It is no secret that the New York Giants severely lack talent at the wide receiver position. With Sterling Shepard missing the past four games with turf toe, quarterback Daniel Jones has been doomed to a life of running the football.
He is currently the Giants’ leading rusher, throwing for just 112 yards against the Washington Football Team in week six. The Giants haven’t given him much help in the receiving game, aside from Darius Slayton who has finally been activated downfield after weeks of malpractice usage from offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.
Garrett has made some interesting decisions with the wide receiver unit through six weeks, failing to maximize Slayton and completely factoring out Evan Engram at the tight end position. He’s trying to utilize Engram as he once did with Jason Witten, a big body target who predominantly runs short curl routes. Engram is best used in the seam and stretching the defense, which is something we have rarely seen through six weeks.
However, the Giants could make a move before the trade deadline to acquire some talent. The Cincinnati Bengals were recently approached by former first-round pick John Ross, who requested a trade. Knowing general manager Dave Gettleman and his lack of refrain from spending draft capital, it is not out of the question of the Giants could communicate with the Bengals and negotiate a deal.
From @gmfb: #Bengals WR John Ross approached the team about a trade recently. The speedster, in the last year of his rookie deal, hasn't been playing much of late and wants a fresh start if that's going to continue being the case. pic.twitter.com/0LbfY9ODb4
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) October 20, 2020
Should the New York Giants take a flier on John Ross?
In short, no. Gettleman has already spent too much 2020 draft capital to be sending more for a player who has only played in 19% of offensive snaps this season. He has started just one game, hauling in two receptions for 17 yards. Ross had his best season in 2019 since his inception into the NFL in 2017. He posted 506 yards and three scores but made it into the end zone seven times in 2018.
While his action has been consistently degraded, the Giants could get him on a friendly deal, possibly for a late-round pick. While that‘s not the worst allocation of assets for a speedy wide receiver looking for a change of scenery, allocating the pick on a rookie WR next year might be more beneficial.