What options do the New York Giants have for replacing Hakeem Nicks? Not a whole lot of good ones at this point, that's for sure. Let's look at a few of them.
First, let's look at guys who are already in the organization.
- Darius Reynaud: Technically, the third-year player is a wide receiver. At least that is where he practiced with Minnesota for two years and this season with the Giants, when he was not returning kicks. In three seasons he has never caught an NFL pass. Oh, and there is the small matter of his being inactive the last two weeks due to a hamstring injury. Who knows if he is even healthy enough to factor into the equation.
- Samuel Giguere: The 5-foot-11, 215-pound Giguere has been on the Giants' practice squad the past several weeks. He played one game with Indianapolis last season and did not catch a pass. He did, however, returned five kickoffs for an average of 24.4 yards.
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Antrel Rolle: This is, sadly, not really a joke. Rolle, apparently, has volunteered and the Giants are desperate enough that Tom Coughlin did not rule it out when asked Monday afternoon about Rolle playing receiver.
Now, let's look outside the organization. Mind you that bringing one of these guys in would force the Giants to cut or IR someone and they might be loathe to do that right now considering how decimated the roster already is. Tuesday is the day the Giants always work out free agents, and they will be looking at receivers today.
- Kevin Curtis: He is a seven-year veteran, the last three with Philadelphia. Word is that Curtis was among the players who received a tryout last week when the Giants re-signed Derek Hagan. He is 32, and played just three games (catching six balls) for Philadelphia last season. Curtis did catch a career-high 77 passes in 2007, his last full NFL season.
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Tim Brown: Tiny Tim made it to the final week of preseason with the Giants before getting cut. The Rutgers grad hooked on with the Arizona Cardinals practice squad, but was eventually released. He is not currently with another NFL organization. The issue here would be experience, and from what I can gather the Giants reaching out to Brown this week seems highly unlikely.
Derek Hagan has gone from his cough to the Giants' roster and now, to the starting lineup, in a week. Hagan, cut by the Giants at the end of the preseason, now has a chance to resurrect his career.
"It's just crazy how this game of football works. Guys are here one minute and the next day guys are getting hurt. But we know those things may arise, and if something like that happens, the next man that's there has got to step up and fill that role," Hagan said. "I knew eventually some team was going to call. It didn't matter who it was, but it's just crazy how these things can work out. One day a team - they may need a receiver but the next day a different position gets hurt so they've got to bring in somebody else. So I just told myself just stay in shape and if things didn't happen this year, I definitely was looking forward to next year. But I'm in shape and I'm ready to go and I'm here now."
Hagan, 26, is a five-year veteran. He caught three passes Sunday night for 10 yards and a touchdown. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Hagan has 64 career receptions.
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. Of course, Coughlin and Eli Manning spent a great deal of time on Monday talking about the Generous Giants and their pigskin-giving ways.
Here is Coughlin:
"We've been talking about this turnover business for an entire season and last night, unfortunately, in a very hard fought game, once again it reared its ugly head," the coach said. "If we would stop being our own worst enemy, then we would have a chance to go forward here and win some football games."
Here is Manning discussing the turnovers:
"You have to be smarter. I don't think there is one thing that you say, "Oh, we just have to do this and it'll eliminate it." It's about just being conscious about it and being smart. We still have to compete, and we still have to go out there and play hard. You're going to have to make some throws that are tight but you don't have to force things that aren't there and you have no shot," Manning said. "For the most part, that's not the case. I don't think an interception - I'm throwing it into crowds and forcing things. You just have to be very accurate, put in the right spot, make my right reads, and just play smarter."
Best Quarterback In New York? In 2010, That Would Be Mark Sanchez - SB Nation New York
It is Mark Sanchez, not Eli Manning, who has been the best quarterback in New York so far in 2010.
Coming into the season, it was a no-brainer when you asked which quarterback playing in the New Meadowlands you'd prefer. The answer was Eli Manning, who was (and still is) a much more accomplished professional quarterback and was coming off a much better individual 2009 campaign than Mark Sanchez.
Yet, surprisingly it has been Sanchez who is putting together a better season so far in 2010. As a matter of fact, it is Manning who is protecting the football like the erratic second-year quarterback Sanchez is supposed to be and Sanchez who is calmly leading game winning drive after game winning drive like the accomplished, battle-tested veteran Manning is supposed to be.
I really hate myself for this, but I can't argue with the assertion above from Joe Caporoso, Jets' writer for me at SB Nation New York.
Here is something that might provide a little fun on what looks like a bleak day for Giants' fans. A look at what Giants' uniforms could look like in 2012. They won't really look like this, but with the NFL switching apparel providers from Reebok to Nike, anything can happen.
SIDE NOTE: I am blaming all of the Giants' woes the last two weeks on our new man here at BBV, Mike Farley. The Giants have not won a game since Mike joined us, and players are dropping like flies. Then again, maybe it's my fault for bringing Mike here in the first place. If the Giants don't win soon ...