WR Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants

HT: 6-3, WT: 212, Born: 1-14-1988, College: North Carolina, Drafted: Round 1, Pick 29

2013 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of May 6th. [Full ADP list]

Overall: J Nelson (46), M Colston (47), Hakeem Nicks (48), R Wayne (49), J Witten (50)
Position: J Nelson (46-WR16), M Colston (47-WR17), Hakeem Nicks (48 - WR18), R Wayne (49-WR19), D Bowe (54-WR20)
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PPR Average draft position

Current as of May 6th. [Full PPR ADP list]

Overall: M Colston (47), R Wayne (48), Hakeem Nicks (49), R Mathews (50), M Ryan (51)
Position: M Colston (47-WR17), R Wayne (48-WR18), Hakeem Nicks (49 - WR19), E Decker (52-WR20), D Bowe (54-WR21)
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2013 Schedule

2012 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Hakeem Nicks did not have a typical game and he is perhaps hurting still from his injury. Nicks made some catches early in the game, using his physicality and savvy route running to get open but disappeared late in the game and Manning rarely looked to him on third down when a play was needed. Nicks had a nice grab on the back shoulder against the rookie CB, tracking the ball well and catching it before the DB even knew where the ball was. Nicks had then two slant catches against tight coverage, beating his man inside for the pair of first downs. Nicks disappeared from the game after this however and Manning looked to targets like Cruz and Bennett near the redzone. The Giants also remained committed to the run game and Nicks was not given many looks deep down the field. The Cowboys secondary did a good job of sticking close to Nicks and he struggled to gain any separation throughout the game, which may have something to do with the health of Hakeem.

Week 2 - Hakeem Nicks rarely practices but often plays like the superstar WR he is regardless. Nicks was matched up against CB Talib for most of this game and Talib will be glad if he never has to play Nicks again. Nicks completely owned Talib throughout the game, getting the inside release against him and providing huge passing lanes for QB Manning to throw into. Nicks got in front of the defense a lot in this game for big seam routes and slant patterns that TB never figured out how to stop. Nicks also got behind the defense and outran Talib for bigger gains down the field. Nicks was able to score in the second quarter as he got inside of the CB and hauled in the pass from Manning very quickly before sprinting his way into the endzone for the big touchdown. Nicks was able to get into his route very quickly and leave the TB corner in the dust on almost every pass that was thrown his way. Manning relied on him heavily for third down conversions and Nicks had his way with the defense for most of the game.

Week 6 - Hakeem Nicks looked slower than normal and was clearly still hobbled as he was returning from his injury that had kept him out. Regardless, it’s a good sign to see him playing again and he still managed to make some catches despite being heavily impeded by his knee injury. Nicks had a shot deep early in the game but the pass was overthrown and Nicks couldn’t run quite as fast as normal. Nicks still looked decent while running routes and got enough separation for a deep out pass play against his DB. Manning later gave WR Nicks a shot at a jump ball down the sideline, which Nicks was able to haul in as he jumped up for the ball. Nicks did have one drop on short pass in the flat but looked like his normal self on the field besides the reduction on speed as his knee returns to normal.

Week 7 - Hakeem Nicks still looks slightly hobbled by his injury to his knee but managed to play through it and get decent production considering his situation. Nicks is playing slower as a result of his injury but the other components of his game as a player are all still alive and well. Nicks is not as fast but still displayed great hands, jumping athletic ability and a tough physicality downfield that he has not lost. Nicks started the game off with a great grab on the sideline, staying in bounds to secure it. Nicks was unlucky not to score on his next catch in the redzone, getting taken down just shy of the goal line for the touchdown which was subsequently scored by RB Brown. Nicks then hauled in a tough catch on post route with tight coverage down the field but his excellent chemistry with Manning showed as the ball was thrown perfectly. Nicks was not able to get a lot of separation due to his injury but still excelled at fighting for the ball and simply relied on his other talents to be productive. He also had another catch negated by a penalty but it would not have altered his fantasy day muc

Week 8 - Hakeem Nicks had a tough task on Sunday night. Nicks is still slowed by his knee injury and his speed has not fully returned. Rookie CB Claiborne and veteran CB Carr had good success shutting him down in the passing game for the most part. Nicks faced tight man to man coverage and found it difficult to shake his man without his normal speed as a weapon. Nicks caught 4 passes, mostly for short gains on stop/out/slant routes for short-moderate gains. Nicks also had a drop late in the game on a comeback route for ~12 yards if he had made the catch. Nicks got most of his yards on a big pass play down the middle on a seam route. Nicks got inside of his man, found the open spot in the zone defense and hooked up with QB Manning for a big chunk of almost 30 yards. Nicks and the entire Giants offense struggled to unlock the Dallas defense for most of the game. The Cowboys played 2 man press defense for a lot of the game, keeping two safeties deep to prevent big plays and challenging the NYG receivers to beat man to man coverage. Nicks is still not the #1 threat we have seen in the past with his injury but credit must be given to Dallas who recognised how to shut down the NYG passing attack with their coverage scheme. Nicks was generally not able to shake defenders at the line of scrimmage and always had a defender very close to him, even on his catches when he got open.

Week 9 - Hakeem Nicks looked to have gotten some more of his speed back early in the game but never made a mark on this game and the Steelers made him irrelevant on Sunday. Nicks used his speed to get deep and a Steelers DB got flagged for pass interference as a result. Apart from this big penalty, Nicks had a very quiet day. The Giants had very little possession as the Steelers controlled the ball for most of the game. The Giants were leading in this game and thus stuck with the lacklustre running game which also hurt the production of Nicks. It’s possible that Nicks’ knee began to bother him after the first quarter but it would not have likely made a difference. The Giants couldn’t move the ball, got very few first downs and were rarely in the endzone. The Giants ran the ball a lot in the redzone also, which took away more chances for Nicks. The Giants are in a funk offensively and a lot of the blame deserves to go towards the coaches and QB Manning. Nicks didn’t get a lot of targets as the Giants were punting and going 3 and out too often. Credit must be given to Pittsburgh who confused Manning, forced him to go through his reads and change his mind while not giving up the big play.

Week 10 - Hakeem Nicks was the only somewhat bright spot for the Giants on Sunday. The Giants and QB Manning were determined to get him the ball early and often. Nicks and Manning had decent chemistry and this connection was the only sign of life for the offense. Nicks was used mostly on short, underneath patterns that tried to take advantage of soft zone coverage defense. On many plays, Manning would throw Nicks the ball straight away to try and take advantage of zone off coverage play by the CIN DB. Nicks mostly caught short plays and was targeted on third down a lot but the Giants were constantly stuck in third and long situations. Nicks caught several passes on third down but they were thrown so far behind the 1st down marker that the Giants still had to punt. The Bengals eventually realised how the Giants were using Nicks and played press man coverage to take away the short routes which hurt Nicks’ effectiveness. The Giants offense has been disorganised and lacklustre for 2 weeks in a row now and changes need to be made to restore the once functioning unit. Nicks has been playing well despite his injury and has potential to produce big games for his team if he gets better support from the team surrounding him.

Week 12 - Hakeem Nicks was the main guy for QB Manning on Sunday night. Nicks started off the game with a nice grab on backshoulder route against tight man coverage. Nicks was then open on a streak pattern down the field but the pass was underthrown and almost picked off. Nicks got some nice grabs on corner/fade patterns against man coverage as he was able to take advantage of the situation with his athletic ability and speed. Nicks had a very impressive touchdown in the redzone. Nicks caught a short pass, made one man miss before being tackled short but just outstretching his long arm over the goal line for the touchdown. The play was reviewed and upheld. Nicks was almost not needed in the second half as the Giants had built a commanding lead that required only mild nursing to ensure victory. The Giants also displayed strong commitment to the running game throughout which helped take pressure off the passing game.

Week 13 - Nicks had an off night against a Redskins pass defense that was uncharacteristically stout, often playing him in press coverage or bracketing him with a safety and a cornerback. Additionally, it appeared that the smorgasbord of injuries Nicks continues to pile up are affecting his ability to get separation, as coverage he could normally beat blanketed him. Leading all Giants receivers in targets with twelve, the third-year receiver came up with five catches for forty-three yards, including a long reception of sixteen yards on a slant pattern. There was a definite lack of synchronicity between Nicks and quarterback Eli Manning, who forced the ball to Nicks in press coverage, or overthrew his big receiver a few times, including once close to the end zone. The two were not as much on the same page as Manning was with Martellus Bennett or Victor Cruz. Manning clearly trusts Nicks above his other weapons in the passing game, which is reassuring to both Giants fans and fantasy owners. Nicks also sustained a nose injury late in the second quarter that he played through for the rest of the game, only missing a few snaps right after the injury.

Week 14 - Hakeem Nicks played a very solid game for NYG on Sunday. Nicks has been slowly regaining his speed every week as he rarely practices but almost always plays on gameday. Nicks’ first contribution came as he beat his defender on a slant which forced the DB to foul Nicks for the pass interference penalty. Nicks then showed toughness on a tightly contested slant route, catching the ball cleanly as he used his big body to shield the ball away from the defender. Nicks was able to haul in a big pass down the left sideline late in the game but the catch was negated by pass interference penalties on himself and the DB, which offset and the down was repeated. Nicks showed a lot of speed on short curl routes/routes over the middle as defenders played backed off and he turned several short catches into first downs with a lot of yards after the catch. Nicks biggest play came on a perfectly thrown ball from Manning on a streak pattern. Nicks got a step ahead of his defender down the sideline and easily caught the ball in stride for the touchdown. Nicks was not depended upon as Cruz/Bennett/Hixon and the running game all contributed but we saw more of him this week then in previous games and his speed looks to have returned.

Week 15 - Hakeem Nicks was given little opportunity to perform on Sunday as the Giants had an epic collapse on offense across the board. Nicks did not look in rhythm with QB Manning and the entire offense struggled to maintain possession of the ball. Nicks’ production took a big hit as his QB struggled with his accuracy and ball placement. Early in the game, Nicks was open on a streak pattern down the field but QB Manning overthrew the pass by too much and it fell incomplete. Nicks made some plays for his team however. Nicks showed his athletic ability by hauling in a slant pattern and then exploding down the field for an excellent run after catch but this was the highlight of his day unfortunately for Nicks owners. Nicks caught some short passes on comebacks against soft zone coverage but could never come close to scoring a touchdown. The Giants kept making mistakes and never gave their playmakers, like Nicks, a chance to score against Atlanta.

Week 16 - Hakeem Nicks was completely shutout by the Ravens on Sunday and there may be more to his injury situation than the NYG are telling. The Giants offense has been stagnant for two straight weeks and there has been subpar pass protection for his QB but Nicks does not look like the same player who at times dominated defenses. Nicks could not win against press man and failed to make plays on short slant routes. Nicks also had a shot at a back shoulder fade pass but he dropped the ball despite being open. Nicks was not targeted often by Manning and the running game took no pressure off the passing attack.