Nicks making bid to move up depth chart

With the Giants’ receiving corps. dropping passes left and right on Saturday against the Jets, rookie Hakeem Nicks was a bright spot.  After dealing with a hamstring injury the first part of training camp, Nicks has rebounded nicely, and on Saturday caught 6 passes for 144 yards and 2 TD catches from David Carr.  Of course, Nicks also dropped a pass but with numbers like that we can let him slide.  The starters, we can’t let slide, in particular Steve Smith, who dropped a sure long touchdown from Eli Manning early in the game on a pass that was put right into his hands. 

Domenik Hixon also made a bad play when he leapt for the ball and could have made a fingertip catch, but instead let the ball carom for an interception, the only one for either team in the game.  And we also can’t forget that play last season against Philly in which Hixon, while filling in for Plaxico Burress right after the shooting incident, dropped a perfectly thrown long ball the same way Smith did in this game.

These two guys are supposed to be the starters with Burress and Amani Toomer gone from the roster, but coach Tom Coughlin would not rule out that Nicks is making a bid to move up the depth chart and start. 

“Well certainly it was impressive and he is a guy that obviously is going to make a tough catch,” said Coughlin.  “He has really been doing that.  That has not been discussed and certainly it puts him in a position where he will get prime consideration.  Of course, the more guys you have that can contribute, the better off we are going to be.”

Read into that what you will.  Coughlin is not afraid to shake things up, and I can’t imagine he would let this potential star ride the bench too much when he’s making plays like he has so far.  If you saw those two TD catches, the second one in particular, you have to feel a little bit encouraged about the receivers in general. 

So will he start, or won’t he?  That’s a question Coughlin and his coaches are probably discussing as we speak, and will discuss more before and after the final preseason game Thursday.

Tags: Amani Toomer, David Carr, Domenik Hixon, Eagles, Eli Manning, Giants, Giants depth chart, Hakeem Nicks, Plaxico Burress, rookie receivers, Steve Smith, Tom Coughlin