Giant Steps: Several Giants Aim for Increased Roles

2. Following free agency and the NFL Draft, what holes are still present on your team’s roster? How will the team look to plug them and how glaring could these weaknesses be when exposed during the season?

With most of the marquee free agents having signed and the draft recently completed, even the most pessimistic of Giant fans would be hard-pressed to name a position grouping that would be described as filled with holes.

As veteran minicamp and training camp approach, the Giants are looking to experienced players and rookies to shore up any perceived weaknesses long before the regular season begins.

While the Giants are talented and deep at just about every position, there are two position groupings that are marked not by obvious weakness, but by some questions as to who exactly will play where and in what role.

At both wide receiver and linebacker, the Giants have several players who have proven to be capable of making significant contributions along with some promising rookies looking to create roles for themselves.

For a Giant team riding an NFC-long four season streak of advancing to the playoffs and a championship already in the bank, this mild uncertainty at wide receiver and linebacker passes for a gaping hole.  

Despite an offseason filled with rumors of big-name players replacing Plaxico Burress as the Giants primary threat on the outside, it appears that the Giants will instead look to a talented committee of wideouts both in both the starting lineup and in multiple receiver sets barring an unexpected trade for a veteran.

The Giants need to fill the void left not only by the heralded release of Burress but also by the team's decision not to tender a contract to 13-year veteran Amani Toomer, who only holds every major receiving record in franchise history.

The primary question at wide receiver concerns Domenik Hixon and whether or not he can make the jump from solid contributor to a bona fide No. 1 receiver.

After being picked up off waivers from the Denver Broncos early in the 2007 season, Hixon made an immediate contribution as a kickoff returner in the Giants championship season.

Not content to be typecast as a special teams player, Hixon impressed Giants coaches with his work ethic and performance in the Giants off-season program following the Super Bowl victory and carried that strong performance into training camp.

Hixon easily beat out Sinorice Moss and rookie Mario Manningham for the fourth receiver spot and immediately proved to be a serviceable backup.

In the first extended regular season action of his career at wide receiver, Hixon caught six passes for 89 yards in early-season victories against St. Louis and Cincinnati.

After establishing a role as a contributing backup wide receiver, Hixon was thrust further into the spotlight following the repeated transgressions of the now deposed Plaxico Burress.

In the eight games he started including the playoff loss to Philadelphia, Hixon amassed 34 catches and scored two touchdowns.

While these were very solid numbers for a relatively inexpereinced receiver, Hixon was far from dominant in these starts and the jury is still out on whether he will mature into a top-flight receiver the Giants can build around for years to come. 

Considering the potential Hixon showed while filling in for Burress last year and Tom Coughlin's apparent affinity for Hixon, it is likely he will be given every opportunity to thrive in the top spot until he shows that he is better suited to a secondary receiver/return man roles he manned in his first two seasons in New York. 

Complementing Hixon at wideout is one sure thing and a series of wild cards. In the mold of a Troy Brown or Wayne Chrebet, Steve Smith has proven to be a prototypical slot receiver who consistently performs the most basic function the slot receiver is asked to do: get in the game, catch passes, move the chains.

Just like he did at talent-laden USC, Smith has worked his way past more heralded and physically gifted players to make his presence felt. Smith followed up his heroic performance in the 2007 playoffs that included red zone third down catches that set up the winning touchdowns vs. both Dallas and New England with 57 catches for 574 yards in 2008.

While he has only scored one career touchdown, Smith has proven to be an invaluable target for Eli Manning, especially on third downs, and is the kind of glue guy the Giants will go to great lengths to keep for the next decade.

After Smith, the picture gets murky but not necessarily dark. Rookies Hakeem Nicks and the 6'6'' Ramses Barden are highly touted and physically gifted, and will look to take advantage of the changing of the guard at the position.

Competing for time with the rookies is talented second year man Mario Manningham, who coaches believe is primed for an increased role.

Super Bowl hero David Tyree also returns, and if healthy, will almost certainly merit a roster spot on the basis of his special teams play.

Fourth-year man Sinorice Moss has contributed 33 catches the past two seasons, but has yet to work his way into a consistent role and might be used as trade bait in order to make way for the younger players at the position and stockpile an extra late-round draft pick. 

The Giants power running game and Eli Manning insure that the Giants will have no trouble moving the ball between the 20's.

But, if the Giants are to avoid the red zone breakdowns that filled their playoff loss to Philadelphia, the receivers must collectively improve and develop the same chemistry that was so evident in the Manning to Burress connection.

Throughout their history, perhaps no position has been more identified with the Giants than linebacker.

When he signed with the Giants in 2005, Antonio Pierce made it a point to speak his desire to be a part of the Giant linebacking tradition. He even refused to wear the No. 53 of Giant legend Harry Carson, switching to the No. 58 he currently dons.

However, even as Pierce emerged as the Giants vocal leader during the 2007 championship season, the overall stature of Giant linebackers declined.

While this can be attributed to the rise of the Giants vaunted defensive line and pass rush, it is also true that in recent years the two outside linebackers playing next to Pierce have been filled by solid complementary players, not the stars of yesteryear.

Last season was no exception to this recent trend. While journeyman free agent signee Danny Clark logged 15 starts at strongside linebacker, the weakside was a veritable revolving door.

Chase Blackburn, Gerris Wilkinson, and rookie Bryan Kehl all logged multiple starts at the position. Looking for an upgrade in both overall talent level and stability, the Giants made weakside linebacker a priority in free agency and signed Atlanta's Eric Boley.

With Boley and Pierce firmly entrenched in their positions, new defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan will have several options for the strongside linebacker position.

This includes the incumbent veteran Clark, holdovers Blackburn, Wilkinson, and Kehl, second-year man Jonathan Goff, who missed most of his rookie year with injuries, and second-round draft pick Clint Sintim out of Virginia.

With mainstays Pierce and Boley in the starting lineup and a slew of experienced players competing for time, the training camp competition at linebacker figures to be an intense one.

The Giants have clearly realized that they need to find playmakers at wide receiver and to get younger at linebacker.

With many players they believe are ready to step up at these positions, the Giants are banking on production from more sources at wide receiver and more athleticism at linebacker.

The growth (or lack thereof) of these units could very easily prove to be the difference from a solid, contending season to a championship season.