When the New York Giants traded superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in March, you would have thought the team was sold and moved to Siberia by the way the fans reacted. Irreparable damage had been done and Giants fans across the country were standing on window sills seeking to end it all. There was no sense going on.
Then, cooler heads began to prevail. Golden Tate was signed and Sterling Shepard was inked to a four-year extension. Saquon Barkley was still a Giant, as was Evan Engram. Fans began to realize there could be life after Odell after all.
Through two preseason games, the Giants’ receiving corps is doing just fine as here’s the kicker — Shepard, Barkley and Engram haven’t played a down and Tate has caught just two passes.
Yet, the Giants have passed for 646 yards in their first two preseason games. Somebody has to be catching those passes. Granted, they’ve played the Jets, who are inexperienced at cornerback and the Bears’ backups thus far, but still, they’ve dominated.
The Giants have amasses a cadre of underachievers at wide receiver that is suddenly has them looking like the New England Patriots in the sense that they’ve all been taken off other teams’ scrap heaps.
Veterans Cody Latimer, Bennie Fowler, Russell Shepard, Alonzo Russell and T.J. Jones are five players that were picked up as free agents other teams turned their noses up at. They are all looking very sharp this summer with the Giants.
And it doesn’t end with just those five. There’s Da’Mari Scott, Brittan Golden and rookies Darius Slayton, Alex Wesley and Reggie White Jr. They’ve all had their moment here in the preseason with Sterling Shepard nursing his fractured thumb, Corey Coleman (knee) on IR and Tate facing a a four-game suspension.
The Giants need not worry, though. This is a “next man up” group and under the guidance of position coach Tyke Tolbert, there seems to be plenty of depth to choose from. They all can make plays and in the post-OBJ world, Giant fans minds are once again at ease.
