According to ESPN’s NFC East Blogger Dan Graziano, the New York Giants have the best wide receiving corps in the division. It is definitely a close race and I’d argue that the Giants, Eagles, and Cowboys have three of the top corps in the entire NFL.
He ranks them as follows: Giants, Cowboys, and then Eagles.
I could just link the article but I don’t know how many of you would actually click the link, so here is his explanation as to why he ranked them that way.
“The Redskins really aren’t even in the discussion, and that shouldn’t offend anyone. These other three teams have receiving corps that rank among the best in football, and picking between them is probably nothing more than a matter of taste.”
“I went with the Giants because I think the three guys we’re talking about — Hakeem Nicks, Steve Smith and Mario Manningham — fit their roles so perfectly. Nicks is the big, sure-handed downfield and red-zone target, a young but supremely skilled receiver who, I believe, will be talked about a year from now as the best receiver in the division. Smith is the possession man, Eli Manning‘s super-reliable safety net and short-yardage target. Those 100 catches two years ago were no fluke. That’s who a healthy Smith is. (A healthy Smith, I said, yes. We’ll get to that in a second.) And Manningham is the home-run threat — a clear No. 3, but a No. 3 with incredible potential on any given play.”
“The only thing holding me back on this pick was of course health, as Smith’s knee injury makes him a question mark for the upcoming season and Nicks has missed games due to injury in each of his first two seasons. But I decided to take injuries out of the equation for purposes of these rankings and rank them the way I’d rank them if each group were fully healthy. You’re welcome to factor health into your rankings. We each apply our own standards.”
“Matt Williamson, when he did this a while back, took the Cowboys, and he told me this morning he stands by his rankings. Matt just thinks Miles Austin and Dez Bryant are too incredibly gifted to pass up for the top spot, and that Roy Williams as a No. 3 is no slouch. I agree that Bryant has what Williamson calls “jaw-dropping” talent, but he worries me for other reasons. And while I think Austin is the best overall WR in the division right now, he did have a down year and I think Nicks will pass him in 2011 if he stays healthy and they, you know, have a season.”
“As for the Eagles… hey, I love what DeSean Jackson brings, and I’m a huge fan of Jeremy Maclin‘s speed. But I can’t buy Jackson as a true No. 1 when he only caught 47 passes last year and, as Williamson points out, caught three or fewer in half of his team’s games. Could Jackson be an 85-catch guy? Sure. And if he were, and he were producing over those 85 catches at the same rate at which he produces over 45, he’d be a Hall of Famer. But the fact is, he’s not catching 85 balls a year. And as brilliant as he is with the ball in his hands, it’s just not in his hands enough for me to value him and the rest of this crew over what they have in Dallas and New York. Maclin is coming on strong and could emerge as the No. 1 in Philly before long. Jason Avant, for me, ranks third among the No. 3 WRs in this discussion. So as I said, it’s close, but for me the Eagles run third in this race.”
It’s really hard for me personally to place the Giants over the Cowboys receivers right now because of the uncertainty surrounding Steve Smith. However, if you look at the units as a whole, the Giants have way more depth than either team does behind their main starters.
Ramses Barden, Victor Cruz, and Domenik Hixon are all reliable backups and now you could even throw third round pick Jerrel Jernigan in to the mix.
The two units also bring very different aspects to the table. Both Austin and Bryant are big play wide receivers capable of stretching the field and Roy Williams works the deep middle. Nicks and Smith are both shore handed guys who rarely drop passes and aren’t necessarily out to make the big plays, just the important ones, and Manningham brings you that deep threat and has speed for the screen game.
Either way the Giants should be proud of the unit they put together; every single one was drafted by current GM Jerry Reese.
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Are you kidding me eagles by far have the best wr tandem/duo in the league just look @ the numbers & let them speak for themselves
Ok let’s look at the numbers
DeSean – 47 catches, 1056 yards, 6 touchdowns in 14 games
Hakeem – 79 catches, 1052 yards, 11 touchdowns in 13 games
Miles – 69 catches, 1041 yards, 7 touchdowns in 16 games
Advantage – Giants
Jeremy Maclin – 70 catches, 964 yards, 10 touchdowns in 16 games
Steve Smith – 48 catches, 523 yards, 3 touchdowns in 9 games (100+ catches, 1200+ yards, Pro Bowl in 2009)
Dez Bryant – 45 catches, 561 yards, six touchdowns in 12 games
Advantage – Eagles..but it’s closer with a healthy Smith
Jason Avant – 51 catches, 573 yards, 1 touchdown in 16 games
Mario Manningham – 60 catches, 944 yards, 9 touchdowns in 16 games
Roy Williams – 64 catches, 530 yards, 5 touchdowns in 15 games
Advantage – Giants…
Any Questions? Thanks for telling me to look at the numbers
& again jackson with -32 receptions less then nicks still put up solid numbers now lets say he had 79 receptions like nicks then guess what oh yeah he would blow both nicks & miles numbers away…& teams/coaches are terrified of this kid we call d_jax you have to gamelan for this gamebreaker nicks/miles not so much ADVANTAGE:EAGLES
Jeremy maclin fell 36 yards shy of a 1000yd season lets just say if he hadn’t this wouldn’t even be a discussion but no argument here since you gave the nod to the eagles ADVANTAGE:EAGLES
jason avant one of the most reliable 3rd down/slot receivers in the league does his job quietly & actually produces unlike roy williams…oh & did I mention he has some of the surest hands in the league & he is clutch on 3rd downs
Oh & who do you think the majority of the nfl fanbase would rather have as their #1 wr jackson nicks or austin that shouldn’t be hard to answer
How about #2 wr maclin,future bust dez bryant or smith that shouldn’t be hard to answer
How about #3 wr avant, williams or manningham that shouldn’t be hard to answer aswell
Overall the eagles have the best receiving trio in the east…the numbers speak for themselves…yrds td’s rec’s combined over the last 3 or 2 years favor the eagles by a landslide
I can’t even believe you’re still arguing with me when you told me to look at the numbers and the numbers CLEARLY state that the Giants wide receivers are better…
You can’t just say “what if DeSean had 79 catches” because he hasn’t proved he can get a high number of catches in a season..he’s not that type of player so yea almost everyone in their right mind would pick Nicks AND Austin over Jackson as a number 1 wide receiver…because Jackson is more like a No. 2 receiver in that he only makes big plays every now and then…in 8 games this year he had 3 catches or less…basically saying he was ineffective for half the season…not my No. 1 guy sorry…
How can you say what if with DeSean Jackson and not do the same with Steve Smith? by your logic then you should play the what if game and say “what if Steve Smith didn’t get hurt…Smith averaged had 107 catches and over 1200 yards in 2009!!!!
I can’t believe you are going to sit here and tell me Avant is better than Manningham…you are just ridiculous at this point…he had almost 400 more yards and 8 more TDs than Avant! Are you kidding me?
The numbers definitely DON’T speak for themselves you should stop saying that..Nicks had more catches and way more touchdowns and played 1 less game…Steve Smith is great when healthy and even giving the nod to Maclin….Manningham BLOWS Avant out of the water in terms of talent and the numbers clearly state that….
2-1 Giants…clear winner…
Desean jackson first 3 years in the league look like this….3 seasons 171 receptions 3,124 yds 18.3 avg 17 td’s +++ numerous punt return td’s kickoff return td’s 2x prowbowler
nicks first 2 seasons 120 receptions 1,842 yds 14.6 avg 17 td’s oh by the way desean jackson amassed 2,068 his first 2 seasons
Miles austin in 5 seasons 168 receptions 2,715 16.2 avg 21 td’s
Top wideouts in the east look like this #1.desean jackson (with the numbers to prove this)….#2.miles austin,& #3.hakeem nicks……based on all the above & the numbers the clear cut advantage goes to who??…i guessed it ADVANTAGE:EAGLES
& @ that silly jackson not a number 1 wr comment hasn’t desean jackson continued to prove this year in year out look @ the man statistics & tell me he’s not a number 1 you sound ridiculous the man in only his third season is already considered one of the best top 5 in my eyes nicks doesn’t even crack the top 10 list
I have come to my conclusion that your just a bitter giants fan mad @ jackson for slashing/dashing your playoff hopes (miracle @ the new meadowlands 2) yeah I know doesn’t it just make u cringe
A true No. 1 wide receiver is effective in every game he is in, he is not someone who constantly disappears from games like Jackson does…
Your numbers make absolutely no sense whatsoever because Miles Austin was not part of the Cowboys offense until 2009 and Hakeem Nicks until 2010…. as a Rookie Nicks still put up near the same numbers as the third WR option than Jackson did as the first option in his Rookie Year…
DeSean’s Rookie Year – 62 rec, 912 yards, 2 TDs
Nicks’ Rookie Year – 47 rec, 790 yards, 6 TDs
And Nicks did this as the 3rd WR and Jackson was the 1st WR option and he still had four more TDs than Jackson…Nicks can’t help that he came into a situation as a rookie when the Giants already had two good wide receivers…when the Eagles drafted Jackson they had no one else and he was the No. 1 option right away…when Nicks was drafted they didn’t want to rush him in to it but make no mistake he could have if they needed him to.
It’s hilarious that you think Jackson is better than Nicks when Nicks has the same amount of TDs in two years as Jackson does in three years…you know what helps teams win games? Scoring points..
Miles Austin is arguably the best out of all three because in his two years as a starter he has over 2361 yards and 18 TDs
It makes absolutely no sense at all to compare guys stats until they became No. 1 options in their offense…and when that happened the averages rank Austin first, Nicks second, and Jackson LAST..
Jackson will never be a 80-90 catch guy which means he will never be more than a deep threat guy and not a TRUE No. 1…he is a great weapon to have but not as good as Austin or Nicks
Also…looking at the numbers from this year it’s so obvious to anyone but you that Nicks deserved the Pro Bowl over Jackson… look at their numbers objectively
Option A 47 rec, 1056 yards, 6 TDs
Option B 79 rec, 1052 yards, 11 TDs
99/100 people would take option B…and you are that loner who would take option A…
I’m not a bitter Giants fan…I’m someone who proved you wrong time and time again and you have yet to say anything substantial against Nicks that makes any sense…
I’m tired of going back & forth with you…nicks with 30+ more receptions still couldn’t muster up more yards then jackson it’s only fair that he had more td’s (of course because of more receptions)…me & a millions more folk will choose desean over nicks/austin anyday…& you my friend for the millionth time sound ridiculous I’m done here make a public poll about who would you rather have in your team jackson/nicks/austin & there goes your answer d-jax by a landslide…keep hating while he continues to prove you doubters wrong on his way to canton (hall of fame) & stretches our win streak (6-0) against your NEW YORK MIDGETS…..PEACE im done here
It’s only fair that he had more TDs because he had more receptions…wow…and you are using that argument AGAINST Nicks? He had more receptions and TDs because he’s better…end of story
LOL DeSean is a hall of famer now? awesome