What was so special about Plaxico Burress?
* The ability to dominate by sheer physical force, using, if necessary, a devastating and rude stiff-arm to shed a cornerback.
* The length to simply reach up, up, up and over a smaller defender to snatch the ball at the height of the trajectory in the corner of the end zone.
* The size and skill to work downfield, providing an inviting and good-sized target that creates all sorts of matchup problems.
Rolled into one, that’s Burress. That special player did not exist in this NFL Draft and the Giants didn’t try to force someone in to fill his considerable footsteps. Instead, the Giants, within their first five picks, selected receivers Hakeem Nicks, Ramses Barden and Travis Beckum, three players with varied body types and specialties. As they develop, they could offer as a trio what Burress did as a solo act.
“We drafted these players with a specific purpose and need in mind,” said Giants coach Tom Coughlin, who will need to be creative to get out of three players what the team once could count on from one.
As the first-round pick, Nicks is attractive mainly because he is very strong, extremely well-built and comes from North Carolina, which operated an NFL-style attack. Like Burress, Nicks should be able to overpower many cornerbacks, keeping them at bay with his long arms and big hands.
“He is always going up, making plays over people,” said Marc Ross, the Giants’ director of college scouting. “A lot of guys can catch without people around them. This guy catches with people, with bodies, around him in traffic.”
One look at Barden, from Cal Poly, and the Burress comparison is obvious. Barden is bigger (6-foot-6 compared to 6-foot-5) than Burress, but not nearly as fast, especially off the line of scrimmage. As he acclimates, the Giants hope when they’re inside the red zone they can line the towering target out wide and either lob the ball to him or force the opposing defense to adjust, freeing up someone else.
“He’ll quickly learn that the way in which the big receivers do get off the ball against the smaller corners is just to come off and be as physical as you can,” Coughlin said.
Beckum is a combo of Nicks and Barden. He’s listed as a tight end, but he’s no blocker; he’s an H-back who at times was a receiving force for Wisconsin. He gives the Giants coaching staff a particular weapon they haven’t had in several years. It also should be a great benefit to Eli Manning, because when he misses it’s usually high.
“When the wind starts to swirl out here and it gets cold in November, December,” Reese said, “a shorter pass to a guy who can get open on the inside, a bigger target, will probably help our quarterback.”
Does three add up to one? The Giants hope so.