Let's continue our look at where the various Giants' draft choices fit in. Today, let's look at the very intriguing third-round selection, wide receiver Mario Manningham.
For the sake of this discussion, we aren't going to get into all of the various issues with Manningham that caused him to fall to the Giants in the third round. Let's assume that he comes to training camp with his head screwed on right, stays out of trouble and shows that he can be a productive NFL player. And yes, I know those are all big assumptions.
We also have to assume, for this discussion, that all of the other Giants' receivers are healthy.
So, in that scenario, what can the Giants expect to get from Manningham?
This guy could eventually be a star, but with Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer and the emerging Steve Smith already ahead of him I only see Manningham getting on the field in four wide receiver sets.
What a group of weapons that is for Eli Manning. Those four wide receivers and either Jeremy Shockey or Kevin Boss. Or, forget the tight end and you can have a five wide receiver set that includes Sinorice Moss or Super Bowl hero David Tyree.
That's a pretty darn impressive group of weapons.
I remember saying last off-season that the group of receivers the Giants had assembled looked like the best they had ever had. Injuries and a poor season from Moss made that an overstatement.
If, however, all of these guys are healthy we are again looking at the deepest, most talented group of receivers the Giants have ever put together.
The question will be, if everyone is healthy who doesn't make the team? The Giants won't be quick to cuts Moss, the second-round pick a couple of years ago who has been disappointing so far.
Yet, Tyree is going nowhere. He's a Super Bowl hero, and a terrific special teams guy. Domenic Hixon is also a wide receiver and became the primary kickoff return guy. My guess is he stays this season and returns both kickoffs and punts.
Without injuries, it is going to be very, very difficult for Moss to make this team. If he doesn't, I'm betting he goes on to be the next ex-Giants wideout to have a productive career elswhere (like Ed McCaffrey and Joe Jurevicious).
[NOTE: Taking advantage of some of the new capabilities of SBN 2.0, there are some Manningham details and stats below.]