Apr 30 2009
You always want to do what you do best, but what about when the circumstances call for something different? Just like fourth-and-inches isn’t the best time for a downfield heave — even if you’re Joe Montana and Jerry Rice — executing your standard draft plan isn’t the best course of action when you’re one impact player away from a championship. The Giants should have shipped whatever percentage of their 2009 allotment of draft picks was necessary to land one of the two impact, veteran wideouts available — the Cardinals’ Anquan Boldin and the Browns’ Braylon Edwards. Their passing game hit the skids last year after Plaxico Burress left them, and either of these guys is skilled enough to be a No. 1 target starting the first minicamp and continuing through the season.
Instead, the Giants and general manager Jerry Reese kept their draft booty and really focused on wide receivers, landing North Carolina’s Hakeem Nicks, a reasonable facsimile to Boldin in size and toughness and real-life giant Ramses Barden (6-foot-6) of Cal Poly. The odds are slim that either of these guys steps in and has an impact in 2009, when the Giants otherwise are Super Bowl ready.
There is no No. 1 target on the Giants, though. In fact, there’s no veteran that defenses have to game plan to stop or double-cover in the passing game. Nicks, especially, isn’t going to have the advantage of being able to sneak by secondaries even though he’s capable of making outstanding plays, like this catch that is one of the best I’ve seen (wait for the replay, it’s subtle.)
The Giants are still formidable even if their passing game remains relatively anemic (as it was down the stretch of 2008). But the competition is more fierce now. The Cowboys aren’t in the Giants class. But the Eagles were very tough last year, whipped the Giants in the playoffs and are now considerably better offensively.
