Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz weren’t always there. But Rueben Randle was.
And in a Giants offseason filled with injuries and contract spats, that was a bright spot. When the Giants open training camp on Friday in East Rutherford, Nicks and Cruz will knock the rust off their games after skipping portions of Big Blue’s offseason workout program.
But Randle will arrive invigorated and more experienced. As a rookie last season, Randle battled questions about his work ethic, but nobody could question it this summer, when he attended every phase of the Giants’ offseason program and made an impression on his quarterback.
“I think he’s done a lot of good things (in minicamp),” Eli Manning said of Randle back in June. “Made a lot of plays for us. And I think he can be a great playmaker for us this year.”
Randle didn’t seem ready for such a role early last year, but he showed far more maturity throughout May’s OTAs and in June’s minicamp. Cruz sat out the entire offseason as his agent and the Giants worked out the details of his contract extension, and Nicks pulled a shocking (and still unexplained) disappearing act in late May.
But Randle was there throughout. And, just months after NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth claimed that the Giants were “hoping he grows up and starts becoming more of a pro,” the receiver was impressing his offensive coordinator. Randle showed flashes of talent during his rookie year, but he showed up at OTAs running routes with more precision, paying attention to the subtleties of the game.
“He looked like a guy that has been here for five or six years,” offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said. “His whole demeanor, his whole professionalism, was outstanding. . . . He certainly stepped into a leadership role. That was not what we saw last year — not by a long shot.”
It’s exactly what the Giants needed, and it’s something they must see more of in training camp. The Giants have several options for their third receiver spot. They signed speedy veteran Louis Murphy, brought king-sized receiver Ramses Barden back in late May and saw progress from third-year man Jerrel Jernigan.
Any of those players could step up as the third receiver, but Randle, a 6-2, 208-pounder who Gilbride says has “always caught the ball well,” easily has the highest ceiling. If productive, he will allow Cruz to slide back to the slot in the three-receiver sets that make the Giants so devastating. And his ability as a No. 1 option something he showed in the final week of last season, when he had two TD catches against the Eagles makes him a valuable insurance policy if Nicks or Cruz suffers an injury.
If Randle truly breaks out, it’s even possible that he’ll give the Giants some fiscal freedom, making the injury-prone Nicks — in the final year of his contract and seeking a big raise — expendable.
“To see him growing like that was a great step forward for him,” said Gilbride, “which will help us down the road.”
And it all started when the Giants’ marquee receivers weren’t around.
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