David Wilson is so promising, the Giants' second-year running back even gets applause from the person he temporarily helped put on the NFL unemployment line.
If Ahmad Bradshaw held any kind of grudge against Wilson, it certainly wasn't reflected in his comments this week as Bradshaw prepared to watch his old team from the sidelines at MetLife Stadium tomorrow night as a member of the Colts.
"It just takes time with getting comfortable learning that offense, but once [Wilson] does that, he can kind of take over," said Bradshaw, who won't play in the preseason matchup with Big Blue because he is rehabbing after foot surgery. "He has the ability and the quickness."
AP
CUT & RUN: David Wilson (22) runs after a handoff from Eli Manning in Giants practice this week.
Wilson's blinding quickness not only helped show Bradshaw the door this past offseason, but also has the Giants dreaming of all the possibilities with the 2012 first-round pick as their featured back.
Coach Tom Coughlin could keep as many as four running backs and still talks publicly about a backfield-by-committee that would include Andre Brown. But if the 5-foot-9, 205-pound Wilson can show the versatility and durability of an every-down back, it sounds as if Coughlin wouldn't be opposed to that, too.
That has been obvious throughout much of training camp as Wilson continues to add the passing game to his workload, even splitting out wide on occasion in hopes of getting a speed mismatch with a safety or linebacker.
Playing every down on offense as well as handling the Giants' kickoff returns might sound like a lot, especially for someone Wilson's size, but he is nothing if not ambitious.
"I'm trying to show I can be an every-down back, and there's only one way to show it — get in there and do it," Wilson said after practice yesterday. "The coaches tell me that's what they want to see, and I tell them that's what I want to do."
It's not as if Wilson's versatility is a mystery to the Giants. The 32nd overall pick set the franchise record with 327 all-purpose yards in a 52-27 victory over the Saints in Week 14 last December. Wilson's 1,533 kickoff-return yards for the season also were a club record.
Wilson looks like the whole package, and the Giants apparently agreed because he was impressive enough as a rookie to make Bradshaw — a beloved figure in the locker room and cornerstone of their two recent Super Bowl runs — expendable.
Wilson said he had "mixed feelings" when it became obvious the Giants weren't bringing back Bradshaw and planned to hand him the starting job.
"We had a close relationship and you hate to see one of your friends and mentors go," Wilson said. "But the NFL is a business, and I was just happy to see him land on another team and a team with potential. I was also excited to know I would get the opportunity to step up and play a big role in this offense."
Wilson didn't exactly pick up where he left offf last season in the preseason opener last week against the Steelers. He mustered just 16 yards in five carries in the Giants' 18-13 win, but doesn't sound concerned.
"It was kind of what I expected," Wilson said. "It was the first preseason game, and we were going to come off the field with some things we needed to correct."
Around this time last year, Wilson was in Coughlin's infamous doghouse for fumbling in a season-opening loss to the Cowboys. It isn't lost on Wilson how far he has come in just 11 months.
"I've definitely made strides," he said, "in the right direction."
bhubbuch@nypost.com
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