The question was not overly complicated, and Jay Gruden responded with the simplest of answers.
What is the difference between the Giants last season, when they were 11-5, and this season, when they are 2-8 heading into a Thanksgiving night game against the Redskins at FedEx Field?
“I think Odell Beckham,’’ said Gruden, the Redskins’ head coach. “Without Odell Beckham, it’s a huge difference. He’s the best receiver in the league.’’
Oh, Gruden went on to mention a bunch of injuries the Giants sustained this season and observed, “Offensively, I’d say they’ve probably struggled just a little bit with all the new receivers they’ve had, but they can still run the ball, and Eli [Manning] is still Eli.’’
Gruden knows what many suspect but are unwilling to state: The Giants without Odell Beckham Jr. are not the Giants. Those who dispute Beckham’s importance are quick to point out the Giants were 0-4 and on their way to 0-5 this season when Beckham went down Oct. 8 against the Chargers with a fractured left ankle that required surgery to fix, landing him on injured reserve. Well, Beckham did not play in the season-opening loss to the Cowboys, dealing with a high ankle sprain, and was a limited participant the next week, a home-opening loss to the Lions, because of the ankle.
Beckham is getting around the team facility on a scooter propping up his left leg, which is not yet weight-bearing, and he is expected to make a full recovery for next season. In the meantime, the Giants are getting a long, hard look at a bunch of young receivers who, with season-ending injuries to Beckham, Brandon Marshall and Dwayne Harris, in addition to the lingering injuries and illnesses of Sterling Shepard, have been forced to play prominent roles.
The Giants managed to outlast the Chiefs 12-9 in overtime despite the absence of Shepard — who came down with a migraine headache — and with rookie tight end Evan Engram catching only one pass, for 9 yards. True, the Giants mustered only 12 points — one touchdown, a missed extra point and two field goals — and, ordinarily, that would not be enough to win games. Still, there were contributions from Roger Lewis, Tavarres King and Travis Rudolph. All three young receivers had three receptions.
“We hit Rudolph on a couple third down throws last week,’’ Ben McAdoo said. “Not all conversions, but he did have some completions there. Lewis is a guy that’s been around, he’s a young player, had a big role on special teams and really grew into his role on offense. You see how important it is to him to develop chemistry with the quarterback. He’s been outspoken on it, and he works hard on it every day in practice. He’s one of our work dogs out there, he really works hard at practice, and it shows up when you look at the numbers each and every day on the GPS, and also the targets as well. Tavarres King, he’s a guy we’ve always had a lot of confidence in. It’s been hard to get on the field for us at the receiver position. He knows the offense inside and out. He’s a Giant, loves it here, and it shows in the way he plays.”
Are any of these receivers keepers for the future? King made the team out of training camp but was released Sept. 18. There were no plans for him to return, until Beckham, Marshall and Harris went down and out. Rudolph did not make the team out of training camp and was signed to the practice squad. He, too, was summoned in early October to fill the depleted receivers room.
Lewis is the most intriguing of the group. Not much was expected of him last year, undrafted out of Bowling Green, but he made his way onto the roster. He did so again this summer and was expected to fill a reserve role on offense. Now he’s a starter.
“I thought Roger and TK both stepped up and made some nice catches, some nice plays, so I think they’re getting more confident,’’ Eli Manning said. “We were getting on the same page with each other, knowing just how guys are going to get out of breaks and do certain things, so obviously the more practice you get, the more game experience you get, the better off we’ll be.’’
In the fourth quarter against the Chiefs, Lewis was knocked down but came up with a rolling, diving catch while he was interfered with, a 34-yard pick up that set up the chip-shot, game-winning field goal for Aldrick Rosas.
“He liked the matchup, he liked the access and threw a ball he’s been throwing his whole life to a guy that has been running go routes his whole life,’’ McAdoo said. “He’s a young player, but he made a tremendous play for us. It’s part of the offense, and he executed it flawlessly.”