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New York Giants: Time for Tigers to Earn Stripes

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By @teapester725

Rueben Randle, Larry Donnell and Daniel Fells Giants

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As if a shutout loss at the hands of a division rival wasn’t bad enough, the New York Giants suffered a huge loss Sunday night against the Philadelphia Eagles with Victor Cruz going down. Cruz had surgery to repair his patellar tendon, and will miss the remainder of the season. With him being sidelined, it is time for a trio of Tigers, two from LSU and one from Grambling State, to step up their games and attempt to fill the void left by Cruz’s injury.

Rueben Randle and Odell Beckham Jr. were once the starting wide receivers for the Tigers in 2011, and will once again be a tandem with the Giants for the remainder of 2014. The two of them will now be the Giants’ to-go options at receiver, as they will be the options split out wide in two-receiver sets for the Giants for the time being.

Both will have a lot on their shoulders. Randle has to continued growing as he becomes the No. 1 option in this passing game. He is yet to show that he is capable of handling such a role, but the Giants hope he steps up with the pressure now on.

Through six games, Randle has caught 28 of his 49 targets, for 247 yards and one touchdown. Those are numbers that need to improve if the Giants’ offense is to get anything going through the air. Randle has to do a better job running routes and winning battles with opposing defensive backs, better using his size to his advantage.

For Beckham Jr., the rookie’s plate has all of a sudden become very full. He will most likely be tasked with taking over Cruz’s role in the slot, as his original backups Jerrel Jernigan and Marcus Harris are both out for the season with injuries. It will be something people watch the remainder of the season to see if Beckham is ready for such a role, but he definitely does not lack the confidence needed to succeed.

Having the confidence is a start, but will it translate to the field? Beckham Jr. was already working his way back from a hamstring injury, and being brought along at a decent rate by Tom Coughlin and the Giants’ coaching staff. Now he will have to have the process expedited and have more to be taught. The Giants didn’t use a first-round pick on a player to take it easy, and it is time for Beckham to show he was worthy of the 12th overall pick in this year’s past draft.

The last Tiger who has to continue stepping up is Larry Donnell. He came out of nowhere to start the season, highlighted by a three-touchdown performance Week 4 against the Washington Redskins. Since that game, Donnell has been nonexistent, being targeted just twice in the games against the Atlanta Falcons and Eagles, catching one pass for six yards.

Donnell, like Randle and Beckham, will assuredly see his role increase starting this week against another division rival in the Dallas Cowboys. Donnell could become Eli Manning’s security blanket over the middle much like Cruz was throughout the past couple of seasons. Going from a backup to an integral part of the offense isn’t easy, but Donnell showed he is capable of good things in the first four games of the season, and should only improve with more playing time.

Cruz is virtually irreplaceable, but a group effort from Randle, Beckham Jr. and Donnell would go a long way in getting it done. This is an inexperienced group, as Randle is the eldest of the group entering his third season, and combined all three players’ stats do not come close to Cruz’s, but this is what the Giants have to work with. For this season to not start going down the gutter, these three Tigers have to begin earning their stripes and there is no better time to start than against a division rival before heading into a bye week.

Kenneth Teape is a New York Giants writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @teapester725 or join his Google network.

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