Should the New York Giants Take a Chance on Brandon Marshall?

As another part of a troubling offseason for new coach Josh McDaniels, reports have come out that another offensive star wants out of Denver.

The first time it was quarterback Jay Cutler, who was angered after McDaniels tried to pick up his former quarterback in New England, Matt Cassel. Cutler was then shipped off to Chicago in return for Bears quarterback Kyle Orton.

Now it is wide receiver Brandon Marshall who’s at odds with the team.

Many things have factored into Marshall wanting out. It has been said that Marshall wants a pay raise and was also mad with the Broncos medical team for misdiagnosing a hip problem.

So when a wide receiver pops up on the trade block, the usual names show up. Giants, Jets, and other teams who have an inexperienced or just poor wideout corps. Then, the question arises: Would I want to see Marshall wearing the Giants uniform this upcoming season?

Last year Marshall piled up 104 receptions, 1,265 yards, and six touchdowns to get himself a Pro Bowl spot.

With those stats, why wouldn’t you want him, right?

Well, Marshall has had off-field issues, something that the Giants don’t want to have to deal with after enduring Plaxico Burress’s troubles last year.

But, then again, there is the inexperience of this year’s Giants receivers. 

Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, Sinorice Moss, Domenik Hixon, and Ramses Barden is the outlook of this year’s receiving corps. Nicks and Barden are rookies, while Hixon and Moss have three years of experience and Smith two.

While Brandon Marshall was drafted the same year as Moss and Hixon, his talent is no question among the best in the league. But would the Giants be willing to put up with his off-field issues, which could be magnified in New York?

I don’t think so.

Like I said earlier, after having to put up with Burress last year, the Giants will not likely want more problems. They want to be in the spotlight more for good things on the field than bad things off of it. 

That and the fact that Tom Coughlin is a coach that especially doesn’t like players with off-field issues. 

So while the receiving game may seem better with Marshall, I think the Giants will let him go to the Jets or Ravens and instead rely on the arm of Eli Manning, the running game, and their young receivers.

The NFL Makes Fools of the U.S. Legal System…Again

Every day, we watch athletes. We are amazed at some of the things that they can do. Amazing catches, fantastic throws, and bone crunching tackles. 

We act like they are better than us; above us. And the legal system let’s them be above us too. 

On Monday, we had two hearings in court cases—NFL wide receivers Plaxico Burress and Donte’ Stallworth. And both of the decisions were ridiculous. 

Burress shot himself on November 28, 2008. As we all know, he did not have a license for his gun. In New York, this is a very strict policy and the fullest extent of this law requires that Burress serves three and a half years in prison. 

Here we are on June 17 and we still do not know the extent of his sentence. We won’t until September. 

This would allow Burress to play in the NFL this upcoming season.

Should we find this surprising? No, because Plaxico is an athlete and he gets an exception in court. 

Also on Monday, the sentence for Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth was announced. 

Stallworth killed a man back in March in his Bentley. Stallworth had a blood alcohol content of .12, which is .04 over the Florida limit. He was charged with a DUI and second-degree manslaughter. 

On Monday, his sentence was announced. Stallworth would serve 30 days in prison, two years of house arrest, and 10 years probation along with the possibility of a lifetime suspension of his drivers license. 

Now, some say this sentence is fine, but I say it’s not enough. He was drunk and killed a man and is only serving 30 days. He should face one to two years at least in my mind. 

Michael Vick killed dogs and served more than a year. Are we holding our pets to more value than ourselves?

These most recent cases are among other examples of something that makes me sick to my stomach.

Why should these guys get special treatment? If I had a gun without a license or ran over someone drunk, I could almost guarantee that I would be seeing more time than these guys.

But that’s just the way it works here in America. And it’s sickening.

New York Giants 2009 WRs

After a successful draft and a busy and eventful offseason it seems the Giants have finally settled in with a receiving core. No doubt these receivers are young and fast and a big change from last year.

They are missing star wideout Plaxico Burress as we have all watched his legal problems be the focus point of the offseason. And then there is a loss that has not gotten nearly as much attention.

Twelve-year Giants receiver Amani Toomer is no longer with the team after his release. Like I said this will be the first time in 12 years without Toomer and his experience could have helped out this young team.

So after losing their two biggest guys here is the 2009 New York Giants wide outs.

 

Steve Smith

I believe that Steve Smith will step up this year and become Eli’s go-to guy. Smith has stepped up in past years and has been a good receiver for Eli, but that was while having Plaxico double covered.

This will be Smith’s third year. Last year he put up 57 receptions, 574 yards, and one touchdown. Of course, these stats come with Plaxico and Amani so they are sure to go up this year.

 

Domenik Hixon

Hixon showed up in the spotlight last year as Burress’ replacement and he played well for the most part.

The one thing that does worry me about Hixon is his dropping. I watched him last year as he had very inconsistent hands. Hixon had 43 receptions, 596 yards and two touchdowns.

 

Hakeem Nicks

The first of two rookie receivers this year. He will be a threat this year with great size and strength. He also has very good hands.

There will be a great deal of pressure on Nicks this year to perform but I think he will live up and put up stats similar to Steve Smith last year.

 

Mario Manningham

Mario will make a good deep threat when he gets on the field more this season. He has great speed and is able to break away from defenders with ease.

 

David Tyree

The receiver with the most experience on this team at six years. Tyree had trouble making the starting roster last year. The back end of the Super Bowl catch, Tyree will get the opportunity that he has never gotten this season.

 

Ramses Barden

The other of the two receivers the Giants drafted, resembles the first. He’s a big strong physical guy which is exactly the kind of receiver that works with the Giants. He has more speed than Nicks, though.

 

This season will truly be an interesting one for the Giants and their offense. The offense and Eli will have to work with younger guys who aren’t big name guys like they have had in the past. No Jeremy Shockey, no Plaxico Burress, and no self centered receiver.

These guys are a good team, and they should have a good season.

Are the Cleveland Browns Asking for Too Much for Edwards?

As the draft nears closer, the Braylon Edwards to the Giants talks are dying down, much to my displeasure. I have talked about this trade in two other articles and still think it would be a crime for the Giants to decline a trade for Edwards.

The trade talks are dying down though, and it’s because the Browns are asking for too much in the Giants’ minds.

The Browns want a first, second, or third round pick and Mathius Kiwanuka for Edwards.

The Giants believe this trade is too much, but I don’t. I think this would be a great trade for my G-men.

Lets take a look into this.

The Giants would most likely use their first round pick to draft a receiver, if they decided not to trade for one. This pick would probably get them Darrius Heyward-Bey out of Maryland, Hakeem Nicks out of North Carolina, or Kenny Britt out of Rutgers.

To start off for the Giants to be in position for Heyward-Bey they would need to trade up, because he is a projected 15-20 pick.

So how did Heyward-Bey do at Maryland?

In his four years at Maryland, Heyward-Bey put up 138 receptions, 2,089 yards, and 13 touchdowns. This includes his stats in 2008 with 42 receptions, 609 yards, and five touchdowns.

These stats may seem bad for a potential No. 1 receiver, but Heyward-Bey did this in a not so great Maryland offense.

He also shows great hands and speed, which would make him a great receiver in any NFL system.

Then there is North Carolina receiver Hakeem Nicks. In 2008 with UNC, Nicks had 68 receptions, 1,222 yards, and 12 touchdowns.

Hakeem Nicks has the stats over Heyward-Bey, but the Maryland receiver posted the fastest 40 yard dash time out of all the wide receivers.

Nicks does come in at 6″0, 212 pounds though and comes in with great height and strength. We have seen how Eli Manning can work with this and the Manning to Nicks combo could be dangerous.

If this trade was to go down as planned, the Giants would most likely be giving up Mathias Kiwanuka. Kiwanuka has been a good depth player as he can play defensive end or linebacker.

It is all up hill from now on though for Kiwanuka as he recorded a record high 51 tackles last year with eight sacks.

The second round pick the Giants would give to the Browns would most likely go towards the Giants drafting a linebacker, as that is one of their top needs.

The price for Braylon Edwards would be worth a good young receiver and a linebacker, but now back to the main question of is it worth it?

And I still think it is.

Last season with the Browns was a disappointing season to some NFL fans, but I still think it was a good season for Edwards. He had 55 receptions, 873 yards, and an eye opening three touchdowns.

This is still a good season, but what if the Giants were to pick up the Braylon Edwards of 2007?

The 80 reception, 1,289 yards, 16 touchdowns, and Pro Bowl Braylon Edwards. This guy could be the guy we get, which is something that would be much greater than what we could get from Hakeem Nicks or Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Braylon Edwards did have a problem dropping the ball last season, but the Giants do have a very good coaching system and this could be fixed. When Tiki Barber played for the Giants, he had a bad fumbling problem.

The Giants coaches worked with Tiki and they fixed it, making Barber a much more effective running back.

So the day before the draft, Jerry Reese and the rest of the Giants management may be thinking about whether this trade is worth pulling the trigger on, and trust me, it is.

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