Replacement or not, Hakeem Nicks has been solid

Of all the hypotheticals surrounding Plaxico Burress' accidental shooting and eventual release from the Giants, one that is rarely asked is this:

If Burress were still on the team in the spring of 2009, would they have drafted Hakeem Nicks?

Maybe. Nicks certainly had the credentials to be a first-round pick. But it also helped the Giants' decision-making that they had a void to fill just a few weeks after they officially purged themselves of Burress. They had other needs and might have looked at other positions if they thought Burress was returning in 2009.

So it's no wonder that Nicks is often viewed as a re-Plax-ment player. "That's people's opinion," Nicks said Wednesday when asked about that. "Everybody's entitled to their opinion. I felt like I was going to come in, make plays, contribute like I was supposed to."

So far, that's exactly what he's done. Nicks may have different skills and strengths than Burress, but one thing they have in common is production. When the two teams meet Saturday, the two players who have caught the most touchdown passes from Eli Manning will be on the field: Burress (33) and Nicks (23).

"Hakeem has done a great job," Manning said. "He's a playmaker. He's got good speed, big hands, catches the ball very well. He's made some big plays for us in the years that he's been here and has grown up a lot, learned a lot. You're really starting to see his ability."

Nicks and Burress may be forever intertwined in Giants history, but that's where their similarities seem to end. Mario Manningham, the only current Giants receiver who shared the field with Burress, noted their differences.

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"They don't really play nothing alike," Manningham said. "One's fast and one's tall. They don't have the same game . . . Hakeem's got more YAC [yards after catch] than Plax. Plax is just harder to tackle. Hakeem will make you miss, Plax is just, he'll break a tackle."

Strangely, though, when Nicks was at North Carolina he and quarterback T.J. Yates would study film of the Manning-to-Burress connection during their 2007 Super Bowl run. They ran a similar offense at North Carolina.

"Plax was a great receiver in my eyes," Nicks said. "I thought he was always one of the top receivers in the league. Still is."

So is Nicks. He rarely drops passes but he dropped three of them Sunday against the Redskins, two of which would have been touchdowns.

"I wasn't angry or frustrated," Nicks said in his typical laid-back fashion. "It happens. You're going to have games like that. It's all about how you respond and bounce back from it . . . Me, personally, I know how I respond off a game like I had."

Probably the same way Burress would.