It was Collin Johnson who was the offensive star in the Giants’ preseason opener, notching team highs in targets, catches, and yards against the Patriots.
On Sunday night, another receiver deep down the chart got some serious shine in the Giants’ win over Cincinnati: Alex Bachman, a former undrafted free agent out of Wake Forest who has spent most of the last three seasons on and off the Giants’ practice squad.
The Bengals likely wish Big Blue left him there on Sunday, as Bachman quickly became Davis Webb’s favorite target in the second half and ended with 11 catches for 122 yards and two scores, including the game winner:
Bachman’s only NFL experience is four elevations from the practice squad, one in 2020 and 30 last year, and he has 110 return yards and one rush for minus-3 yards in his career – but like Johnson has, he’s showing head coach Brian Daboll that he could be a big part of this offense when called upon.
“All this guy has done since he’s been here is the right thing. He showed up this spring, worked as hard as he could, and got better every day, and he’s one of the first guys in the weight room every day,” Daboll said of Bachman. “He’s down the depth chart, but all he does is show up every day and compete and play hard. I appreciate guys like that, and I think his teammates do too. It was good to see him have some success out there, and he’ll get some more chances.”
Webb has a bit of a leg up on the offense, having been with Daboll in Buffalo last year, and had been working a lot in practice with Bachman over the summer. They got the chance to do it in a game Sunday, and, well, it was quite the performance.
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“It was great, a blessing to be honest,” Bachman said of his connection with the Giants’ third-stringer. “We watch film together sometimes, and he just told me the entire week that he was going to be looking for me. Ever imagined he’d look for me as much as he did in one half of football, but we just had that look in our eyes after the game that we made it work.”
"He probably had his best week of practice this week, and that carried over to a pretty good game,” Webb added. “He’s done a great job.”
The Giants’ nominal top four receivers include three players who are injured (Sterling Shepard, of course, as well as banged-up Darius Slayton and Kadarius Toney) and the still-enigmatic Kenny Golladay, so those down the depth chart have gotten to shine in the two preseason games so far.
Daniel Jones had quite the rapport with David Sills V on Sunday, Tyrod Taylor had the same with Johnson last week, and now Bachman and others like Richie James and Keelan Doss have gotten a chance to step up with others absent (and C.J. Board leaving Sunday due to injury).
Daboll is going to have some tough decisions to make as roster cuts come the next two Tuesdays, this week from 85 to 80 and then 80 to 53 on August 30, but Bachman is going to keep working hard no matter where his future lies - including with some former associates of his new head coach.
"I happen to share the same agent as Cole Beasley, who lives in Austin, Texas, with me, and I've picked his and Danny Amendola's brains," Bachman said. "I have a high football IQ, I can read 'zone' and 'man', and things like that, so I've picked the slots' brains. Davis and I were on the same page, built that in practice and so we really made it work tonight and glad we did."
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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