Since I got to watch a lot of football today, I saw a lot of WR make play after play. And it got me wondered, we always viewed Nicks as a number 1 WR, and now I am not too sure. Including guys who are out for the year, is Nicks still a top 25 WR? Here are guys I would take over him. No particular order.
1. AJ Green.
2. Josh Gordon
3. Reggie Wayne
4. Andre Johnson
5. Justin Blackmon
6. Demaryius Thomas
7. Wes Welker
8. Dez Bryant
9. Desean Jackson
10. Calvin Johnson
11. Randal Cobb
12. Jordy Nelson
13. Brandon Marshall
14. Julio Jones
15. Larry Fitzgerald.
16. Victor Cruz
Now I know many will argue some are too young to put ahead of Nicks (Blackmon/Gordon) but they are absolute beast, and having monster games on very bad teams. Now some of the WRs are getting to their final legs as well (Wayne/A. Johnson). Now there are a bunch of WRs who are in the same range if not a little worse/better.
Eric Decker, Dwayne Bowe, Antonio Brown, Roddy White, Michael Crabtree/Percy Harvin/Jeremy Maclin (all hurt) Mike Wallace, Pierre Garcon, Marques Colston, Steve Smith, Vincent Jackson.
Now Obviously Nicks is better than a lot of the aforementioned played, however the point is WR seem to be coming up in the NFL. With the holes we have just about everywhere, trading Nicks may not be the worst thing. IMO, Nicks is going to demand number 1 WR money, and as you can see - does he really stand out over a lot of these guys? I'd say no.
Gimme a break if you can't see that.
Does anyone see this year how much we miss Steve Smith? And that's even with Victor Cruz, who's better all around than SS was...
Nicks is a great system fit here, as was SS, and as was, in a limited but crucial way, Mario Manningham as a 3rd WR...
Randle hasn't yet replaced Mario adequately in terms of how he fits with the Nicks/VC and 3rd? trio, IMO.
The giants for some odd reason are also not running a lot of the stop fade routes that also take advantage of nicks physical play... Why? Not sure.
I don't really care where nicks is ranked... I do care that we have like 5 + players on the team and nicks is 1 of them. If he prices himself out then he walks... If not... Then good for the giants and he is not easily replaceable.
Also watch half those fcking guys in our offense and see how your fantasy football numbers look.
0-6 NO one is in top 25 and who cares anyway
I think Josh Gordon is the real deal and a bigger talent though.
I would put Nicks in the 12-20 range, but dep's point is a fair one - I think putting him beyond that 25 range means arguing for some older receivers (White, Colston) that I doubt any non-fantasy GM would select ahead of Nicks when constructing a team.
However, we havent seen that player for over 20 games now. We have seen flashes, but a lot of inconsistency. If he were to accept somewhere between 6-7 million a year - its a no brainer. However, he will probably ask for over 10 million a year - and it just might not be worth it.
Now I don't believe that, but it sure sounds like what you are saying about Nicks,
Now I don't believe that, but it sure sounds like what you are saying about Nicks,
You cant compare QBs to WRs, since the QB is far more important than a WR. And you cant compare Nicks to Eli since Nicks is a FA at the end of the year. You are assuming a team would try and trade for Eli, nothing certain.
So actually nothing you said makes any sense whatsoever.
How did I judge him harshly? I just pointed out there are a lot of good WRs in the league, and to pay him number 1 money where there is already 1 player on the team better than him.
The fact is Hakeem has not been a number 1 WR for 2 years now, so why pay him it?
After this year? Probably top 10 still. Behind Peyton, Brees, Brady, Rodgers, Luck. There are a few others like Ryan, Romo, Wilson among other that he can be lump in with.
In case you havent watched a game outside NYG....guys like Brady, Ryan, Flacco, Rodgers have been less than their normal play as well this year.
In 2013, it's a fair question.
LONK - ( New Window )
Without question: Victor Cruz, Dez Bryant, Calvin Johnson, Brandon Marshall, Julio Jones, Roddy White, Larry Fitzgerald, AJ Green, Reggie Wayne, Andre Johnson, Wes Welker, Demaryius Thomas.
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I don't know how you can say that Victor Cruz is "without question" better than Nicks when it has been a long, on-going debate. I personally think Nicks is the superior receiver to Cruz.
I'm also not sure what makes Roddy White without question better than Nicks other than the fact that he plays 9 games per year in a dome on an offense with Julio JOnes and Tony Gonzalez and they used to have a strong offensive line.
It's hard for downfield receivers to produce in a stubborn and complicated passing system when the offensive line is terrible.
Plus, while I think he should play hard, I think it is hard to go all out knowing how easy it is to get injured when you're a pending free agent. It doesn't excuse poor behavior, but i do think it's hard to do.
You don't know what the Giants are willing to offer.
You don't know how much cap room the Giants will have.
You don't know how this season will end.
So why worry about it kid?
Nicks is a good player. If you're gonna evaluate every Giant offensive player right now you're gonna be fooled because this thing is a wreck right now. Nicks would start for a lot of teams. Eli is struggling. The OL is struggling. Nicks will struggle as a result. And by the way, Nicks is on pace for over 60 catches and 1000 yards. Not bad. He can do better and probably will do better if/when this offense gets things moving in the right direction.
It's odd that you picked NOW as the time to evaluate Nicks. I'd say it's not the best timing. WOuldn't you?
Nicks is a good player. If you're gonna evaluate every Giant offensive player right now you're gonna be fooled because this thing is a wreck right now. Nicks would start for a lot of teams. Eli is struggling. The OL is struggling. Nicks will struggle as a result. And by the way, Nicks is on pace for over 60 catches and 1000 yards. Not bad. He can do better and probably will do better if/when this offense gets things moving in the right direction.
It's odd that you picked NOW as the time to evaluate Nicks. I'd say it's not the best timing. WOuldn't you?
Because we are near the trading deadline and he is a UFA, so the front office has to decide whether or not pay this man number 1 money.
I think Nicks is better than we think if we base things off last year and this year. He's much closer to the 2010-2011 player than the 2012 player.
All things being equal, assuming this offense is at least reasonably capable, Nicks is a legit #1 and a guy worth keeping. That's my take.
I still think Cruz is a better football player though.
So if the Giants feel like Nicks might be worth bringing back on the FT deal, I don't think they even entertain offers UNLESS a team dangles a #1. And I don't think any team will.
Would you rather have a 2nd rounder or Nicks for 2 more years at the very least? I'd rather have Nicks. With that said, the Giants know more than I do with regards to Nicks' health and attitude and staying power here, so maybe they feel he has lost a step? Maybe they feel he's a bit of a dog? I doubt it...but u never know....