NFL Draft 2009 Review: WR Hakeem Nicks

Let's say you're a rookie WR, freshly drafted in the first round.  You're going to a team with a powerful rushing attack, two of the top wide receivers in the game today (ranking 11th and 16th in rec yards among active players) and...oh yeah...your QB has a Super Bowl MVP trophy on his mantle.  Fantastic, right?

Now imagine that the team dumped off not one but BOTH of those receivers I mentioned.  Score!  I mean, it's gotta be rookie-starting time!

Uh, no.

That's the situation that Hakeem Nicks finds himself in. Taken by the New York Giants to try to make up for the loss of Amani Toomer and Plaxico Burress, Nicks isn't first on the depth chart.  Or second.  He's currently third!  Third!  Behind Domenik Hixon and Steve "The Other One" Smith.  Really.  How mortifying.

This entire situation is a pretty big question mark going into the season.  Will the Giants focus on running the ball to make up for the WR shortfall?  Will Nicks (or Hixon or Smith for that matter) break out and become the go-to guy?  Where does Mario Manningham figure into the situation?

The Giants WR corps is a mess right now and there's no way to know just how good Nicks will be until it clears up.  He could break out for 800 yards, he could disappear for the entire season.  There's no way to know right now. 

This is a situation that needs monitoring..as well as a few well-timed injuries.  If Nicks looks like he's going to get regular starts, he's worth watching.