Ever since the Dallas Cowboys won three Super Bowls in the early-to-mid- 1990s with three Hall of Fame skill players on offense, the term “triplets” has been a thing in the NFL.
Quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith and wide receiver Michael Irvin became one of the most productive and unstoppable trios in NFL history and they changed the model for teams to follow going forward.
What does that model look like now?
Almost every team has their version of the triplets. Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post recently took the time to rank all 32 teams’ “triplets”, topped by the New Orleans Saints with quarterback Drew Brees, running back Alvin Kamara and wide receiver Michael Thomas.
The Giants’ trio of Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley and Golden Tate landed in the middle of the pack, or 15th out of 32 to be exact.
“Jones was the first rookie ever with three games of four touchdown passes and no interceptions, but he led the NFL with 18 fumbles,” writes Dunleavy. “Barkley ran for 1,000 yards on a bum ankle. The Giants have three No. 2-caliber receivers, but Tate has done it the longest.”
True, the Giants do have three No. 2 wideouts and Tate is one of them. Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton are the others, but if I were choosing, I would replace the wide receiver role with either Slayton — a player who can stretch the field — or tight end Evan Engram, a player who is more dynamic that any of the team’s wideouts.
This year’s NFL Draft was loaded with top wide receiver talent and the Giants chose to bypass them in favor of rebuilding their offensive line and defensive back seven.
Good news is, though, that next year’s receiver class is just as good, if not better, so the Giants can still load up in 2021.
