Goodbye, Shockey

I guess I'm supposed to be upset? It's not that I didn't like Shockey. I loved the guy. He was filled with passion, he was wild, he was an excellent blocker, and I loved watching him go at it with some of the cheating safeties in the NFC East. Still, he was a complainer, and he was legitimately detrimental to Eli Manning. I'm not saying the Giants won the Super Bowl because Shockey wasn't there, but they definitely wouldn't have won if he had been there.

Something happened last season, and I'm not attributing it to Shockey's absence, but something changed late last year. This team became a team, and Eli Manning became the leader of this team. Shockey going down did a few things to the team. First, you brought a guy in, Kevin Boss, who was desperate to make a name for himself, and was playing with superstars around him when he was a rookie. Big difference in attitude from Shockey. Second, as well as Boss played last season he wasn't as good a run blocker as Shockey. He definitely couldn't push-pull, and run out for the pass. He isn't anywhere near as athletic as Shockey, but he does make up for that by falling into coach Coughlin's line, and playing hard. But, Boss's inability to go out for the pass, forced the Giants to use him as a blocker more often. This did two things. One, it opened the door for the two-headed demon that is Jacobs and Bradshaw. Second, when Eli was throwing the ball, he started to really air it out deep. The Giants started spreading the field a lot more often, and going into three-receiver sets with Steve Smith. By the time the Super Bowl came, the Giants were a well oiled scoring machine.

Now, the Super Bowl season is over, and the team has been handed over to Eli. New season, bring Shockey back, right? Well, I don't know. He's been making more noise this summer than I'd like, especially considering his new role in the team. On top of that I don't know how much the Giants need him anymore. At this point they are so deep at wide receiver, they really don't need a guy like Shockey who likes to turn himself into a deep threat. They need a hard-nosed, blocker/short range guy, ala Kevin Boss. Between Plaxico, Amani, Manningham, Moss, Steve Smith, and Tyree, why on Earth do the Giants need Jeremy Shockey?

My only problem with the trade was that it was done AFTER the draft. This trade was on the table before the draft, and the Giants said no, I really don't know what changed to make them say yes now. Ostensibly, this trade is going to make the Saints significantly better, so shouldn't they have done the trade to get the last draft picks. Either way, I put my faith in Jerry Reese, the man is brilliant.
So now that we have all that out of the way, I do want to say thank you and good bye to Jeremy Shockey. My man was dominant for his 6 years here at the Meadowlands, and his wild lifestyle, and crazy celebrations will be missed by me. His 4.5 td's and 700 yards per season though...that can be replaced.