Thursday, October 8, 2009

Looking Back

As you may or may not recall, the name Braylon Edwards was floating around an awful lot in Giantsland. Between him and Anquan Boldin, they ate up countless column inches as writers and fans urged the Giants to pick up one of the veteran wide receivers to replace Plaxico Burress.

Well, Boldin is still down in Arizona, unimpressively tied for 37th among NFL receivers with 16 catches for 171 yards and a touchdown. And now, the drop-prone Edwards is a Jet after a miserable beginning with Eric Mangini's mess in Cleveland.

I'm not sure whether the change of scenery is going to do Edwards any good, especially since he may have a league suspension coming for belting out LeBron James' buddy recently in a Cleveland nightclub. Even worse, football-wise, were his league-high 16 drops last year. But one thing appears certain right now. It looks like Jerry Reese made the right move -- again -- in not pulling the trigger on any deal for a veteran wide receiver.

Can't argue with the fruits of his faith in the Giants' young receiving corps. Not with Steve Smith sitting atop league receivers with 34 catches for 411 yards and four touchdowns. Not with a diverse corps that had some excitement injected last week with the re-appearance of Hakeem Nicks. Reese obviously saw something early on in this group that outsiders didn't.

Or maybe he just saw something in Edwards. Maybe he saw a bad apple that would disrupt and clash with the unit's team-first attitude. Maybe he figured a guy who drops as many balls as Edwards wasn't worth all the personal baggage.

Whatever the case, nobody seems to be bemoaning the fact now that the Giants never did get that one, solidifying veteran receiver. That might change if Edwards explodes into game-changing playmaker for Mark Sanchez and the defenses catch up to the Giants' wide receivers.

Until then, Reese will continue to look pretty smart.

Opinions?

EP

5 comments:

  1. Well, it doesn't cheer me up, I'm a Jets fan.

    Frank (your college buddy)

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  2. jerry never ceases to amaze

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  3. ernie what were the browns trade demands before the season, if i recall they were real high. to me it always seemed that jerry wasnt willing to give up much for edwards, boldin, or marshall.

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  4. Scott said it, Jerry is amazing. I was cursing him for doing nothing in his first offseason and when he made me look like a fool and had the greatest draft class in Giants history I vowed to never talk trash about him EVER again. He clearly knows more about football than me. This offseason I kept telling everybody "Jerry has a plan" and Jerry knows what he is doing." Well, now he made me look like a genius.

    Sidenote: Jery drafted 2 cornerbacks he wasn't afraid to cut to keep Bruce Johnson on the team. I think many other gm's would keep guys they drafted but not Jerry and this guy seems to be a legit corner.

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  5. I think Reese did the right thing. Even if Edwards ends up having a good season with the Jets, I still think he wasn't worth all the trouble and money it probably would have cost them.

    John W

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