Plaxico
10 Games / 9 Starts
35 receptions
454 yards
13 yards per catch avg.
4 TD's
Hixon
16 games / 7 Starts
43 receptions
596 yards
13.9 yards per catch avg.
2 TD's
There are those that say those stats don't matter because after Plax went down, Hixon didn't do anything in our last six games...
Hixon's last six games at #1
@ Washington: 5 catches, 71 yards, 14.2 avg., long of 18
Philly (his worst): 3 catches, 30 yards, 10 avg., long of 17 (one HUGE drop)
@ Dallas: 6 catches, 60 yards, 10 avg., long of 19
Carolina: 4 catches, 71 yards, 17.8 avg., long of 40
@ Minny: 4 catches, 62 yards, 15.5 avg. 23 yard (TD)
Philly: 2 catches, 37 yards, 18.5 avg., long of 32
Plaxico's last six games as a Giant (I'll make it 7, because Plaxico didn't start against Pitt)
Cincy: 3 catches, 45 yards, 15 avg., long of 28
@ Cleveland: 4 catches, 58 yards, 14.5 avg., long of 25, TD
San Fran: 3 catches, 24 yards, 8 avg., long of 14, TD
@ Pitt (did not start): 3 catches, 15 yards, 5 avg., long of 8
Dallas: 3 catches, 34 yards, 11.3 avg., long of 22
@ Philly: 1 catch, 17 yards, TD
Baltimore: 3 catches, 43 yards, 15.7 average, long of 21
I also threw out his last game vs. Arizona because he really didn't play at all, even though he started. He may have played one series.
Okay, so now, the averages.
Hixon's per game average over the last six games
4 catches per game
55 yards per game
.16 TD's per game
Plaxico's per game average over his last 7 games
2.85 catches per game (less than Hixon)
33.71 yards per game (significantly less than Hixon)
.428 TD's per game
Keep in mind, that both Hixon and Plaxico had monster games, Plaxico vs. the Skins, and Hixon vs. the Seahawks that are not included, so you get a better look at the overall view. Believe it or not, Plaxico was becoming somewhat non-existant well before he shot himself.
There seems to be a strong opinion here, some would say fact, that the team dropped off BECAUSE of the loss of Plaxico. I think these stats dispute that. There is also a strong opinion that Plaxico being double covered was what opened things up for the rest of the offense. That may be true, but it should be noted that Eli threw for the most yards (301) against Washington w/out Plaxico, and we ran for the most yards of the season (over 300) against Carolina.
I think the main thing that sticks out here are the TD's. Hixon is really good between the 20's, and moves the chains. However, where Eli really missed Plaxico was in the redzone. I think this supports the argument that we don't really need a "stretch the field" reciever as much as we need a "big redzone target". I think a trade for Tony Gonzalez would create the exact same double coverage and mismatches that we got with Plaxico Burress down inside the 20.
Overall, I think Hixon gets a lot of the blame for our late season collapse, with some of you going as far to say that our recievers are number 3's or 2's at BEST, and that they've already hit their ceiling. I would argue that Hixon can in fact be this team's number one, and could quite possibly be a very good one. Having a 6'5 WR is not the only way to get mismatches and double teams.
Therefore, I'm going to go with myth. Big, overblown myth.
Flame on.
When did we get so impatient?
Against Philly, the first time, Hixon beat everybody by 10 yards and dropped an easy 80 yard TD pass. It happens, but he got seperation.
The second time against Philly, Steve Smith was wide open and Eli couldn't hit him. TONS of seperation throughout that game. Eli and the wind were more of a problem then seperation
Against Minny, who was fighting for their playoff lives, he had a 23 yard TD catch.
Britt...you saw Hixon, Smith, Toomer, and Boss running free down the field a lot? I'll point to the Dallas Sunday night game where we didn't do a FUCKING THING on offense as well as the Philly playoff game and respectfully disagree.
If we listen to Jerry Reese(GM's pre-draft conference) we hear that. We also hear what is being done to address the concerns. We have greatly improved our defense. We should have a good rotation on the DL. We have many picks to improve the offense and defense. A WR is on everyone's mind. But, teams have won titles without a big receiver like Plax. Perhaps a WR, another S, LB, and some Big OLs are on the horizon.
Finally, I think the shock of Plax shooting himself and all the media kerfluffle did great damage to the team's psyche. The mental shock was tough to overcome and affected the physical play on the field.
Well, there's my two cents. Now we shall wait for Mr. Reese to solve all our problems on Saturday.
Mike fr Warwick : 4/6/2009 12:01 pm
people considering some of the options as far as tailoring the passing game to the skill set of our recivers. Been posting this for 2 weeks now.
The WRs that
Mike fr Warwick : 4/4/2009 2:39 pm
are on the team now have a different skill set than Toomer and Plax. Most of the base and 3 WR schemes last year were designed for Toomer and Plax. Very few here have accounted for that. You saw curls,hitches,ins,outs, back sholger fades and comebacks. Patterns that require the QB to stick the ball in there are not conducive to YAC. The Giants were among the weaksest at YAC.
These are not the best patterns for recivers like Smith,Moss Hixon and Manningham.
Next year the passing shemes will be tailored to what this group of recivers will excell at. I expect a huge improvement in YAC and Eli to have easier throws resulting in a higher comp.%.
Again most people here a judging 2nd year WRs in a scheme that is not best for them.
I expect patterns based on mesh routes,legal picks,slants,posts,flags and double moves like slogo,ans stop and fly. We will see recievers with DBs chasing due to being impeeded and runnig to space that has been cleared.
This means new read progressions and passing trees for the Wrs and QB. Also new timing on the developement of the routes. This offense is a way to ensure safeties sit high.
BTW I think the easier throws part gets overlooked.
Btw you bastid, did you notice I've not capitalized once in a week or two since you made that comment(I think it was you)?
And I'm always gentle, check the Mets game thread...even those fuckers love me now!
It's apparent that he could take it (at his price only) or leave it, to me.
When Plax was a Giant we moved the ball up and down the field, after he left, we had some absolute clunkers.
I could be a little softer, but the idea that you can take a #1 WR (with nothing in the way of meaningful NFL production behind him) off of a team whose bread and butter is the running game and the downfield passing game in tandem is absolutely ridiculous to me. I cannot believe that some people think we are fine with our WR corp as is.
Do you really fucking think I didn't watch the games? I haven't missed a Giants game in 17 fucking years.
That's like calling names when you don't have anything to back your argument up.
I posted my reasons, let's see yours... You know, besides the "I watch the games and you do not..." argument.
The proof is in the pudding, we couldn't do a thing against Dallas or Philly (twice) when it mattered, point out Hixon's drop on a blown coverage all you want, our offense was different without Plax there, and it sure as hell wasn't for the better.
Britt in VA : 12:34 pm
Jerry would have given up the number one by now. That's what's simple.
Why? Is training camp starting anytime soon? How does waiting to see if you can lower the price anything more than good GM-ship? He can always give that #29 pick to the Browns...Why does it have to be yesterday? And, why does that indicate anything?
I think the main thing that sticks out here are the TD's. Hixon is really good between the 20's, and moves the chains. However, where Eli really missed Plaxico was in the redzone. I think this supports the argument that we don't really need a "stretch the field" reciever as much as we need a "big redzone target". I think a trade for Tony Gonzalez would create the exact same double coverage and mismatches that we got with Plaxico Burress down inside the 20.
Overall, I think Hixon gets a lot of the blame for our late season collapse, with some of you going as far to say that our recievers are number 3's or 2's at BEST, and that they've already hit their ceiling. I would argue that Hixon can in fact be this team's number one, and could quite possibly be a very good one. Having a 6'5 WR is not the only way to get mismatches and double teams.
Hixon was cut by Denver about 1.5 yrs ago, I know guys that get released sometimes turn out to be very good...and he's been much more than we ever expected...but he's not a #1 WR.
You people who think you can tell what a guy's functional strength is like by a few snapshots are hilarious. The handles change, but the stupid remains unchanged.
Watch how the guys play, instead of ogling their physiques like a bunch of homos.
There's really no comparison between Hixon and Pinkston, as NFL WR's.
1 game dominated by the running attack, passing was decent- Carolina
1 game where the starters played about 1+ quarters- Minnesota
3 games where the offense, as a whole, completely, and utterly, shit the bed- Philly, Dallas, Philly.
We were a top 3-4 offense before Plax left, and were nothing better than league average (I'd argue we were less than that) after he left. Say what you want about players improving, a full offseason without him, we need a #1.
As Dorgan pointed out, they weren't able to ever really do that by the time Plax was completely unavailable.
I still think the season was lost moreso by the DL injury situation than by Burress, but certainly the confluence of the two really made it a steep hill to climb.
And as much as I mostly think he's contrary for no reason at all, GoTerps has a chance of being right that one of Smith/Manningham/Hixon/Moss could easily emerge without Toomer/Burress on the roster. Particularly when you factor the continuing development of Boss in year two as a starter.
So, factor in more reps throughout the offseason for the healthy "kids" at WR, development by Boss, and a re-factoring of the playbook to their particular skillsets by Manning/Gilbride/Coughlin, and there's no reason to panic.
Which is why Reese hasn't simply met the Browns demands for Edwards already. Reese isn't the sort to leave things to chance. If he felt that Edwards was the indispensible missing piece (after what he did with the defense in FA), he'd have acted decisively and left no chance for Philly or some other team to snatch Edwards from under them. Either Reese is supremely confident that Mankok is going to blink and that there are no other serious suitors, OR Reese simply believes that getting Edwards isn't vital in the pursuit of the XLIV Lombardi.
BigBlueBrethren : 12:42 pm
You mentioned what any obvious supporter of getting Braylon's argument would be, and completely discounted it by using stats and pointing to Hixon's potential as a #1 which I think you are as high as a kite to be seeing.
Hixon was cut by Denver about 1.5 yrs ago, I know guys that get released sometimes turn out to be very good...and he's been much more than we ever expected...but he's not a #1 WR.
YET. He's not a number on, yet. Maybe he never will be, but you saying that he can't be is just as assinine a statement and prediction as you think me saying he can be is.
Secondly, I support getting Braylon Edwards at the right price, dictated by Jerry Reese.
This was more of an argument to point out to those that are predicting a 7-9 to 8-8 season for us, if we don't get Edwards, that it was only a small part of the problem at the end of the season.