About the Project » New York Giants coach Pat Shurmur hinted late

in the week that Kyle Lauletta Daniel Jones Color Rush Jersey , 0-for-5 last week in his NFL debut agains the Washington Redskins, might have fallen back to No. 3 on the team’s quarterback depth chart.That came to fruition Sunday as Lauletta, a rookie fourth-round pick from Richmond, was made inactive for the Week 15 game against the Tennessee Titans. That means veteran journeyman Alex Tanney will return to the backup role. He was No. 2 behind Eli Manning for the Giants’ first 11 games. Lauletta was active against the Redskins and Chicago Bears.Lauletta threw an interception on his second pass against Washington, and nearly had a couple of other throws intercepted.This will be the second straight game the Giants play without Odell Beckham Jr., who has a quad injury.Here are the complete Giants’ inactives:WR Odell Beckham Jr.QB Kyle LaulettaDB Tony LippettS Kamrin Moore C Evan Brown TE Garrett DickersonDT John Jenkins What are realistic expectations for the running game and the run defense?"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections New York Giants NewsGiants Training Camp 2016Giants vs. Eagles 2015, Week 17New York Giants NewsBBV Mailbag Outtakes:Expectations for the ground game and run defenseNew,23commentsWhat are realistic expectations for the running game and the run defense?EDTShareTweetShareShareBBV Mailbag Outtakes:Expectations for the ground game and run defenseBrad Penner-USA TODAY SportsI’ve been pestering BBV editor Ed Valentine for a chance to answer a mailbag question for weeks. So after finally wearing him down Daniel Jones Giants Jersey , Ed gave me an excellent question submitted by reader Jim Novotny.Here is Jim’s question: Thanks for that question, Jim! Let’s start with the running game.I think a huge key to a better producing running game is that left tackle Nate Solder is hopefully going to be healthier than he was last year and left guard Will Hernandez, entering his second year, is going to be able to play faster. Last year, according to NFL media stats, the Giants ranked 25th when rushing behind the left tackle hole and 30th when running behind the left guard hole. On the other side, for those who might be wondering, the Giants had better success Julian Love Jersey , ranking first when running behind both the right guard and right tackle holes.Now keep in mind that these stats don’t necessarily correlate to the player; for example, if left guard Will Hernandez pulls to the right, and the running play still goes through that hole, that counts as a credit toward the left guard.If we use Pro Football Focus’ rushing direction chart for Barkley, that chart confirms that he had a little better success running right than he did to the left.So what about the changes made on the right side of the offensive line? For what it’s worth, both the Browns (107.1 yards per game) and Vikings (122.3 yards per game) bested the Giants running game last year even with Barkley on board.While part of that is due to the running backs each team had, another part of the credit goes to the offensive linemen who blocked for the running backs — Remmers for the Vikings and Zeitler for the Browns. As for the run defense, like you http://www.giantsfanshop.com/Darius-Slayton-Jersey , I’m curious to see how that unfolds. I think Dexter Lawrence will handle the position previously held by Damon Harrison and the ends will be Dalvin Tomlinson and B.J. Hill. What I’m interested in seeing is the linebacker play, specifically if they can get off blocks and shoot gaps to help create congestion against the run, as they did in 2016 when the run defense was more effective. In looking back over the team’s tackle leaders in 2016, except for Landon Collins, the top tacklers were either defensive linemen or linebackers, which typically meant tackles were made closer to the line of scrimmage.Last year, the tackle leaders favored the defensive backs, which usually means that tackles were happening further down the field.I thought last year Rhett Ellison Color Rush Jersey , that lack of speed in stepping up and filling holes was missing from the Giants run defense, even with Harrison in the lineup for the first half of the season. I’ll be looking to see if that aspect is improved as I think that will make a difference as will the fact that the Giants defense is in its second year under James Bettcher.BBV Mailbag: Have questions about the Giants? E-mail them to bigblueview@gmail.com, and the best ones will be answered in an upcoming mailbag. Thanks!