New York Giants: Shane Vereen to have biggest role?

The New York Giants signed the best pass-catching back on the free agent market this past offseason when they inked former New England Patriots third-down weapon Shane Vereen to a three-year, $12.35 million deal with $5 million in guaranteed money. It was an unsurprising move that made plenty of sense, as none of the Giants backs in 2014 showed promise in the passing game, with rookie Andre Williams looking especially underwhelming in that aspect.

Vereen will certainly bring a lot on passing downs to Ben McAdoo’s offense, and Eli Manning has a weapon out of the backfield who can function as a safety valve and as a playmaking threat. We saw the former part of Vereen’s game against the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl, and Vereen has been a movable chess piece for the Patriots offense ever since the 2013 season. Before that campaign, the Pats tried Vereen out in the slot and even split out wide in the offseason, and he has the speed and pass-catching ability to generate mis-matches against linebackers when lined up in the slot in a spread formation.

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I can’t wait to see how McAdoo gets creative with Vereen on the field, especially since the Giants offense also has Odell Beckham Jr., Victor Cruz, Rueben Randle, and steady tight end Larry Donnell. But with all of the hype surrounding Vereen’s potential impact as a pass-catcher, it’s easy to forget that his official positions is “running back”.

In fact, he looked like a pretty darn good rusher in the 2013 season, earning a hefty 4.7 yards per carry. That number shot down to 4.1 YPC last season when given more than double the number of carries (42 to 96), and he used to have injury problems earlier in his career. There are worries that he isn’t strong enough on first contact (just 1.8 yards after contact per carry last year, according to Pro Football Focus), and durability concerns have prevented him from ever assuming a larger role as a rusher.

That could change with the New York Giants, because there are even louder rumbles of a bigger role for the former Patriots backup. A couple of months ago, NJ.com’s Jordan Raanan wrote that they’ll use him as more than just a third-down back, and that makes sense since he’s such a good pass-catcher that he can be an explosive weapon on any down. With a 4.5 forty time on his resume and the ability to make defenders miss with relative ease, Vereen can both stretch the field and do plenty of damage after the catch.

ESPN NFL Nation’s Dan Graziano noted that Vereen received “a lot of work” during OTAs, and he earned “a lot of action” as a rusher. Even at this stage of the offseason, that’s certainly noteworthy, because it is feasible to believe that he can steal more than just a few carries away from incumbent feature back Rashad Jennings, who was solid for the team last year but dealt with injuries and is now 30, and Williams, whose 3.3 yards per carry marred his seven rushing touchdowns.

That said, Vereen’s clearly going to be used most often in the passing game as both a receiver and pass protector, though it remains to be seen just how much of an upgrade he is in the latter department. Based on Graziano’s piece, it seems like he will be a notable upgrade in that regard, and it sounds like head coach Tom Coughlin trusts his new back in blitz pick-up.

In the past two seasons, Shane Vereen has caught a total of 99 passes for six touchdowns despite playing in just eight games in 2013, and there’s no question that the Giants will use him heavily on passing downs. I’m wondering if this will lead to a significant rise in his carries compared to our earlier projections, because the Giants can’t always throw the ball when he’s on the field.

While there’s an element of unpredictability regarding Vereen specifically (whether he will catch a pass or block on that given play) in the passing game, it seems like he stands to gain from a big role in the passing game via a bigger role in the running game.

Jennings is the team’s lead back and most consistent rusher, so it’s hard to anyone else leading the team in carries. But given the talk surrounding Vereen’s role, it’s hard to see him not leading the team in snaps. Williams looks like the clear third back on the roster and should have a big role in short-yardage situations, but the only question is whether Vereen or Jennings will receive more touches.

The lead back is generally viewed as the running back who gets the most rushes, but I think we could see Vereen leading the 2015 Giants in both touches and snaps, though that may be contingent on the number of rushes he receives.

Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; New England Patriots running back Shane Vereen (34) against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Vereen never missed a game last season despite receiving a career-high 96 carries, and even though he was only about average as a rusher, it is a sign that his explosive change-0f-pace ability can be used more often without as heightened of a risk of injury as we once thought.

It’s just one season, but maybe the Giants are looking at his 148 touches last season and believe he can take on more

But here’s an interesting nugget I found on PFF. Vereen had 606 snaps last season for the Patriots, while the Giants received 530 snaps from Williams and 427 from Jennings, who missed five games.

Vereen not only had more snaps than those two, but he also averaged more yards per carry (4.1) (Jennings and Williams were at 3.8 and 3.3, respectively).

Jennings may be the “lead back” in the running game and Vereen the “complement” (to take from NJ.com’s Nick Powell), but my early money is on Vereen to lead the team in snaps. I wouldn’t rule out the thought that he will lead the team in touches, but it’s hard to see him being a bigger part of the running game than Jennings.

Next: Giants: Examining the quarterbacks

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