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| Matt Slocum/AP |
By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)
The NFL
Draft is quickly approaching, as we get closer to the primetime opening round
April 25th. This will be the third part in the series where I
will discuss the current outlook and needs for the upcoming NFL Draft for the
New York Giants.
The third
position I will take a look at is Wide Receiver.
At Wide
Receiver the depth chart for the Giants includes Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz
(Restricted Free Agent Tender), Rueben Randle, Louis Murphy, Jerrel Jernigan,
Brandon Collins, Kris Adams and Kevin Hardy.
The Giants two receivers from last season leave, as Domenik Hixon signed
with the Carolina Panthers and Ramses Barden is still a free agent.
Last
season a big reason the Giants did not make the post season was the injury to
Nicks that severely hampered the Giants offensive performance. Without Nicks, Eli Manning struggled to one
of the worst seasons in his career. It is
important to the Giants to get Nicks back and healthy as his importance was
evident with how poorly they played during his injury riddled season. His big play ability was what was missing
from the Giants offense throughout the season.
Having
Nicks on the field will also benefit Cruz, giving him more room to operate
across the middle; Cruz needs Nicks more than Nicks needs Cruz honestly. The biggest question with Cruz is not his
production on the field but what his demands are off of it, as his contract
situation is still up in the air as the Giants try to hash out an extension not
only with him but Nicks as well.
Hopefully the contract situation does not impact either receiver during
the season.
Having a
third receiver emerge is something the Giants would benefit from as well since
Mario Manningham left in free agency last season and Randle looks to be capable
of filling that void. His continued
improvement and growth will be imperative to the Giants to help Manning and the
offense click. Murphy adds another dimension
to the offense with his speed that he brings and third year receiver Jernigan
has a chance to see snaps as a fourth receiver, but also has a chance to work
himself into the Giants special teams as a return man.
The last
time the Giants drafted a wide receiver was last season with Randle in the second
round. This season the Giants are set at
receiver with Nicks, Cruz and Randle but beyond this season the Giants
receiving prospects are murky.
As stated
earlier, both Nicks and Cruz potentially could be gone at this time next season
from the Giants as Nicks enters his final year on his contract and Cruz will
become an unrestricted free agent next season if a deal is not reached this
season. If the Giants do not feel they
are capable of bringing back both explosive receivers, they can look at
drafting one.
They have
other needs that are more pressing to attend to, but if someone like
Cordarrelle Patterson of Tennessee or Tavon Austin out of West Virginia are
sitting there for the Giants in the first round it would be hard to pass up on
them, especially if they are the highest rated player on the Giants board. The Giants have always drafted based on value
and where they rank players, not by need, so there is reason to believe if one
of those players are sitting there and the Giants like them that they will
become a member of Big Blue after Thursday night.
A more
likely scenario is that the Giants draft a receiver in the later rounds, one
with return abilities more specifically, for added depth to replace Hixon and
the un-signed Barden. On a scale of
1-10, the Giants need for a wide receiver is 3.
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