New York Giants NewsGiants’ running back question is “Who backs up Saquon Barkley?”New Mark Bavaro Jerseys 2019 ,10commentsThe team’s star back can’t shoulder the entire loadEDTThe addition of Saquon Barkley to the team last year was a bittersweet pill for New York Giants fans.Forget about the on-going debate as to whether the Giants should have drafted a quarterback at No. 2 overall over Barkley. The problem with drafting Barkley, a generational talent, is that the revamped running game, which has been missing from the Giants offense since the days of Ahmad Bradshaw, was only half effective thanks to the incomplete and inconsistent showing by the offensive line which often made it difficult for any Giants running back to function.According to Pro Football Focus, of the nine running backs last year who finished the season with 1,000 yards rushing (of which Barkley was second with 1,307, behind league leader Ezekiel Elliott of Dallas), Barkley had the third-highest average yards after contact average (3.34) after Derrick Henry of the Titans and Chris Carson of the Seahawks.This is worth mentioning because it would suggest that Barkley often had to get extra yards on his own doing, which means more wear and tear on his body.Simply put, the better the run blocking upfront, the easier Barkley should have it. While he’ll probably be the first to embrace any challenge put in front of him, the danger of having your star running back take a repeated pounding and having to consistently push his way forward for additional yards behind an offensive line that’s getting no movement could put that running back at risk of having a shorter career.We’ll cover offensive line in a separate review, but with the Giants having addressed that issue this off-season, at least on paper White Michael Strahan Jerseys , presumably, the running game will be able to be even more potent this year. The Projected Depth ChartStarter: Saquon BarkleyBackups: Wayne Gallman, Rod Smith, Paul Perkins, Jonathan Hilliman, Eli Penny (fullback)Barkley turned out to be everything the Giants thought he’d be and then some. But if there was one area that was disappointing (through no fault of Barkley’s) is his use in the passing game. After dazzling the media last spring with his ability to burn linebackers on wheel routes, when it came time to run it during the regular season, the Giants coaching staff stuck more with passes to the flats and with check downs. Barkley finished with an average of 7.92 yards per reception, which isn’t bad, but imagine what that number could have been had the coaches used more of Barkley’s receiving skills to mix things up.After being forgotten about, Paul Perkins, who last year spent the entire season on the Non-football injury list, had a strong spring showing as both a runner and receiver. Perkins, who’s had an uphill battle ever since he started his NFL career in 2016—he missed the OTAs in his rookie season due to his class schedule running late; he was thrust into the starting job a year later despite not being ready for it; and then the injury last year—is finally back on track.He’s healthy, he’s had the entire off-season to go through the OTA workouts and classroom sessions, and he has a legitimate and healthy competition in front of him—all factors that should enable the Giants to get the best out of him.The rest of the competition includes third-year player Wayne Gallman Michael Strahan Jerseys 2019 , who will be challenged by newcomer Rod Smith, and rookie Jon Hilliman out of Rutgers. Gallman has had some flashes that have been encouraging, but it there is one glaring deficiency in his game, it’s been his ball security. He led the Giants running backs in total fumbles (rushing and receiving) with four, and per Pro Football Focus, he had two dropped passes in 21 pass targets. The Biggest QuestionWho will back up Barkley?If you’re thinking, “Who cares? Barkley should never come off the field!” then just ask the Los Angeles Rams about the importance of having a solid 1-2 punch at running back. Yes, Barkley has shown himself capable of being a workhorse, and yes, he should get the lion’s share of the carries. But he’s also human, and although he’s still a young man, he’s susceptible to overuse. The Giants backup options aren’t quite in Barkley’s class as far as being the entire package, but certainly, there has to be one among them capable of taking on some of the workload. The Giants just need to find the identity of that backup and should probably spend most of the summer giving the candidates on the roster behind him as much work as possible. CLEVELAND (AP) — Odell Beckham Jr. is about to run a deep route out of New Jersey — straight to Cleveland.The superstar wide receiver is bound for the Browns to be a target for quarterback Baker Mayfield as the centerpiece of a blockbuster trade, two people familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Tuesday night.The Browns are sending first- and third-round picks this year along with safety Jabrill Peppers to the Giants for Beckham, one of the NFL’s top players White Will Hernandez Jerseys , said the people who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because league rules prohibit teams from announcing trades until 4 p.m. Wednesday.The deal is conditional on both players passing physicals.With the Browns, Beckham will be reunited with receiver Jarvis Landry, a close friend and teammate at LSU. He’ll also give Mayfield an elite weapon, and his arrival could vault the Browns, who went 7-8-1 last season after not winning a game in 2017, into legitimate championship contenders.Rumors of a possible deal have swirled for weeks, with several Browns players teasing a major move by Cleveland general manager John Dorsey on social media. Dorsey pulled it off, bringing a major talent to accelerate his attempt to rebuild the Browns into consistent winners. Cleveland hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2002.The trade is the second major one involving a star wide receiver in four days as the Pittsburgh Steelers recently sent Antonio Brown to the Oakland Raiders.While Beckham is immensely talented, there is some baggage as he can be temperamental and difficult. He was suspended for one game for his on-field battles with Carolina cornerback Josh Norman. He also comes off two injury-plagued years. Before last season, he became the league’s highest-paid receiver with a five-year, $90 million contract extension.He played five seasons in New York, making the Pro Bowl in his first three. He was the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2014.It’s the second trade completed in the past week by the Giants and Browns. Cleveland sent guard Kevin Zeitler to New York for edge rusher Olivier Vernon, who will now play on the opposite side of Pro Bowler Myles Garrett.The Giants had been reluctant to trade Beckham, with GM Dave Gettleman insisting over the past few months that the club did not sign him to the historic deal in late August to trade him. But the Browns were persistent and Dorsey, who has remolded the Browns since coming to Cleveland at the end of 2017, came up with a package the Giants simply couldn’t resist.“John Dorsey is officially a genius…” tweeted Browns defensive back Damarious Randall.And now new Browns coach Freddie Kitchens has another playmaker for Mayfield Will Hernandez Jerseys 2019 , the No. 1 overall pick last year who had a dazzling debut season in which he set the NFL record for touchdown passes by a rookie.Kitchens will have to try to keep Beckham in check, something Giants coach Pat Shurmur struggled to do. Early last season, with the Giants off to another bad start, Beckham seemed upset with his role in Shurmur’s new offense and said quarterback Eli Manning was not capable of throwing deep passes.Mayfield and Beckham are already tight; they spent part of last summer working out in California with Landry, who has been campaigning since he arrived in Cleveland for his former college teammate to join him.When news of the agreement broke, Mayfield posted a photo on Twitter of him shaking hands with Beckham. “Movement” was the caption.In the aftermath of Beckham’s shocking exit from New York, Browns wide receiver Breshad Perriman asked Cleveland to void his agreement on a one-year, $4 million contract. The Browns obliged and the sides mutually decided to cancel the deal struck earlier in the day.Perriman, who revived his career with Cleveland last season, then agreed to sign a one-year package with Tampa Bay, a person with knowledge of the deal told AP.Dorsey has had a busy offseason, signing troubled running back Kareem Hunt to a one-year contract, trading for Vernon and agreeing to a three-year, $39 million deal with defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson.Landing Beckham is his signature move, a signal that he believes the Browns are on the verge of a Super Bowl run.Many were expecting the Giants to take a step forward after going 5-11 in Shurmur’s first season. They were looking to improve their offensive line, get some pass rushers and shore up the defense White Lorenzo Carter Jerseys , which struggled in coordinator James Bettcher’s switch to a 3-4 front.In the past week, the next step has turned into a rebuild.Vernon was dealt, and the team did not put a franchise tag on safety Landon Collins. Instead, the catalyst of the defense and leading tackler each of the last four seasons is about to sign with NFC East rival Washington.With the trade of Beckham, the offense has lost its top playmaker, although one could argue the Giants started shifting that role to halfback Saquon Barkley last season. Barkley beat out Mayfield for Offensive Rookie of the Year.Complicating the situation: The Giants haven’t figured out their quarterback situation. Manning is 38 and the team has only made the playoffs once since winning the Super Bowl in February 2012.But the Giants have three of the top 37 draft picks in April, and 12 overall. They have their eye on taking a franchise quarterback, perhaps Oklahoma Heisman Trophy Kyler Murray or Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins.Peppers, who is from New Jersey, will help fill the void left by Collins’ departure. A first-round pick in 2017, he struggled as a rookie but bounced back and played well last season.