With Rueben Randle presumably out the door, the New York Giants need another No. 2 receiver. Mohamed Sanu could fill that role exceptionally well
We’ve now reached a point where it’s completely reasonable to say New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is one of the best receivers in the entire NFL.
He can pretty much do everything you would want out of a top receiver. What he can’t do, however, is beat quadruple teams. He needs another receiver. A No.2, or a sidekick.
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Rueben Randle had a chance to be that guy, but he proved to be as inconsistent as the Mayans predicting things. He had little-to-no chemistry with Eli Manning, and he seemed to lack the necessary enthusiasm to succeed. Randle consistently seemed disgruntled playing second-fiddle to OBJ, but c’mon, unless you’re DeAndre Hopkins, Julio Jones or Dez Bryant, you’re going to be a No.2 to Beckham’s No. 1.
So Randle’s probably gone, and the Giants need to fill that void. Mohamed Sanu, who has spent his entire career with the Cincinnati Bengals would be the ideal, low-cost, high-reward option.
The 26-year-old receiver was a fourth option in Cincy’s offense last year, but that’s what happens when you play on an offense with A.J. Green, Marvin Jones and Tyler Eifert. Just because he wasn’t getting a ton of looks doesn’t mean he’s not talented, though.
In 2014, when Eifert and Jones dealt with injuries, Sanu put together a career year in an offense that ran the ball more than 27 other teams. Sanu finished 2014 with 56 receptions for 790 yards and five touchdowns. He also threw a touchdown pass.
There’s almost no chance Cincinnati retains Sanu. He would fit New York’s offense for more reason than one. First of all, he’s basically everything Randle was not, as “Invictus XI” of Big Blue View pointed out.
"“What is one thing the Giants have lacked when it comes to the wide receiver position after Odell Beckham Jr.? Does “reliability” sound good to you? How about “safety blanket”? Or “an actual threat to do something with the football”? I think perhaps Mohamed Sanu might be a good option.He’s pretty much everything that Rueben Randle was not for the Giants. He doesn’t drop passes, runs appropriate routes, and fights for the ball.”"
Sanu is smooth, albeit not flashy. He’s not going to be a staple on Sportscenter’s Top 10 Plays, but he can be a very valuable piece of an offense.
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He’s pretty much a smooth slot receiver who has a versatile move set. New head coach Ben McAdoo has a dynamic offensive mind, and there’s no doubt he would think of creative ways to utilize Sanu’s skill set.
Sanu, a former Rutgers Scarlet Knight, is from New Brunswick, N.J., so perhaps a homecoming is something he would be interested in. One thing that may sway him is a) the fact that he’d be playing with Eli Manning, who is still a top quarterback, and b) Manning’s fearless approach to letting his receivers make plays on the ball.
Look, Sanu isn’t going to be a complement to Beckham like Anquan Boldin was to Larry Fitzgerald. But the former Bengals wideout will certainly add some much-needed depth and stability.
There’s a lot of people who believe the Giants will pursue Sanu – that’s fun to say – including CBS Sports’ Jason La Confora, who highlighted why the Giants would be interested in Sanu.
“Sanu thrived as the top guy for the Bengals a few years back when A.J. Green missed a chunk of time,” La Confora said. “He would already fit in the offense the Giants run and while he will hardly be the only receiver they reach out to as soon as NFL rules allow, he will be someone very much on their radar. Adding Sanu at say, $5 million a year, to compliment OBJ would help further open up an offense…”
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Signing Sanu, though not groundbreaking, would help the Giants solve some problems on offense and continue to make fixing the defense paramount.