Before Sunday night’s preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Giants reserve wide receiver/returner Alex Bachman was a player on the roster bubble.
After a breakout 11-catch, 122-yard performance that saw him score two fourth quarter touchdowns and make a key stop on special teams, the Giants are going to have to find a spot for him.
Bachman looked very Julian Edelman-like on Sunday night, making catch after catch and showing a prowess to get yards after the catch and into the end zone.
Actually, Bachman was being compared after the game more to Cole Beasley, who played the past three seasons under current Giants head coach Brian Daboll in Buffalo.
“I happen to share the same agent as Cole Beasley,” Bachman told reporters. “Cole lives in Austin, Texas with me. He and Danny Amendola, I’ve picked their brain; I’ve picked the slots brain. I have a high football IQ, I can read ‘zone’ and ‘man,’ and things like that. Like I said, we were on the same page, been on the same page, built that in practice and so we really made it work tonight and glad we did.”
If Bachman had told us that last week, we would have sloughed it off. After Sunday night, we can see the residual effects of him working out with those players and how they have rubbed off on him.
“All this guy’s done is the right thing since he’s been here,” said head coach Daboll. “He’s showed up in the spring and worked as hard as he possibly could and got better each day. He’s one of the first guys in the weight room each day. He was down, down on the depth chart, rep chart if you will, and all he does is compete and play hard. And I appreciate guys like that. I think his teammates do, too. It was good to see him have some success out there. He’ll get more chances.”
When Bachman found out that Daboll was coming over as the Giants’ new head coach, he immediately turned to Beasley for insight.
“I picked his brain, there were a couple times where Dabs facetimed in and we were just talking,” said Bachman, “But, I just picked his brain around different things and what he’s looking for and how to run one route 10 different ways because sometimes you’re going to run and the same plays are going to be called, and you’ve got to make it look different for the defense.
“So, I’ve been learning more about how route running can turn into a chess game really, I can give one look and set it up for the next one. So specifically, obviously those two touchdowns tonight, I kind of knew we were going to score on them or be successful at least because of a previous play that already happened. I’m like ‘alright this is perfect; I’ve already set them up for this play to work.’ I’m just thankful and appreciate the opportunity to go out there and play football.”
And he will get more chances based on what we’ve seen from him. With the Giants’ wide receiver group constantly in flux, it could be Bachman that finally adds some stability to the unit.
