Plaxico Burress' immediate future remains uncertain -- there's still a decent chance he spends some time in the clink -- but this much is clear: the Giants have moved on. They released Plax in early April, and then used two of their first four draft picks on wide receivers at the end of the month. The Giants selected Hakeem Nicks 29th overall, and took Ramses Barden two rounds later. Both are big receivers -- Nicks, 6-1, 215, has been compared to Anquan Boldin; Barden, 6-6, 226, is more physically similar to Burress -- but rookie wideouts are notoriously slow to transition to the NFL, sometimes taking two or three years to get acclimated. There are exceptions -- Dwayne Bowe and Marques Colston come to mind -- but I don't think the Giants are expecting Pro Bowl-type performances from Nicks or Barden next season.
That doesn't mean they won't contribute, though. And if organized team activities are an early indication of what we can expect in the fall, it looks like Nicks will see a lot of playing time while Barden, who played collegiately at Cal Poly, will spend his Sunday afternoons taking mental reps in preparation for 2010.
From the New York Daily News' Ralph Vacchiano:
Rookie Hakeem Nicks continues to catch everything thrown his way. Almost. He did drop one ball that came in over his shoulder on a deep route and went right through his hands. But he also made a great, finger-tip catch on the other side of the field on a ball that was thrown from Rhett Bomar, just a little too high and too hard. ...The Giants' season doesn't depend on Barden, so there's no reason to rush him. That said, it would be nice if Sinorice Moss played more consistently (so far, so good on that front according to Vacchiano). I suppose if things don't work out in this post-Plax world, there's always Jeremy Shockey, who might have already worn out his welcome in New Orleans.
Rookie WR Ramses Barden still looks slow out of the blocks to me. His first couple of steps are very deliberate, which calls into question how quickly he'll be able to get open. However, he's got some straight-ahead speed. He got a lot of separation from rookie corner Bruce Johnson on a deep route and made a nice catch in stride.
Just kidding. If the Giants were going down that road they'd be better off re-signing Burress.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Steve Smith is safe. Who will stay and who will go out of the rest of the Giant's receivers? Any guesses?
Nicks will be a good one; I hope Barden can also step up in the Red Zone. Moss should be history! The dude is a major underachiever.
the rookies will take sometime to be good but its ok cause we dont need plaxico's stupidity in our camp cause we need another ring