Tom Coughlin said it more than once at his state-of-the-team address to open Giants training camp: The “team over self” approach is what helped the Giants win a Super Bowl.
It’s along these lines that I think the Giants made the right move in trading Jeremy Shockey.
Look, you don’t become a more talented team today by trading away guys like Shockey and losing Michael Strahan to retirement. But you might become a more content, all-hands-on-deck club without his side show.
Shockey was a talented football player for the Giants. He also was more trouble than he was worth.
For all the talk about how athletic he was, how ferociously he played and how many mismatches he created, Shockey also produced like a No. 2 possession receiver for most of it. Over the past five seasons, if you equate his per-game average during that stretch for 16 games, you come out with 70 catches for 784 yards and six touchdowns.
What is special about that?
But even doing the 16-game model makes little sense because Shockey never has played a full season. Granted, he only has missed five games the past four seasons, but he was banged up for many of the ones he did play.
I hear the critics in my ear …
He was a red-zone factor? Not last year he wasn’t — only six catches and no TDs inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. Third-down converter? Nothing special — barely 56 percent of his catches made first downs last year.
It’s also impossible not to note how much better Eli Manning played without Shockey in the lineup. Finally,
Manning could play untrammeled and not have to force the ball into Shockey if he was the first or second option on big plays. And how many times did you see Shockey moan and whine when he didn’t get the ball or when Manning skipped a pass at his feet? Those days are gone.
Of course, there’s a risk with the trade. Shockey could go down and catch 80 balls this year. He could take swipes at the Giants and the way he perceived them mistreating him. He’s also in the prime of his career, turning 28 in three weeks.
But like in poker, you play the hand you’re dealt. Shockey’s value dropped when reports surfaced about his fight with GM Jerry Reese, but the Giants knew they didn’t want any more of that around their team. Cut your losses and move forward. It’s smart, sound business.
And besides, the Giants got more for Shockey than the Redskins paid for Jason Taylor, and even if Taylor only plays another two seasons, I think the Giants got pretty good value. They were smart to ask for a lot — the rumor was a first-round pick or two seconds — around the time of the draft, and when that didn’t happen, they held onto him.
I think the problem has been solved about as well as it could have been, whether or not he does well in New Orleans.
It’s along these lines that I think the Giants made the right move in trading Jeremy Shockey.Look, you don’t become a more talented team today by trading away guys like Shockey and losing Michael Strahan to retirement. But you might become a more content, all-hands-on-deck club without his side show.
Shockey was a talented football player for the Giants. He also was more trouble than he was worth.
For all the talk about how athletic he was, how ferociously he played and how many mismatches he created, Shockey also produced like a No. 2 possession receiver for most of it. Over the past five seasons, if you equate his per-game average during that stretch for 16 games, you come out with 70 catches for 784 yards and six touchdowns.
What is special about that?
But even doing the 16-game model makes little sense because Shockey never has played a full season. Granted, he only has missed five games the past four seasons, but he was banged up for many of the ones he did play.
I hear the critics in my ear …
He was a red-zone factor? Not last year he wasn’t — only six catches and no TDs inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. Third-down converter? Nothing special — barely 56 percent of his catches made first downs last year.
It’s also impossible not to note how much better Eli Manning played without Shockey in the lineup. Finally,
Manning could play untrammeled and not have to force the ball into Shockey if he was the first or second option on big plays. And how many times did you see Shockey moan and whine when he didn’t get the ball or when Manning skipped a pass at his feet? Those days are gone.Of course, there’s a risk with the trade. Shockey could go down and catch 80 balls this year. He could take swipes at the Giants and the way he perceived them mistreating him. He’s also in the prime of his career, turning 28 in three weeks.
But like in poker, you play the hand you’re dealt. Shockey’s value dropped when reports surfaced about his fight with GM Jerry Reese, but the Giants knew they didn’t want any more of that around their team. Cut your losses and move forward. It’s smart, sound business.
And besides, the Giants got more for Shockey than the Redskins paid for Jason Taylor, and even if Taylor only plays another two seasons, I think the Giants got pretty good value. They were smart to ask for a lot — the rumor was a first-round pick or two seconds — around the time of the draft, and when that didn’t happen, they held onto him.
I think the problem has been solved about as well as it could have been, whether or not he does well in New Orleans.
