MFH reacts to the Shockey Trade

I wanted to write about Danica Patrick’s cat fight with Milka Duno, but the Giants made a big move that needs to be discussed. A few weeks ago I told you that I heard from a reliable source about an unlikely trade of Jeremy Shockey for Twinkle Toes Taylor. I also said that despite the reliable source, I didn’t see why it would happen from either team’s perspective. It turns out they did end up being traded at pretty much the same time, just not for each other. The dancing Dolphin was traded into the NFC East, but to the rival Redskins. Shockey was sent to the south, but the NFC South and the New
Orleans Saints.

I think the trade makes sense for the Saints. But being a Giants fan, I couldn’t care less about that side of the trade. Is it a good trade for the Giants? I’m not sure. Shockey is very gifted as an athlete and has the skills of a top-five tight end. He is as complete a tight end as you’ll find, which has become a rare commodity in the NFL; he is a great blocker and a true weapon as a pass catcher. And I know it seems like Shockey’s been around for a while, but he’s only 27. Kevin Boss filled in admirably for Shockey after Jeremy broke his leg, but those who are ready to count Boss as an adequate replacement for Shockey are drawing from a very small sample size. The guy showed some skills getting open and catching the ball, but he was an unknown to defenses who were much more concerned with limiting receptions for Plax and Amani. Additionally, it’s been well documented by the coaches that, despite his size, Boss is not (yet) nearly the blocker Shockey is.

On the other hand, Shockey can lose focus at times and drop passes… key passes. More importantly, though, Jeremy has been known to act like a baby. His selfish crying has been a major distraction to the rest of the team. Nobody but Eli knows for sure, but the evidence pointed to Manning being much more comfortable quarterbacking the Giants when he didn’t feel like he had to force the ball to Shockey ten times a game. It’s entirely possible that Eli’s coming of age as an NFL quarterback just happened to coincide with Shockey’s absence from the lineup and the two were completely unrelated, just like it’s entirely possible that the beautiful chick that was totally into me for a little while actually suddenly had something better going on just as I was entering the “extremely drunk” zone Saturday night. The bottom line is if Shockey was as unhappy as a Giant as he led us all to believe, then he was going to be a poison in the locker room and needed to go.

Everyone has their opinion as to whether this was a good trade for the Giants or not. However, the fact is only Eli Manning knows if Shockey’s antics truly hurt his performance. Only the coaches have seen enough of Kevin Boss to know if he’s capable of replacing Shockey. And only the Giants organization truly knows how happy/unhappy Shockey was and how much of a distraction he was threatening to be. Journalists don’t know. Talk radio hosts don’t know. Drunks in the bar don’t know.

If Shockey was truly unhappy the trade needed to happen. My only question is: why didn’t it happen on Draft Day? The Giants were offered this very deal on the day of the 2008 NFL draft and passed on it. If the Giants took the deal back then, they could have used the extra second round pick (number 40 overall - next year it won’t be as high) on a linebacker like Tavares Gooden or one of a number of very good corners that were still available at 40 but gone by the time the Giants picked at 63 (and it turns out they could have then grabbed Gooden at 63). The Giants could have taken a very good player at a position they needed to address and therefore helped themselves THIS YEAR rather than wait until 2009 for any benefit from the trade.

Forced to choose, I think this was probably a good trade by the Giants. Hopefully Eli will continue to excel as he’s able to relax and find the open receiver regardless of who it is and hopefully Kevin Boss will continue to improve and become a top level tight end in the NFL. If these two things happen, the trade will prove to have been a good one for the Giants, but it still should have happened on draft day.

What do you think about the trade? Share your thoughts below or email me at mfh@subwaychatter.com