New York Giants: Could this year’s passing attack surpass 2011’s?

Last year, the New York Giants finished seventh in total offense. The main catalyst for that was “The New Sensation” Odell Beckham Jr., but Eli Manning certainly had a phenomenal year as well.

Entering the second year in Ben McAdoo’s west-coast style of offense, Big Blue’s passing attack has a real shot at being historically great.

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I’m not prepared to say the Giants will become the highest-scoring offense in league history. However, Eli Manning could very well be in line to have his finest season as a pro, despite the fact that he could theoretically leave the Giants.

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Let’s look at it like this: Last year, Manning had one of the best years of his career. Manning threw for 4,410 yards, 31 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and completed a career-high 63.1 percent of his passes.

Manning’s best season, however, is 2011, in which he tossed just under 5,000 yards to go along with his 29 touchdowns — 15 in the fourth quarter of games — and a 92.9 quarterback rating.

The reason why Manning could be in line for his best year ever is because he now has an ultra-talented group of skill players around him.

If you recall, everybody raves about the defense from the Giants 2007 Super Bowl run, while the offense deserves much of the fame for the team’s most recent championship win.

I firmly believe that if the two units played each other, the latter would win because of the offensive explosiveness, but that’s a discussion for another time.

I hate looking back to 2011, but here’s what the primary group of pass-catchers looked like: Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz, Mario Manningham, Jake Ballard. Period. That’s it. Four guys.

While those four guys weren’t slouches, it’s hard to think how drastically things have changed. This new group surrounding Manning is possibly the best he’s ever had, thanks to the emergence of one young stud and a slew of offseason additions.

First and foremost, let’s quickly address the offensive line. After losing starting left tackle Will Beatty until at least November, is the unit great? No. However, one has to wonder how much worse it is than last year.

Assuming the Giants don’t bring in any new faces, the line will likely look something like this (from left-to-right): Ereck Flowers, Justin Pugh, Weston Richburg, Geoff Schwartz and Marshall Newhouse. Not All-Pro, but not the worst unit in the league.

As far as pass-catching options goes, how is Eli going to distribute the ball? He now has viable options in virtually every set the offense could set up in.

By now, we all know about Odell Beckham Jr. And while he certainly had himself a scintillating rookie campaign, OBJ is simply just the frontman for unit oozing with talent. He’s like Tony Stark of The Avengers.

I’ve talked about Beckham extensively, as I have the often-underrated Rueben Randle. While I’m part of the category who thinks Beckham will have a tough time replicating his monster 2014, he doesn’t necessarily need to.

Nov 3, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham (13) hauls in pass for first down against Indianapolis Colts cornerback

Greg Toler

(28) at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

Randle has the tools to become a 1,000-yard receiver, and he thrived toward the end of last season when teams were keying in on Beckham. He’s got serious big-play ability.

Oh, and some guy named Victor Cruz is on track to return, too.

Cruz started the season off slow, but once he, as well as the rest of the offense, started to click, he began to look like the Cruz of 2011 and 2012.

Obviously, Cruz’s injury is a unique one, and one that could pose lingering issues. But Cruz’s injury is similar to Beckham’s production in the sense that it doesn’t have to be 100 percent.

What the Giants have done this offseason has been very wise. Dwayne Harris now joins the team, and he offers a unique blend of explosiveness and the ability to stretch a defense.

If Cruz in fact can’t go week 1, Harris will likely be the guy who’s plugged into the slot role.

Corey Washington has also been turning heads this offseason, and fans should expect a much, much more successful year in 2015 from last year’s preseason standout.

The group of tight ends, while not the best all-around unit, features a trio of players who possess real pass-catching ability.

Larry Donnell, the big-bodied, sometimes absent-minded, breakout star from last year should be improved. Veteran Daniel Fells, who hauled in a cool four touchdowns on 16 catches, is back for another year. And Adrien Robinson — remember him? The “JPP” of tight ends — is entering his make-or-break year, but he’s also an athletic, receiving tight end.

The true X-factor of this offense, though, is the newly signed Shane Vereen.

If this guy can stay healthy, he’s going to make Eli Manning’s life astronomically easier. Manning has lacked a running back who can both pass protect and catch since Ahmad Bradshaw was released following the 2012 season.

Vereen was the do-it-all back for the Patriots last year, and he even set a Super Bowl record for most catches by a running back. He’ll be used all over the place, and he provides the offense with a dimension that neither Rashad Jennings nor Andre Williams — who are both great between-the-tackle runners — do.

The make one final comparison to 2011’s trio of wide receivers, I would say this year’s group trumps the former. Beckham and Randle can be compared to Nicks and Cruz, in the sense that they will be the two lead guys. Cruz will play the role of the third man, but he’s a much better option than Mario Manningham.

Add in the fact that the Giants now have Vereen and a slew of tight ends, and it’s easy to see why this could very well be Eli’s best year as a pro.

All of this is examining a team on paper, of course. Nobody ever went to the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl, on paper.

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