'm just not seeing it with this guy. And it's strange because the Giants haven't missed on a WR in a long time. Some have been hurt, etc., but they have generally come as advertised.
As for Randle, his problem is that he's almost bizarrely football dumb and he's unfortunately not some mega physical talent to make up for it. Hopefully something, anything, clicks for him, but it's unfortunately not likely at this point.
I think Randle's shown some potential and had a couple of pretty good games. We'll know a lot more about him in the next 6-8 weeks.
When he is finally healthy enough how much of an impact will he really make not ever having experienced the speed of the pro game in preseason first? The bullets by then are flying at break neck speed and he hadn't even experienced the precursor to the regular season by getting his feet wet in the preseason.
This looks like another first round draft disappointment for this year anyway. He may be the real deal but I don't think we will see much of an impact where he is concerned this year.
partly eli and oline...plus eli doesnt have playbook
down either. Also mac screwing w elis footwork.
Randle does better on deep routes. ..
lets see what happens Monday. .they all need work.
Randle is a good wr..
We won the division that year.
Also, how badly does he want it? The talent is there.
Jernigan, Barden, and Moss immediately come to mind...
Of all the NYG roster issues, Randle isn't near the top of the list.
Hopefully Randle will catch on for good and start to rack up numbers and help contribute to more Ws !!!!
It's also funny to me, that you've watched "large numbers of plays" this preseason and say we have "Cruz and nobody" when Cruz himself has done absolutely nothing this preseason, Cruz himself is coming off a poor year, yet you turn it into a way to single out Randle. You're not a coach, you're not a scout, you're watching preseason games sitting on your coach and playing jump to conclusions/assigning blame without information.
It's one thing to criticize Randle for making mistakes/not being on the same page, however he has made plays. He has shown an ability to get down field and make plays. That's what the Giants drafted him for. Let me ask you how the hell are you going to see a lot of down field plays with Randle with the state of the Giants offensive line in 2013? The Giants had to cut off the deep routes once they realized they couldn't give Eli any time for the deeper routes they were accustom to. So, to correct you...he has shown the ability to get deep and make plays. This isn't up for debate, he's already shown it. Maybe not as often as you'd like, but as stated before, with the collective state of the Giants offense in 2013 I don't think you were going to see any version of air coryell with Eli ducking and running 80% of the time.
You're confident in Washington, or say he deserves a chance when he's made all his plays against 4th stringers who likely aren't on NFL rosters. Randle has made plays on starting NFL corners, guys like Carr,Namdi, Rogers-Cromartie, etc..not guys that were getting cut on saturday.
Again, he's still running the wrong routes more times than not? WTF are you basing this on? How the hell could you even pretend to know this?
He was a 2nd year player last year, his biggest crime was the mistakes he made on route adjustments which cost Eli. These were mental mistakes, made in the context of one of the worst offenses I've ever seen. Newsflash, 2nd year players make mistakes, it does happen. He made too many mistakes, but if he was half as bad as you're suggesting he wouldn't have put up 900+ yards in 9 tds against NFL competition. If you can't separate/get open/make plays then you don't put up that production, you just don't..you're out of the league like Stephen Hill if you can't do those things. The guy has averaged over 15 ypc for his career show he's shown himself to be effective in the intermediate to deep range. He deserves to be criticized for his play last year, but this over the top.
When he is finally healthy enough how much of an impact will he really make not ever having experienced the speed of the pro game in preseason first? The bullets by then are flying at break neck speed and he hadn't even experienced the precursor to the regular season by getting his feet wet in the preseason.
This looks like another first round draft disappointment for this year anyway. He may be the real deal but I don't think we will see much of an impact where he is concerned this year.
THIS ^^^
MM is on IR you dipshit. Show a little respect for a guy who had one of the biggest plays in SB history.
I see you are in regular season form with your garbage already
His problems aren't about the QB. They're about his own lack of football intelligence for the most part.
And comparing him to Mario is bull. MM would make mental mistakes at times, but he was able to at least generally grasp the entire complex Gilbride offense his second year and not have to have everything dumbed down for him in order for him to contribute. Three into the NFL, RR still can't recognize what the hell cover 0 is on the field.
Who led the Giants in td receptions last year?
Who was second in yards per reception last year?
Its a good thing the NFL hasn't turned into a passing league or anything like that...
If Randle shows up on opening day with solid route running it will go a long way to determining how our passing game goes.
Mentally, its not.
Randle's also better than some of the slugs who were pressed into service when injuries hit in years like 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2010.
Now Decker has no fatal flaws (unlike Hill who the Jets dropped because they decided that lack of eye/hand coordination is not something that just needs development), but his greatest plus is probably not having a weakness.
But just how does not having a weakness get you the separation you need to put up his numbers the last 2 years?
I say with confidence that it is Randle for a few reasons. One, in 10 years, Manning has only had consistent problems of miscommunication with 2 WRs. One was Manningham his first go 'round and the other is Randle. For the approximate other dozen or so WRs he's worked with in that span (more if you count TEs), there have been few problems overall and no problems with consistently being on the wrong page.
Two, Randle experinced the same issue with other QBs in pre-season. So, it certainly doesn't seem to be the QB.
Still, he's been good, has been a playmaker - lots of tough catches in traffic and when being challenged for the ball by a DB, and VERY good in space. I look forward to him rising to the challenge of silencing critics who are pissed that he isn't the second coming of Jerry Rice.
His hands aren't BAD, for the record - they're average. With last years atrocious O-line, he had a catch rate of 54%, league average is about 58%.
(For reference, Hakeem Nicks sports a 55% catch rate, Victor Cruz 60%)
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