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George Selvie sat on a stool yesterday eight lockers down from the one being occupied by Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. Four years ago, Selvie and the man now known as JPP shared another locker room, the one at the University of South Florida, where the two were teammates dreaming of riches in the NFL.

Pierre-Paul has earned his measure of success winning a Super Bowl and reaching a Pro Bowl. Selvie, meanwhile, is trying to prove he can play on Sundays and avoid a legacy of unfulfilled promise. The 6-foot-4, 270-pound defensive end is part of a group of free agents signed by the Giants participating in a mini-camp this weekend with rookies.

“Those were good times,” Selvie, 26, said yesterday about his days playing with JPP and the Bulls. “We had two good defensive ends behind us and we were winning games. We had a good time in South Florida back then.”

Back then, Selvie looked like a can’t-miss prospect in the NFL. He played at South Florida from 2006-09. He was a consensus All-American and the Big East Defensive player of the year in 2007, when he collected 14.5 sacks. But his numbers tailed off; he had 5.5 sacks in 2008 and 3.5 in 2009, the year JPP joined the Bulls and collected 6.5 sacks.

“You could see he was raw, but you couldn’t touch his athleticism,” Selvie said of Pierre-Paul. “He had speed and size.”

JPP has blossomed into a star. Selvie is looking for a job. After being selected by the Rams in the seventh round of the 2010 draft, Selvie played one season in St. Louis before being released. He was with the Panthers early in 2011 before joining the Jaguars, with whom he finished out 2011 and played all of 2012.

It appeared he was headed for a fresh start when he signed with the Buccaneers last month just before the draft, but he was released on Monday. He has just three sacks in his pro career.

Asked if there were any reason for his lack of production, Selvie said: “I really don’t know. Those decisions are out of my hands, so I can’t call it. But I can still go out there and play.”

Selvie remains a long shot to make the Giants. He had to impress enough during the mini-camp Friday and yesterday to earn an invite back to OTAs and training camp in July. Offering players a second and third chance to prove themselves is a large part of these mini-camps.

Teams always are looking for players who might blossom given a change of scenery and attitude. Such is the case with linebacker Aaron Curry, a former fourth-overall pick, signed by the Giants on Friday.

Coach Tom Coughlin was talking about Curry when he discussed signing veteran players who hadn’t quite reached expectations. But the same could apply to Selvie.

“He’s anxious to have an opportunity and we’re anxious to provide him with one,” Coughlin said. “Hopefully, the two will meet and we’ll get a player who can come into the Giant organization and play the way he was graded coming out of college.”

Maybe having JPP a few lockers down will serve as added inspiration.

Quote (18_1 @ May 16 2013 01:05pm)

I get anxious when this isn't on page 1.

Quote (silent9 @ May 17 2013 10:44am)

lol why?

Quote (18_1 @ May 17 2013 02:28pm)

I was only kidding, just weird to not see it on page 1

Quote (18_1 @ May 16 2013 02:05pm)

I get anxious when this isn't on page 1.

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The Giants have made improving their running game a priority the past couple of offseasons. Have they succeeded?


The story of how the New York Giants were the worst rushing team in the league in 2011 when they won the Super Bowl is well known because it sparked a lot of debate about the importance of the running game in the modern NFL. Despite winning the Super Bowl the Giants have shown through their actions that they were not satisfied with being a marginal running team -- actions like drafting David Wilson in the first round in the 2012 NFL draft and then Justin Pugh in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

And after bottoming out in 2011 (see chart below), I'm feeling the Giants could have one of the top running games in the league in 2013. One of the unheralded factors in why I think the Giants running game could be a strength of the team this year was recently highlighted by Pro Football Focus.

    For those wondering how we determine a “success rate”, I’ll define it the same way a number of the teams we work with do: collecting 40 percent of required yardage on first down, 60 percent of required yardage on second down, and 100 percent on either third or fourth down.

    The results are interesting.
    Fullback  Success  No Success  Total Plays  Success Rate
    Henry Hynoski  103  114  217  47.47%
    Will Tukuafu  28  32  60  46.67%
    Jed Collins  69  91  160  43.13%
    Charles Clay  28  37  65  43.08%
    Jerome Felton  108  144  252  42.86%
    Vonta Leach  103  143  246  41.87%
    Darrel Young  82  115  197  41.62%
    James Casey  103  145  248  41.53%
    Lex Hilliard  70  99  169  41.42%
    Jorvorskie Lane  77  109  186  41.40%

    The Giants’ “Hynocerous” leads the way in an indication of the Giants’ rushing attack being far more potent when he is on the field (he was also lined up at fullback for 15 of their touchdown runs). Behind him you get Will Tukuafu whose 46.67 percent puts the 39.27 percent of Bruce Miller (who finished 13th) to shame.

The Giants are one of the few teams who consistently use a fullback -- and according to Pro Football Focus are the team that benefits most from the play of their fullback. The continued importance of the run game to Tom Coughlin should not be understated and this year we I expect the Giants to have more rushing opportunities (last year they were 22nd in the league in attempts). Hynoski's continued development as well as the second year for the exciting Wilson and the addition of Pugh in the lineup sets up the Giants with perhaps their best running game weapons since 2008.

The Raw Data
Season  Yards Per Game  Yards Per Rush  Rushing TDs  Rushing Leader
2007  134.2 (4th)  4.6 (Tied 3rd)  15 (tied 7th  Jacobs (1009 yards)
2008  157.4 (1st)  5.0 (1st)  19 (tied 8th)  Jacobs (1089 yards)
2009  114.8 (17th)  4.1 (tied 19th)  14 (15th)  Jacobs (835 yards)
2010  137.5 (6th)  4.6 (tied 6th)  17 (tied 6th)  Bradshaw (1235 yards)
2011  89.2 (32nd)  3.5 (32nd)  17 (tied 6th)  Bradshaw (659 yards)
2012  116.4 (14th)  4.6 (7th)  18 (5th)  Bradshaw (1015 yards)

Just a few interesting thoughts on the data. Whether or not the Giants rushing game was the best in the league, or the worst -- they apparently like to run the ball in the red-zone more than most teams. And you can feel comfortable betting that the Giants get no less than 14 touchdowns rushing and no more than 19 rushing touchdowns.

The single highest rushing yardage in one season since 2007 was Bradshaw's 1,235 -- a number that Tiki Barber eclipsed in four of his final five season (the other year he had 1,216 yards).

A 3.5 yards per rush by any single running back is considered pretty awful, for a team it's just absolutely pitiful.

Before I started looking at the data I hadn't remembered that the Giants were a middling rushing team in 2009 -- a year after they were the best the league.