NFL Injuries: Which NFL stars deserve career re-do?
31. . WR. Giants. Victor Cruz. 10. player
A once-promising young career has taken a turn for the worst. The Giants’ wide receiver, Victor Cruz, was looking like a superstar in the making. He had the personality, the moves, the hands and the celebrations to be one of the league’s top role models and players.
Coming out of Massachusetts as an undrafted free agent in 2010, no one really knew what to make of the speedy 6-foot, 204-pound receiver.
Cruz wasn’t recruited heavily enough to be a top target at a major program, but he did well enough to catch the eye of the Giants. He didn’t even start a game at UMass until his junior season and still finished his career with 131 catches and 11 touchdowns with just under 2,000 yards.
The highlight of Cruz’s rookie year actually came in the preseason when he had a breakout game against the Jets, catching six passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns. He played three regular season games before a hamstring injury.
In 2011, to everyone’s shock, Cruz broke out, playing in all 16 games and starting seven to record 1,536 yards and nine touchdowns on 82 catches. The next season, he caught 86 passes for 1,092 yards and 10 touchdowns in 16 starts.
The 2013 campaign is when the injuries started to take effect. Cruz suffered a heel injury in the preseason and started just 12 games, finishing just two yards short of 1,000. He played just six games in 2014 before tearing his patellar tendon and then missed the entire 2015 season with a calf injury.
If he isn’t able to go in 2016, we will be talking about his two 1,000-plus yard seasons to start his career and what could have been.
Next: 9. Bob Sanders