New York Giants: Kickoff Return Seems To Suit David Wilson

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE

NEW YORK GIANTS FOOTBALL: David Wilson Is Still In The Dog House, But Deserves A Bone After Sunday's Effort.

Kickoff Return Seems To Suit Him Nicely.

The first question is, was Philadelphia's special teams coverage that bad?  Because Sunday night, Giants rookie David Wilson ran away from Philly's coverage as if they were playing blindfolded.


Things have not necessarily started out as well for him as Sunday night went however.  To kickoff his NFL career, David Wilson committed a red-zone fumble on just his second carry in Week One.  That landed him immediately in Coach Coughlin's dog house.  In all, he rushed twice for four positive yards.  In kick return however, Wilson gained seventy one yards in three chances, with a long of thirty two yards.


Against Tampa in Week Two, Coach limited him to three rushes in which Wilson gained all of six yards.  But in kick return, he gained eighty six yards in three chances, with a long of forty four yards.


In Week Three against the Panthers, if there was any chance of exiting Coach Coughlin's dog house, this was the game to escape.  Ahmad Bradshaw was out with a neck injury.  But seemingly, all he did was earn himself an extended stay.  He rushed one time for negative two yards.  More damning, he dropped an easy scat pass over the middle, again in the opponent's red zone.  Wilson additionally only returned one kick for nineteen yards.  This was by far, his least productive game of his first three.  To make matters worse, Aaron Brown's rushing had everyone rethinking everything.


At that point, what rookie wouldn't want to do something; anything; to gain favor in his coaches eyes?  In Week Four, after the Giants first two possessions or so, it was clear the Giants had zero intentions of giving David Wilson any rushing attempts or passes out of the backfield.  Ahmad Bradshaw was back and carried a very light load.  The game plan even limited Aaron Brown.  So Wilson made the most of it on kick returns instead.


In six kickoff returns against the Eagles, David Wilson amassed 217 yards, with a long of fifty three yards.  For the day, he averaged thirty six yards per return.  And he did so with impressive bursts of speed.


In four games this season, David Wilson has thirteen kickoff returns and is now up to 393 yards.  That's a thirty yard average per kick return.  Minus Game Three, David Wilson unleashed thirty yard returns in three different games.  And as mentioned, his season high stands at fifty three yards.


The Philadelphia Eagles special teams just may be that bad.  Then again, the reason David Wilson had six chances was because Philly scored six times.  If things are going smoothly for the Giants on the offensive side of the ball (and defensively for that matter), that means less opportunities to return kickoffs..., doesn't it?  And that brings us right back to the dog house and getting chances out of the backfield.


David Wilson is standing on firmer ground today than he was perhaps before the Eagles game.  For rookies in the NFL, that isn't saying much.  But here's what this rookie has going for him.  David Wilson's work is now spread out over a quarter season.  There is enough there to warrant at least a bone from the Giants Head Coach.  On the other hand, sometimes trips to the dog house are warranted.  Depending on the coach, responding to adversity is the only way out.  Then there's Tom Coughlin's world.  And right now, he has Jerry Reese's pick selected to supplement a deficient back filed, in the middle of a hard lesson in Pigskin 101 basics.


Without beating a dead horse, the Giants running game has been below standard.  Ahmad Bradshaw is unlikely to carry the load by himself.  There is a reason Aaron Brown isn't starting somewhere else.  And Jerry Reese drafted this kid because necessity is the mother of all invention.  But only Coach Coughlin holds the keys to the dog house.  That's the way it should be.  If Coach is planning to send David Wilson a continuing message, I think we can all agree next week against the Browns is the last feasible week to get that done.  After Cleveland, the Giants difficulty of schedule rises exponentially, and will necessitate an all-hands-on-deck approach.





Mike.BTB