ALBANY — Everyone has been waiting for Ramses Barden. And everyone loves a good underdog story.
But in one of the biggest and most intriguing battles in Giants training camp, undrafted rookie David Douglas is trying to unseat Barden and earn a spot on the roster. The 23-year-old’s camp performance prompted coach Tom Coughlin to declare last week Douglas “has had a heck of a preseason.” He was at it again in practice yesterday.
First, the 6-foot-1 205-pound Douglas made a terrific jumping catch over the middle, beating cornerback Brandon Bing. Later he jumped over safety Janzen Jackson to haul in a touchdown.
“He’s done well. There’s a lot of roles. I’d like to see him as a kick returner, as a gunner and all that kind of stuff,” Coughlin said yesterday. “But he’s made some plays, yeah. For sure.”
The Giants figure to carry six wide receivers, and barring injury, four — Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz, Jerrel Jernigan and Rueben Randle — are locks. Domenik Hixon, if he remains healthy, is a strong bet to make the roster. Which leaves six candidates — Douglas, Barden, Dan DePalma, Brandon Collins, Isiah Stanback and Julian Talley — for the last spot.
Every one is undrafted, except for Barden, a 2009 third-round pick whose tantalizing ability has been a promise unfulfilled. Barden is 6-foot-6, 224 pounds, but has played only 17 games in three seasons and has posted unimpressive totals of 15 catches and 174 yards — a couple of weeks’ totals for a top NFL receiver.
How long can the Giants wait for Barden to deliver?
“It’s time. It was time last year,” Coughlin said. “The guy’s gonna make a mark on the league — he’s smart, he’s been around long enough, he’s been in the heat of it, he’s made plays. He just needs to make them more consistently.”
Douglas, who spent four years at the University of Arizona, signed with the Giants on May 11. For all of the undrafted wideouts around the country, why did the Giants decide on him?
“David had a productive career at Arizona. Our area scout thought he had a nice feel for the game and had excellent hands,” Giants director of college scouting Marc Ross said. “With his smarts, production and hands, coming from a bigger school like Arizona, he’s the type of receiver you bring in as a rookie free agent to see how he responds at this level.”
As Coughlin indicated, the final wideout needs to contribute on special teams (think Devin Thomas last year) because he probably won’t make a huge offensive impact. Barden plays special teams, but hasn’t distinguished himself. Douglas played special teams in college, and the Giants have him working on those units now.
“Special teams is definitely a thing that I’ve gotta be very versatile at,” Douglas said, “and I’ve got to try to get to where I can pretty much do anything on those teams.”