Ahmad Bradshaw can be a free agent, if and when there ever is a free-agency period this season. The New York Giants might be tiring of Brandon Jacobs’ act. D.J. Ware has never really shown the ability to step up and grab a significant role in the team’s offense, though the team has tried to give him one.
So yes, running back would appear to be an area the Giants would be well-advised to address this month in the 2011 NFL Draft. The question for the Giants, really, is how early to dive into the running back pool.
Alabama’s Mark Ingram is generally considered the player who should be the first running back taken in the draft, though his stock has been slipping due to concerns about a knee injury. I have seen Ingram connected to the Giants in some mock drafts, but that move seems unlikely. The Giants have not had great luck with first-round running backs (Ron Dayne, Butch Woolfolk, Jarrod Bunch, Tyrone Wheatley, George Adams), and there are a plethora of backs who carry second-day grades for the April 28-30 draft.
Grabbing someone from that second-day pool would hardly be a surprise. Mikel LeShoure (Illinois) and Ryan Williams (Virginia Tech) are often connected to the Giants.
Analysis: A position likely to be addressed.