Getty Running back Marlon Mack #25 of the Indianapolis Colts warms up before the game against the New Orleans Saints.
The New York Giants are expecting to have Saquon Barkley back to full strength in time for the start of the 2021 regular season. While the reinsertion of the former NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year into Big Blue’s backfield would prove invaluable, the position beyond Barkley may still be riddled with uncertainty.
Wayne Gallman, Alfred Morris and Dion Lewis, the team’s top-three backs for the majority of 2020, are all impending free agents. In return, the Giants could be left with a glaring hole behind Barkley as we inch towards free agency on March 17.
How will New York counteract these potential losses in their backfield? The use of a mid-round draft pick may very well subdue this issue. Yet, ESPN writer and fantasy football expert Mike Clay has a different plan in mind.
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Giants Predicted to Sign RB Marlon Mack
Doing his best to determine where the top free agents and rookies will land this coming season, Clay provided the Giants and quarterback Daniel Jones with two intriguing skill players. The analyst predicts the team will use their first-round selection on Alabama wide receiver Jaylen Waddle — a very commonly linked-to prospect — while taking the free agency route to add depth behind Barkley.
For that, Clay has New York inking Indianapolis Colts running back and former 1,000-yard rusher Marlon Mack to a deal this spring.
Barkley-Engram-Shepard-Slayton-Tate sounds like a respectable quintet of offensive weapons, but what’s missing is an alpha at wide receiver. Waddle is arguably the No. 1 wide receiver in this year’s class and could immediately fill that role for the Giants. The speedy Alabama product is extremely explosive and, while well-rounded, will make his name with chunk plays deep down field. New York also needs help behind Saquon Barkley, so a one-year deal for Mack, who is recovering from a torn ACL, makes sense.
Intrigue around Mack is fairly scarce at the moment. While many players across the league were able to improve their stock in a contract year, such as the Giants’ own Leonard Williams, Mack essentially did the opposite. The former fourth-round selection out of USF suffered a torn Achilles in Week 1, ending his 2020 campaign and likely his career in Indianapolis. Standout rookie Jonathan Taylor took over for Mack and proved down the stretch that he is most definitely the back of the future in Indy.
Still, a fully-healthy Mack, who will turn 25 years old on March 7, has the makings of one of the better low-cost, “prove it” signings of free agency. Pro Football Focus currently predicts Mack to re-sign with the Colts on a meager one-year, $2.5 million deal this offseason. Yet, with Taylor heading a backfield that also consists of receiving back Nyheim Hines, Mack may prove to be expendable.
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Mack Quietly Among the League’s Most Productive Running Backs
Serving as the Colts’ lead back from 2018-2019, Mack posted consecutive 900-plus yard, eight-plus touchdown campaigns as a rusher. That includes a career-high 1,091 rushing yards in 2019, good for 11th-most in NFL. Despite missing six games over that two-year run, Mack still amassed the ninth-most rushing yards in football during that stretch (1,999) while averaging an impressive 4.55 yards per carry.
Interesting tidbit: Barkley, who was one of the eight players to total more rushing yards than Mack from 2018-2019, averaged just 2.78 rushing yards per game greater than Mack over that period.
The biggest drawback of Mack, aside from his injured knee, is his limited production as a pass-catcher. Mack has never caught more than 21 passes in any of his four NFL seasons, with just two career touchdown receptions to his name. Yet, with Barkley likely manning receiving duties in the backfield moving forward (149 receptions in 31 career games), suddenly Mack’s lack of prowess in the passing game becomes far less of a burden.
Plus, it’s not as if Mack can’t catch the football — as evidenced by his 65 receptions in 36 career college games. But more likely, he was simply not asked to do so during his time with the Colts. In the past, receiving responsibilities typically fell on the shoulders of the aforementioned Hines, while the team featured a far greater vertical passing game when Andrew Luck was under center.
In reality, Indy asked Mack to do mostly one thing: pound the rock. All he did was produce at one of the highest clips across the NFL.
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ESPN Expert Has Giants Signing 24-Year-Old 1,000-Yard Rusher