With the signing of Shane Vereen, the Giants have now acquired in back-to-back years a running back who started at least six games the previous season with his former team.
|
Vereen, who played 16 games with six starts in 2014 for New England, joined the Giants a year after the team kicked off free agency by adding Rashad Jennings, who was Oakland's starter in 2013.
That's in addition to the Giants selecting former Heisman Trophy finalist Andre Williams in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft.
Part of a productive rookie class, Williams started seven games throughout his first season as Jennings dealt with injuries that caused him to miss five weeks. The rookie led the team in the major rushing categories, but the Giants finished 23rd as a unit with 100.2 rushing yards per game and 30th in yards per carry.
The Giants hope Vereen can improve those numbers while also adding his ability to catch passes out of the backfield, which was on full display in Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks this past February. Vereen's 11 receptions were the most by a running back in Super Bowl history and tied with Dan Ross, Jerry Rice, Deion Branch and Wes Welker for the second-most by any player in Super Bowl history.
Meanwhile, the Giants re-signed Chris Ogbonnaya and fullback Henry Hynoski. Also in the mix in Big Blue's backfield will be Orleans Darkwa.
Here is a breakdown of the Giants' current backfield:
Shane Vereen
Height: 5-10 | Weight: 205 | Age: 26 | College: California
2014 (NE): 16 G, 6 GS, 96 rush, 391 yards, 2 TD, 52 rec., 447 yards, 3 TD
Career: 42 G, 8 GS, 1,930 yards from scrimmage, 14 TDs
Rashad Jennings
*
Height: 6-1 | Weight: 231 | Age: 29 | College: Liberty*
2014: 11 G, 9 GS, 167 rush, 639 yards, 4 TD, 30Â Â Â Â rec., 226 yards
Career: 64 G, 26 GS, 554 rush, 2,316 yards, 17 TD, 127 rec., 972 yards.
Andre Williams
*
Height: 5-11 | Weight: 230 | Age: 22 | College: Boston College*
2014: 16 G, 7 GS, 217 rush, 721 yards, 7 TD, 18 rec., 130 yards
Career: Rookie in 2014.
Orleans Darkwa
*
Height: 6-0 | Weight: 215 | Age: 23 | College: Tulane
*2014 (MIA): 4 G, 4 rush, 2 yards, 3 rec., 31 yards
2014 (NYG): 7 G, 5 rush, 21 yards, 1 TD, 2 rec., 17 yards
Career: Rookie in 2014.
Chris Ogbonnaya
*
Height: 6-0 | Weight: 225 | Age: 28 | College: Texas
*2014 (CAR): 5 G, 14 rush, 50 yards, 1 TD,
2014 (NYG): 2 G
Career: 53 G, 12 GS, 158 rush, 710 yards, 2 TD, 96 rec., 714 yards, 2 TD
Henry Hynoski (Fullback)
*
Height: 6-1 | Weight: 266 | Age: 26 | College: Pittsburgh
*2014: 16 G, 4 GS, 7 rush, 13 yards
Career: 46 G, 21 GS, 12 rush, 33 yards, 24 rec., 138 yards, 1 TD