Rookie Nicks catches fire, could move up depth chart
Photo credit: Getty Images | Giants rookie receiver Hakeem Nicks tries to fend off a tackle by Jets safety Jim Leonhard during Saturday night's preseason game.
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Hakeem Nicks caught two touchdown passes in Saturday night's game, one with his athleticism and the other with his football smarts.
On a night when many of his fellow receivers were turning in belly-flops, Nicks came away with the two cleanest splashes. He caught six passes for 144 yards - including scoring plays of 22 and 71 yards - and became the first wide receiver this preseason to find the end zone for the Giants.
Nicks saw most of his production with the backups in the second half, but that could be the last time he sees the field with them. Tom Coughlin said there hasn't been any discussion about moving Nicks up the depth chart but added that his performance "certainly puts him in a position where he will get prime consideration."
"It's what's earned; it's exactly what's earned," Coughlin said Sunday of Nicks' possible playing time once the regular season begins in two weeks. "[Saturday] night, he played well, and he certainly has earned the right to be a factor."
Nicks feels the same way, even if he has to stop himself from saying so because of the Code of Humble Rookies.
"I feel like that," he said when asked if this latest effort should be enough to move him up, "but at the same time, I can't control the depth chart."
The Giants have been talking about finding a quick-strike offensive weapon for years; it was something they wanted to focus on last year even when they had Plaxico Burress running routes for them. Nicks scored two touchdowns in a 1:43 span in the fourth quarter. Those qualify as quick strikes.
The first was a go route down the left sideline with Drew Coleman in coverage. David Carr, the quarterback on the play, had pressure coming from his left side but stayed in the pocket to take a hit before heaving the ball into the end zone.
"He got pressure and he threw it up and I just kind of went after it and made the play for a touchdown," said Nicks, who swooped in low behind Coleman to make a sliding grab.
The second touchdown came with Nicks lined up on the right. Cornerback Marquice Cole was in front of him, but he came in with a blitz that left safety Eric Smith to cover Nicks.
"We were both on the same page on a corner blitz," Nicks said of Carr and Carr's target. "The safety was inside sitting hard, flat-footed, so I just decided to run right by him and we were on the same page and I got into the end zone."
The closest defensive back to Nicks when he caught the ball might have been teammate Corey Webster, who was running down the sideline cheering him on.
After a slow start in training camp that included a battle with a sore hamstring, Nicks has worked his way back to looking like a first-rounder. He had a dazzling performance in the next-to-last practice in Albany, making a series of one-handed grabs. Then he put on the show in the fourth quarter Saturday night.
"He certainly was impressive," Coughlin said. "He is a guy that obviously is going to make the tough catch. He's really been doing that."
There have been plenty of rookie moments in between. He followed his highlight-reel practice last week with three dropped balls the following day. And on Saturday, he did drop one pass in the third quarter that went right through his hands.
But Nicks has continued to bounce back from those miscues. He even caught a pass from Eli Manning with the first team in the second quarter Saturday night, a sharp 16-yard out with veteran corner Lito Sheppard covering him.
"That was helpful being in there with Eli for the first time," Nicks said. "That was good for us. Hopefully, we can [keep improving] that and keep on going in the future."
