avatar

Comparing Super Bowl Units: Receivers

by Rich Resch on January 31st, 2012 at 9:00 am

Giants

The trio of Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham may be the best wide receiver corps in the NFL; it is certainly the most talented group this franchise has ever seen. Nicks has been banged up this season, but when healthy, he is a true number one receiver, and his postseason performance has been nothing short of spectacular. Cruz burst onto the scene with his ability to turn short and medium passes into highlight reel touchdowns. Manningham has had a down season, but in many ways is a poor man’s Cruz, and a solid number two in his own right.

Jake Ballard has been a nice surprise, although a knee injury has had him off his game in the playoffs. Bear Pascoe and Travis Beckum have made useful contributions, but if Ballard is not able to find his mid-season form (he had a huge game against the Patriots), the Giants’ tight ends are nothing special.

Patriots

Simply put, Rob Gronkowski is a robot, created to bring pain to opposing defenses and coaches. He blends inhuman size, speed and strength, and I’m pretty sure he can shoot lasers out of his eyes if the situation called for it. Throw in Aaron Hernandez, who may very well be one of the five most talented tight ends in the league, and you have a duo that is almost impossible to defend.

The diminutive Wes Welker is the perfect compliment to these two behemoths, as his quickness and ability to find soft spots in the defense make him one of the most difficult receivers to truly contain. Throw in Deon Branch, a savvy and sure-handed veteran who has the trust of Tom Brady, and you have the hardest group of receivers to defend against in the entire NFL. The only thing missing is a true deep threat, but with how talented the top three receivers are, that’s just nitpicking at this point. In the regular season matchup, Welker, Gronkowski and Hernandez combined for 21 receptions, 272 yards and two touchdowns.

Advantage

If we were just discussing wide receivers, the Giants would have the clear advantage. But in today’s NFL, and specifically in the Year of the Tight End, discussing receivers with no mention of tight ends is like discussing the best television shows and not mentioning Breaking Bad (I’m looking at you, Golden Globes).

All things considered, this is probably the closest call of any of the units. You can’t go wrong either way, and each unit has its own pros and cons. The playmaking ability of Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks means that you are more likely to get a quick score out of the Giants’ group. But the Patriots’ three big weapons are so unique that it is almost impossible to guard all of them.

The one X-factor is obviously Gronkowski’s health, which will remain a question mark until Super Bowl Sunday. If he is at or near full strength, I give the Patriots a small advantage. If he is ineffective, the Giants suddenly have this unit by a pretty wide margin. Since we just don’t know, my rating will assume he is around 75-85% (but Gronkowski at 80% still might be a top-10 receiver), and therefore make this a wash. I hand down a rating of 9.2 to each unit.

Side note: if all of the similarities between this game and Super Bowl 42 weren’t enough already, the fact that this week’s biggest story-line is that an important offensive Patriot player is wearing a walking boot just puts it over the top.

avatar

About Rich Resch

Rich is a graduate of University of Maryland and is currently the senior editor of Giants Football Blog. He is a former contributor to Hot Foot Blog, and a former featured columnist on Bleacher Report. Hear him live on "Giants Rush," Wednesday nights at 9 on Blog Talk Radio. Follow him @RichResch View all posts by Rich Resch →
  • Anonymous

    I’m surprised there’s not more media attention about Ballard’s status. He just hasn’t looked himself since the injury and I’m still not convinced that he’s healthy enough to be the type of contributor he was during the regular season.

  • Reschzoo

    Now if Gronk would just slip off to visit his girl in some foreign land for a few days we’d be complete.
    As for breaking bad, I just want Cruz to be breaking free all evening.

  • Guest

    Are you serious?  Is Gronk good, yes.  Is Welker good, yes.  After that the rest of the receivers are mediocre.  You have Branch, Ocho and Hernandez.  They are not barn burners by any stretch.  You have Nicks, Cruz, Manningham and Ballard.  Pascoe is not to be overlooked either.  He did have a good game against SF and caught one of the TD passes.  Are they close, maybe but I think, for once, the Giants have the better receiving core.

    • Rich Resch

      Hernandez is not mediocre…he’d be the best tight end the Giants have had since Shockey, maybe better. Ballard and Pascoe are not anywhere close.