Tag: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie named Giants’ best FA signing of past decade

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie has been named the New York Giants’ best free agent signing of the past decade.

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The New York Giants, under the direction of general manager Dave Gettleman, have been hitting it out of the park in free agency, inking several top players this month. This comes on the heels of a successful free agent haul last year that reaped James Bradberry and Blake Martinez.

The Athletic recently ran a piece on each NFL team’s best free-agent addition of the past decade. For the Giants, they chose cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who the team bowled over with a five-year deal back in 2014.

This exercise would be a lot easier if it went back one more year so it could include the 2010 signing of Antrel Rolle. The Giants haven’t hit on many free agents since 2011, which is a big reason why they’ve only made the playoffs twice in the past decade. A spending spree in 2016 produced some one-hit wonders (DE Olivier Vernon, DT Damon Harrison, CB Janoris Jenkins) and it’s too soon to crown 2020 free agent signings James Bradberry and Blake Martinez.

So that leaves Rodgers-Cromartie, who signed a five-year, $35 million contract with the Giants in 2014. “DRC” made the Pro Bowl as an outside corner in 2015 and then was a second-team All-Pro in 2016 after shifting inside to the slot on the Giants’ best defense of the past decade. The freakishly athletic Rodgers-Cromartie had 11 interceptions in four seasons.

The Giants appear to be improving in the area of pro scouting and personal, largely drawing on Gettleman’s experience as the GM down in Carolina. Many of the players he scouted in those drafts are now reaching free agency, making the vetting process a little smoother.

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Eli Manning headlines ESPN’s NFC East All-Decade Team

Retired New York Giants QB Eli Manning headlined ESPN’s NFC East All-Decade Team, but he wasn’t the only Giants to earn the honor.

On Tuesday, ESPN announced the latest portion of their divisional All-Decade Team, this time focusing on the NFC East which houses the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles.

Unsurprisingly, quarterback Eli Manning was named the Giants’ best player of the decade. He also drew the honor of leading the NFC East All-Decade Team at quarterback over the likes of Tony Romo, Nick Foles and Carson Wentz.

Years with team: 2004-19

Manning played the entire decade and earned a Super Bowl MVP during that time. How many other Giants have that on their résumé? Answer: None. The end of the decade — and Manning’s career — wasn’t pretty, but the first few years of the 2010s were the best of his professional life. Manning’s 8.4 yards per attempt in 2011 were by far the best of his career. So were his 308.3 yards per game. He made three of his four Pro Bowls during this 10-year span and was the unequivocal face of the franchise. A pretty easy selection considering the accomplishments.

Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. earned an “honorable mention” as the Giants’ best player and also earned a spot on the NFC East All-Decade Team.

Odell Beckham Jr., WR, 2014-2018. His first three seasons were off the charts. He was among the two or three best players in the NFL at his position during that time, and nobody had more touchdown receptions (35). The only problem was that it didn’t last longer, in large part because of injuries and drama.

Other Giants to make the team including defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and safety Landon Collins. Tom Coughlin also drew an “honorable mention” as the head coach, but that honor ultimately went to Doug Pederson of the Eagles.

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Eli Manning led Giants in WAR over past decade

QB Eli Manning led the New York Giants in WAR over the past decade, which is a testament to both his talent and success.

Who were the New York Giants’ most valuable players of the past decade? You could probably take a guess and come close, but the analytics website Pro Football Focus went shard and put some date behind the decision and came up with this.

First of all, what is WAR and how does it work? If you can find someone who can explain it in full, you’re a better man than I. PFF divulged their process for determining WAR as follows:

The PFF WAR model does these things, in order:

  • Determine how good a given player was during a period of time (generally a season) using PFF grades
  • Map a player’s production to a “wins” value for his team using the relative importance of each facet of play
  • Simulate a team’s expected performance with a player of interest and with an average player participating identically in his place. Take the difference in expected wins (e.g., Wins Above Average)
  • Determine the average player with a given participation profile’s wins above replacement player, assuming a team of replacement-level players is a 3-13 team
  • Add the terms in the last two calculations to get that player’s WAR.

Got it? I knew you would. The process is so complex one wonders if its even worth the effort. But considering who is on the list, the stats line up with reality.

Eli Manning was basally irreplaceable, especially when you consider the backup quarterbacks the Giants had on their roster over that period. None of them could ever be considered starting material in the NFL, although Ben McAdoo thought Geno Smith was worthy.

Who could possibly replace Odell Beckham Jr.? No one, that’s who. The Giants are finding that out the hard way right now.

Hakeem Nicks was a solid receiver but he was never considered elite. Victor Cruz was elite, but not for long. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, the only defensive player on the list, played well and got himself to a Pro Bowl one year, but what does that say about the Giants’ defense in the 2010s?

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