In his brief time with the New York Giants, Victor Cruz emerged as an undrafted player to one of the best slot receivers in the NFL. Since the team’s last Super Bowl win in 2012, Cruz has been hampered with injuries, and missed the entire 2015 season while recovering from a serious knee injury. With Cruz’s status for the upcoming season still unclear, sports betting fans should stay away from New York’s NFL Week 1 betting odds until they know if Cruz is playing or not.
When players are coming off serious injuries, people wonder if they will ever be the same, but with Cruz, they biggest fear that the Giants have is if he is healthy, can he play an entire season?
It is difficult to predict if a player will be healthy enough to play in all 16 games, but the good news for Giants fans is that Cruz has looked good in mini-camp and has been able to do everything the team asked of him. From what most have observed in mini-camp, there are high hopes that he can complete his comeback and play this year.
Now that we know Cruz is likely going to play this season, the question on everyone’s mind is can he be as good as he was before the injuries?
The answer to that question is also difficult to answer. Cruz is recovering from a serious knee injury that forced him to miss over a season and a half, which is a lot of time for any athlete to miss. There will obviously be a lot of rust, but the biggest obstacle Cruz will have to overcome is mental.
Most of the players that have come back from serious knee injuries take a little time before they are back to their old selves. Players like Michael Crabtree and Terrell Suggs didn’t return to their old form until their second season back from the injuries, while Adrian Peterson returned from a serious knee injury to run for over 2,000 yards and almost broke the single season rushing record.
There is also the question of how healthy the knee really is. If the knee is fully healthy, Cruz will eventually return to his old form at some point during the season, but if it isn’t, he will be hesitant when it comes to planting on the injured knee, which will affect the way he plays.
While all these things are stuff that have to be considered when contemplating how Cruz will perform once he gets back on the field, the truth of the matter is that there is no way to legitimately tell how the former Pro Bowler will perform until he gets on the field.
The Giants will be hoping to get the old Victor Cruz back because having a healthy Cruz in the lineup as well as a healthy Odell Beckham Jr., gives them two of the best receivers in the NFL and makes them a very dangerous team.
With the money the Giants spent on upgrading their defense during the offseason, if they have a healthy Cruz, they are legitimate contenders not only to win the NFC East, but the NFC as well