Looking back to 2009, the New York Giants were one of the NFL’s more prominent teams. They were two seasons removed from their shocking Super Bowl upset of the undefeated New England Patriots and still two years away from their next takedown of Bill Belichick’s team.
2008 was a rollercoaster of a ride for the Giants. They were coming off a 12-4 season, one of their best ever, and were the NFC’s top seed in the 2008 playoffs. But the Plaxico Burress debacle killed their mojo and momentum, and they were easily bounced by the Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional Round.
By virtue of their 12-4 record, they held the 29th overall selection in the first round of the upcoming NFL Draft. They didn’t need a whole lot. They placed seven players in the 2009 Pro Bowl and quarterback Eli Manning was in the middle of his long career with the club.
They could use more firepower on offense however, and North Carolina star wideout Hakeem Nicks was the type of player they felt could give that to them. In this re-draft, Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report doesn’t move Nicks up in the order and has the Giants taking him at 29.
The New York Giants might be tempted to try to bolster their roster and hope Hakeem Nicks wouldn’t be re-drafted in the final three spots here, but it wouldn’t be worth the risk. After all, the North Carolina product played a significant role when the team won the Super Bowl in 2011.
Don’t overthink this, Giants. You haven’t lost anybody from that team thus far in the exercise, and Nicks caught 10 passes for 109 yards in that Super Bowl victory over New England.
Nicks went on to have a short, but illustrious career with the Giants, reeling in 318 receptions for 4.676 yards and 27 touchdowns in his six seasons.
In the 2011 postseason, which culminated in the Giants’ 21-17 history over New England in Super Bowl XLVI, Nicks caught 28 passes for 442 yards and four touchdowns, including a “hail mary” grab against Green Bay in the Divisional Playoffs.
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