New York Giants: Already concerning wide receiver depth getting worse

With two injuries to wide receivers in as many days at New York Giants training camp, concerns over depth at the position are growing further.

Saying the New York Giants have been under the microscope in the 2019 offseason would be a vast understatement. While the Daniel Jones pick (and their other first-round selections, though to a lesser degree) has been heavily scrutinized, no move was as shocking and criticized as trading Odell Beckham Jr. And just a couple days into training camp, we’re seeing why.

Despite the fact that the Giants signed Golden Tate in free agency after trading Beckham, Big Blue’s wide receiver room was going to be a bit thin. And it’s getting thinner by the day at camp. On Thursday, Sterling Shepard suffered a fractured thumb. That was followed by Corey Coleman, the presumed No. 3 receiver, tearing his ACL on Friday.

If there’s a silver lining for two of the team’s top three receivers suffering injuries, it’s that Shepard’s injury isn’t terribly serious. He’s going to miss all of the preseason, but ESPN’s Jordan Raanan noted that there is optimism that the wideout can get back on the field by Week 1 when the Giants face the Dallas Cowboys.

What isn’t a silver lining, however, is what Raanan pointed on Twitter in highlighting the Giants’ current group of healthy wide receivers:

Now, it’s certainly worth noting that tight end Evan Engram and running back Saquon Barkley are both great options in the passing game, but aren’t listed there since they don’t play wide receiver.

Even with that being the case, though, a look at those healthy receivers is concerning. Even with Shepard back, the Giants are looking at a group that’s headlined by a player that is coming off a struggling 2018 season in Tate and someone who has not been more than a mid-tier secondary option in Shepard.

Anyone with realistic expectations isn’t expecting much from the Giants in terms of success. However, what fans and the team would like to see is signs of hope, which could come from the offense — especially if Daniel Jones gets his shot to play by usurping Eli Manning. An ideal scenario for the G-Men would be Jones getting time and showing promise when he gets on the field.

With that group of pass-catchers, though, that’s going to make life substantially more difficult for whoever is playing quarterback. We knew it would be tough to cope with the loss of Beckham in the offense but this would be an unrecoverable dropoff. And that’s without any more potential injuries, which are undeniably part of professional football.

Put simply, things aren’t off to a hopeful start with New York at this point. If they don’t make moves to improve the receiving corps, even without incurring more injuries to that group, an already seemingly long year on the horizon could get even worse.