A lot of Potential

The talent and potential of Hakeem Nicks are so tantalizing for the G-Men. He looks so smooth and has such great hands and made so many big plays during the preseason. It would be easy for the Giants to rush him up their depth chart, or maybe even into the starting lineup of their unheralded receiving corps. And it would be easy to project greatness for the 20-year-old Nicks, even in his rookie season. Except for one thing: Nicks, the Giants' first-round pick, is fighting against history. In the last 25 years, rookie seasons for Giants receivers have rarely worked out very well.Nicks has pushed his way up to the fourth-receiver spot, and he could push Mario Manningham for No. 3. Nicks was so good, in fact, that backup David Carr compared him to Andre Johnson, one of the best receivers and a former Carr teammate from their days in Houston. Even Nicks admitted he was "encouraged" by his summer and promised there's a lot more to come. The one thing he can't do anything about is the Giants' rookie receiver history. From 1985-2008, a span of 24drafts, the Giants drafted 27 receivers, including three in the first round and six in the second. Yet the best numbers any of those receivers put up as a rookie in the regular season were the 16 catches and 211 yards in 2003 by sixth-round pick David Tyree. "Yeah, I know," Nicks said. "But that's not something I think about. I put that out of sight, out of mind. I look forward to making plays and being a Giant."