What a healthy David Wilson means for the Giants

The story of David Wilson is one filled with sorrow. It’s a reminder that being a running back is not easy, and then even when you’re starting to make it look easy, suddenly the job becomes painful and possibly career threatening.

That’s the stage Wilson reached with his neck. In Week 5 of 2013 he left with an injury that was later determined to be spinal stenosis, a scary thing not only for your life as a football player, but your life in general.

It required surgery last January, and there was legitimate concern Wilson either wouldn’t be the same, or he wouldn’t be seen again on a football field. Now at least that last part isn’t true. He’s back.

Wilson was finally cleared for contact yesterday, a development that gives the New York Giants an intriguing backfield with multiple weapons and roles. The caveat, of course, is assuming a world exists where Wilson can remain healthy for a period of time.

When you sit back and ponder that place for a moment, it looks… effective, with all the required ingredients for a balanced rushing attack.

There’s speed on the ground

And the right kind of speed. The most damaging weapon out of a backfield is a running back who’s fast, but also has vision. Chris Johnson has increasingly become an example of someone who lacks the latter quality, while Jamaal Charles is atop the mountain of backs with an abundance of both.

Wilson has plenty of both too. We saw that near the end of the 2012 season in Week 14 when he was finally given some work, and the result was three home run cuts. Wilson set a Giants single-game record with 327 all-purpose yards, 97 of which came on a kick return touchdown. He added a 52-yard rushing touchdown, and another return for 58 yards.

Over the final four weeks of that season Wilson averaged 5.7 yards per carry. That was a healthy Wilson, and a cutting and slashing Wilson. It’s the Wilson who did this during the preseason last August, building on his rookie success and feeding the growing giggles about what he could do with a heavier workload.

The problem (aside from, you know, that spine we’re just assuming stays in one piece now) is what Wilson did once games mattered last fall. In Week 1 he firmly buried himself in Tom Coughlin’s doghouse with two lost fumbles on only seven carries. Add in a whiff in pass protection -- an area where Wilson has always struggled -- and his blazing speed was quickly forgotten. Over the next three games prior to his injury there was hope, as he didn’t give up a hit or hurry in pass protection, and he didn’t fumble over 39 touches.

But what if Wilson was consistently put in a situation where that home run cutting is mostly what’s asked of him? That would be his current situation.

There’s speed through the air

Even if he continues to correct a fumbling problem that saw him turf three balls over his first 121 career touches, Wilson will still start the season behind free agent signee Rashad Jennings. There are two reasons for that: 1) it’s simply an effort to ease him in, and 2) Jennings is the far more trusted and established pass-catching back.

A running back who meets that description is essential for the Giants’ offense under new coordinator Ben McAdoo, who’s installing a west coast system which will emphasize that skill on short passes. McAdoo comes from Green Bay, where three running backs combined for 62 catches in 2013.

Jennings excels in space. Even while playing a part-time role for much of the season last year in Oakland he had 292 receiving yards on 35 catches, both career highs. Toss in his effectiveness on the ground, and you get a three-down back who doesn’t need to be removed in passing situations. Between weeks 9 and 12 last year Jennings exploded while starting in place of an injured Darren McFadden, accumulating 553 total yards from scrimmage. That’s a rather impressive clip of 138.25 yards per week, and it included an 80-yard run in Week 11.

Jennings can handle the pass protection and the bulk of the running load, while less can be more for Wilson, as he gets a maybe a half dozen carries per game in a change-of-pace role. His chosen pace will be stupid fast, and his speed can be called upon when he’s targeted on screens and swing passes, too.

And there’s power

Eventually Peyton Hillis will be cut, losing his roster spot to fourth-round rookie Andre Williams. He’s also bulky and powerful, but Williams can still move forward at a fine pace.

He checks in at a thundering 227 pounds, standing 5’11”, a nearly identical build to that of Eddie Lacy. He enters the NFL in some prestigious company after 2,177 rushing yards during his final season at Boston College. That’s the fifth highest single-season total in college football history, a plateau achieved at a pace of 6.1 yards per carry.

But notoriously Williams provides less than nothing in the passing game, with only 10 receptions over three collegiate seasons. Which is fine, because running over defenders is his assigned duty, and not so much around them.

That job is already accounted for in a backfield with three distinct and complementary flavors.