This past weekend's NFL draft was full of headlines (not surprising) and forced many writers and fans alike to seriously question the decisions made by the Oakland Raiders.
The Raiders surprised everyone in attendance and viewing at home as they chose Maryland wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, who had the fastest 40-yard dash time at the combine (4.30 seconds), with the seventh overall pick when everyone's best receiver, Michael Crabtree, was still available. Crabtree, who put up impressive numbers in his two years at Texas Tech including the second-highest touchdown total in a two-year span with 41, fell to the team across the bay - the San Francisco 49ers. I understand wanting speed at the receiver position as it works for many receivers like Carolina's Steve Smith, New England's Randy Moss, Washington's Santana Moss (no relation), but Heyward Bay's production doesn't even come close to Crabtree's.
In Heyward-Bay's three years at Maryland, he never eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark and never scored more than 5 touchdowns in single season. Crabtree scored 22 touchdowns in his freshman year and 19 this past season. He also had 1962 yards in his freshman year and 1165 last season. Yes, his numbers did drop in his sophomore year, but that was due to Texas Tech being ranked and playing a harder schedule, and team's knowing what Crabtree was capable of.
I personally would have liked to seen Crabtree go to the Niners' rival, the Seattle Seahawks, as the New York Giants didn't have a chance of getting him (If they wouldn't give up picks for Braylon Edwards, I wasn't expecting them to give picks up for Crabtree). I think the Seahawks would have made a good investment with Crabtree as newly-acquired receiver T.J Houshmandzadeh isn't exactly young (He'll be turning 32 this September) and Deion Branch has had a hard time staying healthy. But the Seahawks decided to go with Outside Linebacker Aaron Curry out of Wake Forrest which is wise being that they lost Julian Peterson to the Detroit Lions and removed their franchise tag of Leroy Hill making him a free agent.
The Giants didn't surprise anyone with their 29th overall selection of wide receiver Hakeem Nicks out of North Carolina. The Giants, who are in desperate need of a top receiver, also chose a receiver in the third round - Cal Poly's own 6'6" Ramses Barden. The Giants were looking to get another tall, Plaxico-like receiver with this pick. Hopefully Barden will turn out to be a dangerous redzone threat for years to come.
I also liked the Giants selection of Wisconsin tight end Travis Beckum. Though Beckum was forced to miss six games of the season due to injury, he shined as a big-play tight end in his first two seasons at Wisconsin with over nine hundred yards each season and a total of 11 touchdowns. Beckum will be another nice target for Eli in the redzone next season.
With these picks, the Giants did address their biggest issue of a top receiver. Following Burress' incident, the Giants were 1-3 in the month of December and failed to threaten the Philadelphia Eagles with any passing attack in the divisional round of the playoffs. As mentioned in my last post, receiver Domenik Hixon was expected to step up and fill that need but never did. Again, Hixon showed signs of a top receiver while Burress was still playing, but did not perform when he started for the Giants.
Overall the Giants have a lot of depth at the receiver position next season, and GM Jerry Reese says he's still open to talks about acquiring Browns receiver Braylon Edwards who openly said he would like to play for the New York Giants. Though I don't expect there to be any kind of deal reached, it's still possible. As for now, the Giants will work with the young receivers they have and hope that one of them steps up and fills the void left by Burress.
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