Not only can I not remember him dropping one, the toe drag sideline catches he made are too numerous to count, and they regularly came at clutch moments in key drives.
Best hands in my era of watching Giants football (1981+)
would be Nicks. Toomer and Smith would be right behind him. Toomer had amazing body control along the sidelines, one of the better WR’s in the league during his time in terms of the sideline toe catches.
I’m not putting Beckham at the top because while I think talent wise he’s the best WR we have ever had, he was always looking for the home run and often dropped easy passes because his eyes were already upfield. High risk, high reward type of mentality in that regard. And the question is who had the best hands, not big play ability.
Best hands? Imo, it isn't even close. Beckham had the most unbelievable hands I have ever seen. What he was able to do was remarkable.
With that said, I am not putting him up there in the top anything when it comes to making a clutch catch in an important moment just based off that GB game. It was too easy for people to get in his head and mess up his concentration. But in terms of pure hands he is at the top of the list.
I still think Nicks in terms of hands and clutch moments.
I also thought of Nicks, but he had some head scratching misses, almost like he was nearsighted. It also seemed like after he got hurt, both his wheels AND hands were gone. To make matters worse, he developed alligator arms at that point too. Was sad and frustrating to see.
Hillard tons of big catches in big games....he was no Jackie Smith....poor fellow
Hilliard was solid, you are right he wasn’t the same post injury. We really have had bad luck with keeping WR’s healthy the last several years: Hilliard (neck?), Cruz (knee), Plax (granted it was self inflicted), Nicks (knee) Steve Smith (knee), OBJ (leg/ankle, doesn’t seem to have the same burst anymore), Manningham (knee), Shepard (concussions). Toomer even tore an ACL here in his rookie or second year if I remember correctly.
Toomer, Cruz, and Steve Smith were also big in big spots.
OBJ dropped too many passes in big spots, also there was a much smaller window of opportunity since he only had 1 season of winning football.
in terms of hands. I don't know who that is among the Giants, but we might have to go back decades. Although OBJ had the highest ceiling in terms of getting open with his quickness off the line, acceleration after the catch, and some of his dives behind defenders at the back of the end zone, his hands simply weren't as reliable as those of many top-drawer receivers.
Now ask me which receiver I trust in catching the ball the most and my answer will be different.
huh? best hands by far, but you don't trust him to catch the ball? then he doesn't have the best hands. Sorry. the occasional spectacular catch doesn't offset the easy drops that kill drives.
Bavaro was pretty damn sure handed. Made his share of spectacular
the question was “ who had the best hands”? Toomer was a body catcher. Cruz dropped too many. Nicks was known for his hands in college. Beckham nonchalanted too many balls. Older guys like Shofner, Fredrickson and Tucker has great hands. Steve Smith gets my vote though
The Giants have had a number of WR and TE with excellent hands
Chronologically Bavaro, McCaffrey, Amani, Tiki, Plax, Nicks, Steve Smith and OBJ are probably the cream of the crop during my tenure as a fan. I expect Saquon will distinguish himself in this regard over the duration of his career projecting forward as well.
Tyree made the greatest catch in history. I’m not sure what to make of Shepard to be honest. I think he’s a decent player but I’m not wowed by him as he doesn’t do a ton after the catch.
This isnt really close to me. He was the most reliable player on the giants until his injury. The biggest reason why the answer is "third and smith" over OBJ is bc Odell would still drop big plays (thinking back to the giants first drive against Carolina when Odell dropped a deep pass that would have changed the whole game when the ball went right through his hands before he used his helmet as a weapon against Josh Norman).
he didn’t show up in big games. And not just the Packers playoff game. I remember a Monday night game against the Vikings when he just got shut down by Xavier Rhodes. He was totally invisible that game.
He was also famous for making a huge 20-30 yard catch to get them down the field and then drop the 3rd and 4 gimme a few plays later to keep the drive alive.
remember now a key factor in all of this maybe these new type
sticky gloves...there has been a lot of balls caught that should have been dropped 10 yrs ago (see OBJ catch)....you should see a real pair of those things, my son showed me a 300$ pair, hell I could get 35 balls a year. They make a average player good ( Darius Slayton) and a very good player great (OBJ).....just my point.
Positional breakdown I headed here. And there are some great points here(especially the ones I agree with;)). While Beckham had some amazing grabs, that GB game just removes him for me. And I NEVER considered Toomer to have great hands. Just longevity. My recollections of the '80's glory years are Stacy Robinson and later Ike Hilliard. Not exactly 'Allstate worthy'. I think I'd take Hakeem Nicks and Steve Smith. And to add on, I'm not overly concerned about our lack of 'OBJ' talent at receiver. I think we have talent at TE, RB and enough at WR to get us some good YAC. Question at all three positions is health. Need guys to stay healthy.
I recall being frustrated with the amount of drops Nicks had, esp. his rookie season. Overall, he was a terrific receiver for us and made some huge plays during his brief, injured career, but best hands? I don’t think so.
I was also pissed when Reeves cut him. It was not as if the Giants had a wonderful team and there was no place for him. He was not fast but had a wonderful way of finding the soft spots in the defensive backfield.
You may not remember all that well, but Ed dropped a ton of passes while with us. It was torture watching him and was elated when he left. Of course, who knew how great he’d become in Denver?
But Bobby Johnson, Lionel Manuel, Phil McConkey were pretty reliable. So was Johnny Perkins.
I've already mentioned Chris Calloway.
Steve Smith is a good candidate... he was money.
If you're talking running backs, Rodney Hampton had really good hands (even better than Dave Meggett). So does Saquon Barkley.
Circus catches are obvious... Beckham and Burress.
I’m not putting Beckham at the top because while I think talent wise he’s the best WR we have ever had, he was always looking for the home run and often dropped easy passes because his eyes were already upfield. High risk, high reward type of mentality in that regard. And the question is who had the best hands, not big play ability.
OBJ: hands / body control / snatch
Bob Tucker
John Mistler
Mike Friede
Johnny Perkins
With that said, I am not putting him up there in the top anything when it comes to making a clutch catch in an important moment just based off that GB game. It was too easy for people to get in his head and mess up his concentration. But in terms of pure hands he is at the top of the list.
I still think Nicks in terms of hands and clutch moments.
I agree with Mr. Balls2003.
Oh and let me throw in... if it is a sideline pass give me two feet in Amani Toomer!
I would take Nicks (in his prime) and his hands in a big game over OBJ any day.
Hilliard was solid, you are right he wasn’t the same post injury. We really have had bad luck with keeping WR’s healthy the last several years: Hilliard (neck?), Cruz (knee), Plax (granted it was self inflicted), Nicks (knee) Steve Smith (knee), OBJ (leg/ankle, doesn’t seem to have the same burst anymore), Manningham (knee), Shepard (concussions). Toomer even tore an ACL here in his rookie or second year if I remember correctly.
OBJ dropped too many passes in big spots, also there was a much smaller window of opportunity since he only had 1 season of winning football.
Now ask me which receiver I trust in catching the ball the most and my answer will be different.
Nicks highlights - ( New Window )
Now ask me which receiver I trust in catching the ball the most and my answer will be different.
huh? best hands by far, but you don't trust him to catch the ball? then he doesn't have the best hands. Sorry. the occasional spectacular catch doesn't offset the easy drops that kill drives.
Ha ha. He had the most exquisite hands you have ever seen.
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Ha ha. He had the most exquisite hands you have ever seen.
But they became deformed from overuse as he was not master of his domain.
Tyree made the greatest catch in history. I’m not sure what to make of Shepard to be honest. I think he’s a decent player but I’m not wowed by him as he doesn’t do a ton after the catch.
You’re welcome - ( New Window )
He was also famous for making a huge 20-30 yard catch to get them down the field and then drop the 3rd and 4 gimme a few plays later to keep the drive alive.
Hakeem dropped quite a few himself.
Lesson is: over a big sample, even the best WR will have a few concentration drops.
https://www.nj.com/giants/2009/12/post_19.html
Link - ( New Window )
Meg get
Bavaro
Nicks
OBJ