Andrew Weber — US Presswire
New York Giants‘ RB Andre Brown was having a solid season before he suffered a season-ending broken leg in the team’s 38-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers in late November. Brown had eight touchdowns for the season, as he was usually inserted into the game on goal line situations. Brown is not an overly powerful back at all, but he thrived in the role.
Brown had his coming out party in a Week 3 Thursday night matchup against the Carolina Panthers. He easily topped 100 yards while scoring two touchdowns in the blowout win. Brown actually got his first action several days earlier against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. RB Ahmad Bradshaw was injured in the first half, and Brown stepped in and filled in nicely, scoring his first touchdown while rushing for just over 70 yards.
He definitely could’ve had at least 10 touchdowns if he were able to finish off the season. Apparently, those eight touchdowns Brown scored are nowhere close to enough for him. Brown is now talking about racking up over 20 touchdowns while rushing for 1,300 yards. He is very optimistic, but there are a couple of reasons why that will not happen.
First, Brown is the second back on the depth chart behind RB David Wilson, who the Giants acquired with their first-round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Wilson is also seen as a home run hitter like RB Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans. The Giants believe an every-down back like Wilson can definitely make their offense more explosive. Wilson is also a bit more physical, willing to lower his head and shoulders and dish out punishment. He’ll have to be careful this year with the implementation of a 15-yard penalty for doing so now.
The Giants are also more dangerous when they’re relying on the right arm of QB Eli Manning. The Giants’ run blocking in the past couple of years has been non-existent at times. When the Giants won the Super Bowl in the 2011 season, Manning was top five in passing yards with just under 5,000 yards, easily a career high. These are not the days pre-2009 when the Giants have to rely on the ground game heavily. Manning has matured a great deal since his first championship in 2007.
Brown can easily get over 10 touchdowns if he stays healthy. The Giants loved him in goal-line situations last year, and they’ll continue to use him in that role for the upcoming season.
