The Giants received a lot of bad news today about the status of some of their most important players for Thursday's game against the Panthers. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw, right tackle David Diehl, and wide receivers Domenik Hixon and Hakeem Nicks, have all been ruled out for tomorrow night's game. The most shocking addition to the list has to be Nicks, who was quoted by the media just yesterday saying he's fine and he expects to play. I can't help but feel like this is a precautionary move by Big Blue. They must be trying to protect their star wideout, and keep him healthy for the rest of the season. As for what they will do come Thursday night, I have a few players to keep an eye on if you are pulling for the G-Men.
Running Back
It's pretty obvious after last week's performance, that everyone will be watching Andre Brown. Brown, who will start in place of the injured Ahmad Bradshaw. Brown has bounced around the league his entire career, and has found himself a nice opportunity with the injury to Bradshaw.
However, I think that the eyes of Big Blue Nation should still be fixed on 1st round pick David Wilson. Wilson has made mistakes a habit up until this point, but he is a good player. He's an athlete, and I think he is smart enough to realize this is a very rare and valuable opportunity. He is shifty and quick, with big play ability, something that the Giants haven't had much of in their run game for some time.
That being said, all of these good things are being held back right now by his maturity issues. If he can somehow get around that, and focus on playing the game, he can end up being the guy we give the ball to 25 times a game.
Right Tackle
Where's Kareem McKenzie when you need him? The Giants continue to be banged up all over the trenches, this time with our most consistent lineman, David Deihl. What the Giants will probably end up doing is move Will Beatty over to right tackle and put Sean Locklear over at left tackle.
If it were up to me, I would reluctantly keep Beatty at Left Tackle, and move current Left Guard Kevin Boothe over to RT. I would then put guard Mitch Petrus in at left guard because he played there for us a bit last year down the stretch.
Wide Receiver
The fact that Hakeem Nicks will not be playing tomorrow is a huge, huge blow for the Giants. With Nicks out, expect Victor Cruz to get double covered often which means a lot of the Giants younger guys are going to have to step up.
Domenik Hixon will also be out, so look for Ramses Barden to start opposite Cruz, and in the slot, I think you have no choice but to start 2nd Round pick Reuben Randle out of LSU. Randle hasn't see a whole lot of time this year besides special teams, but he is a legitimate deep threat with great hands. He was also compared to Hakeem Nicks coming out of college, and may now be forced to fill his shoes.
Jerrel Jernigan is another guy that more of a slot type receiver that head coach Tom Coughlin could use to spell someof these guys.
Also Watch For
The season debut of Prince Amukamara. This guy has been injured so much in his short career that I feel like tomorrow is the first game of his career. It's becoming increasingly more difficult to like Amukamara simply because he is never on the field. With all that being said, I think a solid game tomorrow can seriously help his stock with not only the fans, but also with the rest of his teammates.
No comments:
Post a Comment