Nicks will have to carry a Plax-free receiving corps in '09.
It's not really a stretch to say that the Eagles and Giants are in a two-way race for the NFC East right now. Sure, there's always that surprise team, but looking at the Cowboys and Redskins, one would be extremely surprised to see them seriously push the Eagles or Giants.
With that in mind, the Giants have, at least temporarily, pulled ahead of the Eagles heading into training camp.
The Giants were able to lock up Hakeem Nicks, while Jeremy Maclin is still not in camp and there doesn't appear to be much headway being made in the contract talks.
Granted, signing a guy in the back-end of the draft is much easier, but it is the job of the front office to have the players into camp and ready to play. The Giants have that now, whereas the Eagles do not.
The Giants now will be able to watch Eli Manning and Nicks get their timing down, and build a rapport, while Maclin is doing nothing but hurting himself, and hurting the team.
That being said, even with the presence of Nicks and the absence of Maclin, the Eagles still probably have the better receiving corps, but it's always a good thing for your team to have your guy in on time, and on the other hand it's always bad not to.
So, at least for now, the Giants are a half-step ahead of the Eagles at this point. If the Maclin camp will finally just agree to a deal, we can jump ahead a step and have a half-step on them. But until then, they've pulled out in front.
A half-step here and a half-step there may not seem like a big deal, but football is a game of inches, and every half-step counts. Just ask Kevin Dyson and Mike Jones.
I really honestly just don't see how the Giants can succeed offensively?
Outside of Jacobs running behind a stellar offensive line, I don't see the production.
You don't just replace a 6'5" Pro-Bowl WR overnight, or over an off-season for that matter.
They're going to need to ride the defense. That's the only way I see it.