According to what Reese said he got his man, to that I say, well, let us just say a male bovine defecated. I don’t think David Wilson was Jerry Reese’s first choice, we will never know for sure though. We all know it was not a tightend, that is for sure. Was it a DE or offensive lineman? My gut tells me it was Chandler Jones.

So David Wilson is now a Giants and by the response of Reese he has high hopes for him. Like breaking into the rotation this season hopes, like replacing Jacobs production number hopes and more. I think that is high expectations because the first thing out of Bradshaw’s mouth was he better learn how to block or he’s not going to see any playing time. I mentioned that a while ago when I spoke about the Giants drafting a back, he has to block. I am going to include Joe Martinek in this article because I feel he will challenge for a roster spot maybe even a spot in the running back rotation right away, I hope politics don’t come into play and he gets a fair shot.

So let’s break David Wilson down, I mentioned this before but every time I hear his name I think of Tom Hanks yelling WILSON in the movie Cast Away. At the Combine his numbers were very good, excellent in fact, slightly under 5’10”, 206 pounds and a 4.49/40. His is big enough to have some power, fast enough to out run defenders and small enough for the taller defenders to have trouble getting a wrap on him. He was also the top performer in four of the Combine’s drills for running backs, so he is very athletic. At his pro day he got his 40 down to 4.35 and 4.4 flat, that’s FAST. I’m not sure Giants fans know this but he was rated on some boards as the second or third BEST running back in this draft. Like JPP he does back flips, Reese told him to stop as he did with JPP.

This was Wilson’s first season as a starter so there isn’t the wear and tear on his body that so many backs have going into the NFL. Mark Ingram comes to mind, the Saints drafted him last year. I think he would have done a lot better but was suffering with injuries from the wear and tear of so many carries at Alabama, in fact he just had knee surgery……again. Reese really did his homework, he’s a great athlete and high character person, he will work hard and that’s why the expectations are very high for him by the Giants. He also returns kicks which has been a problem for the Giants since Hixon went down.

The first thing I notice while watching him run is he is shifty, he does NOT waste motion. So many backs take time to put a move on a defender allowing other defenders to make up ground on them. Wilson does not do that, he makes a short quick cut with no wasted motion and accelerates at the same time yet does not outrun his blockers. This is something you cannot teach and very hard to correct if not done right, he has it naturally and that is what makes a successful NFL runner.

The next thing I noticed was his stride, he has precision in his leg movement, perfect and consistent motion. He does not over stride and is compact, the backward motion of his leg produces speed and power. A very technically sound runner yet not an Olympian style stride which is not good for football. He also has great vision and sees the whole field, he scans it quickly, makes his decision and accelerates instantaneously without hesitation most times. Although I have seen some plays were he has tried the old reverse field run and try to outrun the defenders. He will quickly learn it rarely works in the NFL. He’s a very slippery runner and not easy to tackle with great natural balance, you must use sound technique to take him down. I noticed he changes the ball to the proper hand instantly without having to think about it. The more I watch him the more I like him, he’s a tough hardnosed runner with more power than you would think.

Now for the negatives, hey nobody is perfect. He swings the ball back too far and sometimes carries it too low, not that much but just enough to become an issue in the NFL. He is going to have to bring the ball in high and tight then learn to run that way. Wilson does have great vision but sometimes he uses it avoid the inside run even though a lane is open and he has blockers in front of him, he will run outside the tackle toward the sideline instead. In college he got away with that because of his speed, in the NFL especially with the Giants he is going to have to take that inside hole and follow his blockers better. Another thing is a weak upper body, if he wants to be a good blocker he has to get with Bradshaw who offered to work with him, get in the weight room and develop those guns, that will help with ball security too. It will also help him develop a stiff arm, he has a very poor one right now, he does not use it effectively. A stiff arm would help him immensely.

He is a willing blocker, again he needs time in the weight room to develop the power to block and chip players who out weight him by up to 100 pounds. He has the frame to add more muscle mass especially in the upper body without losing his speed or shiftiness, dare I say he reminds me of Tiki Barber a little. He has the frame to add some upper body bulk, I don’t think he needs much more on his already well developed lower body.

If he works hard and I know he will David Wilson will have a long successful career with the NY Giants as a featured back but in a rotation. He can catch the ball too, he has not done a lot of it in college though. I expect perennial 1000 yard rushing seasons. David get in the weight room and work on that upper body.

Joe Martinek is a bit of an enigma to me, nobody drafted Joe from Rutgers for some reason. Somebody was watching though, probably Marc Ross who to me is a Jerry Reese clone and I don’t mean that in a bad way. Somehow he ended up a Giants. Joe is a great natural running back and football player who is made for the NFL. I think what happened with Joe was partly the failure of Brain Leonard also from Rutgers drafted in the second round by the Rams in 2007. His failure may have scared away NFL teams from drafting Martinek, they didn’t let his running do the talking, in my opinion Martinek is a much better runner than Leonard. I did not think Leonard was worth a second round pick, I also didn’t think he would be successful in the NFL. Add to that Martinek becoming a blocker for other backs as a senior he was not able to showcase his running skills.

Joe kicked butt at his pro day, at slightly over 5’11” and 224 pound he blazed the 40 at a 4.4 flat. That would have been one of the top runs if he were at the Combine. He also benched 225 pound 26 times, pretty strong and fast, with that you would think someone would have drafted him. The first time I saw Martinek run I was impressed, I was checking on running backs for the 2012 draft and his name was way down on the list of “fullbacks” not even running backs. My eyes popped out because I was not expecting what I saw. This young man was about as good as any second tier back in the draft. No he was not in the league of David Wilson but definitely in that next tier. Plus he could block and catch the ball on an NFL level. What I saw was a solid NFL ready all around quality running back that would also be a special teams demon because of his team oriented nature and mature attitude. He is also an extremely technically sound runner and football player.

The first thing I noticed was that he sinks his hips when he cuts, then uncoils into the cut making it hard to tackle him, that’s a power move. He accelerates well after changing direction and has excellent vision, he sees the whole field finding a crease and accelerating into it. Showing great balance when defenders try to trip him, only good technical tackling will bring him down most times. When he does find a crease he squares his shoulders and runs with power. Sometimes he uses a galloping motion when running between the tackles which helps his change of direction. He is a power runner yet shows signs of finesse when running outside the tackles, becoming very compact and shifty. He does not waste motion and runs with the ball high and tight. He runs for daylight, with his speed he easily flies by only but the fastest defenders. And did I mention he can also run the wildcat? Physically he is well developed and has a good bubble with powerful legs, he is also an excellent blocker with superior upper body strength.

I would recommend you go to YouTube and watch film of Martinek. If you do please come back and tell me what you see that precluded him from having been drafted at least in the fourth round or higher. I think he will make the team and be playing from day one on special teams eventually supplanting DJ Ware in the rotation. I see the pecking order as being Bradshaw, Wilson, Scott and Martinek who can also play fullback. He does remind me a bit of Rocky Bleier of the 1970s Steelers.

Martinek was the first player the Giants signed to a contract immediately after the draft. They must have somehow known he was not going to be drafted, they signed him as a UDFA so quickly, the gamble that he would not be drafted worked out. Now let’s hope it pays off, I have a gut feeling about Martinek, the other running backs better be on their toes he might just out work them earning more playing time, he might also be the power back to replace the departed Jacobs.