For Giants, versatility is important

When the Giants start thinking about their MVP, that middle letter can represent a couple of different words. Valuable, certainly. They would be lost without Eli Manning to steer the offense, without Hakeem Nicks' amazing catches and without the improved play of Jason Pierre-Paul. But more often than not during the course of a football season, that V starts to change and stand for Versatile.

In fact, around this time of year, value and versatility become almost synonymous.

The NFL is increasingly a game of specialization, with many players focused on handling one specific job. Third-down pass-rushers, short-yardage running backs. The Giants even had kicker Rhys Lloyd in training camp, a player who is known as a kickoff specialist. The only thing most teams are missing is a lefty reliever out of the bullpen.

But the guys who can do more than one thing, play more than one position, offer more than one solution to problems -- they are the ones coaches love to have around. When the Giants (3-2) host the Bills (4-1) Sunday, they'll have a few of those types of players on the field for them, plugging holes wherever they might spring up.

"I think you see down through the history of the league, there are always guys that were thought of that way [as playing multiple positions]," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "They were needed and they went and played well. It is a specialized league, but if you can adapt under circumstances such as injuries, then you can go ahead and move forward with your team."

So Kevin Boothe, who started at center last week, likely will start at left guard and replace another injured player Sunday. With the loss of Jimmy Kennedy to a four-game suspension, Dave Tollefson -- who already spent time spelling Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora when both were sidelined at defensive end earlier this year -- will see an increased number of snaps at defensive tackle this week.

Rookie fullback Henry Hynoski is out with a neck injury, so for the second year in a row, Bear Pascoe will move from tight end to fullback.

"It's not like we're going to just tell the Bills, 'Can you just cut out like 10 to 12 reps because we don't have enough [linemen]?' " Tollefson joked. "Someone's going to have to do it."

By the way, you want to talk value in valuable? The combined base salary this season for Boothe, Tollefson and Pascoe is about $2.2 million, or roughly what the Eagles guaranteed Steve Smith this season (for four receptions in five games thus far).

"To have versatility is extremely important," Coughlin said. "To have the kind of attitude that guys have, to do whatever they can do no matter where it is that they play in order to help us win. There is no question that is a huge part of it."

With Tollefson sliding inside, the Giants also will be shifting Mathias Kiwanuka to the defensive line to pitch in at end. He's another player whose worth is in his depth.

"I think that's the NFL today," defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said. "Based upon your situation, I think that if you have a guy like Dave and a guy like Kiwi, you can do some things like that in a limited capacity."

It's not the ideal. But at this point in the season, as injuries set in and roles are becoming defined, it's the reality.

And who was the MVP of the team last year? Rich Seubert, who earned that title mostly because of his ability to play at a very high level at guard (his natural position) and center.

Valuable. Versatile. And, if it all comes together, there's a third V. For Victories.