E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer
for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he is one of
only four sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls.
Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

AFTER THE FIRST TWO ROUNDS – GIANTS ADD NICKS, SINTIM, BEATTY

By DAVE KLEIN
No, he’s not Plaxico Burress, and both general manager Jerry Reese and head coach Tom Coughlin were quick to point that out.

He is Hakeem Nicks, a wide receiver who played at the University of North Carolina, and he was the Giants’ first round draft pick Saturday night, the 29th player selected.

With two picks in the second round, the Giants filled other needs by claiming Virginia linebacker Clint Sintim with the 45th overall selection and used their extra second round pick (60th overall) to take offensive tackle William Beatty (6-6, 307) of the University of Connecticut. Sintim represented the choice the Giants acquired in the trade of tight end Jeremy Shockey last summer.

Sintim is 6-2.6 and 255, perhaps best used as a pass rushing linebacker who needs considerable work on run stopping and pass coverage. But he is athletic and according to two scouting service representatives, he will develop into a starting linebacker within a year. “He has the tools and now he has to learn how to use them,” one of the men said. “It was a good pick for a team that doesn’t have to fill any particular position immediately.” He is, however, far more of an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defensive alignment, which the Giants don’t play and have no plans of playing except in specific and isolated instances. Sintim played for former Giants’ offensive coordinator Al Groh, now the Virginia head coach.

But back to the first round selection. Reports of various trades involving veteran wide receivers kept coming, but none materialized. The most powerful rumor was that the Giants and Cleveland Browns had finally agreed on the terms for a proposed trade of wide receiver Braylon Edwards. The latest report was that the Giants were going to give up the first of their two second round picks and a fourth, plus a conditional choice in 2010.

“Nothing to it,” said Reese. “We didn’t come close to any trade.”

Nicks is 6-0.6 and weighs 210 pounds. “He has big hands, long arms and is very productive,” said Reese. “He is a very good player and we feel good about him as a wide receiver. He has good hands and ball skills and we expect him to come in and compete for a job right away. He’ll go into the mix and when you look at him, he has an Anquan Boldin body type.” Boldin is the other veteran about whom rumors circulated that he was going to be moved from Arizona to the Giants … or the Eagles … or the Ravens. So far, no movement at all.

Nicks is 21 and “tweaked” a hamstring at the combine last February, which apparently resulted in a weight gain that seemed to have moved him down in the first round. As a senior he caught 68 passes for 1,222 yards and a dozen touchdowns, averaging 18 yards per catch and 94 receiving yards per game.

Reese said the Giants had four names up for consideration when they made their pick, “and they all had very similar grades,” he added. So in his meet-the-press Q&A session 10 days ago, when he said that the selection would involve the best available athlete and not by position need, he danced just a little. “He was a value pick and a need pick,” he said. “It was a combination.”

Uh-huh.

“We are very pleased with Hakeem considering the position we were in,” said Coughlin, referring to the 29th spot in the round. “I am excited about this opportunity. But let’s let him be who he is. He is not Plaxico, and he doesn’t have to do anything spectacular right away.”

When reached at his home in Charlotte, N.C., Nicks expressed pleasure at what he viewed as his great good fortune. “It’s like a dream come true,” he said. “I’m at full go now, the hamstring is fine. I can’t wait to get to the team and learn my role. I’m Hakeem Nicks. I’m a great physical receiver with a motor that doesn’t stop and my coach has compared me to [former Dallas star] Michael Irvin.”

The coach should know. He’s Butch Davis, who spent considerable time in the NFL.

Then somebody asked Nicks what he thought of the Giants’ head coach after speaking with him. “He seems like a pretty cool coach,” he said. Clearly, he has a lot to learn.

Nicks’ best game as a collegian came in his final game as a collegian, the Meineke Car Care Bowl against West Virginia. He caught eight passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns. “He plays big,” said Reese, and obviously he makes big plays. But for a rookie wide receiver in the NFL, the learning curve can be tedious and arduous and few of them make a splash immediately.

And keep in mind that he isn’t Plaxico Burress.

A native of North Carolina, James Campbell, got word to E-GIANTS through a subscriber that he was “extremely upset.” Campbell is a Washington Redskins’ fan and he said: “Damn, now I have to watch Nicks drive my guys crazy twice every season.”

Sintim was reached at what sounded like a frat party, and in that respect he sounded as if he was having a party kind of night. “This is a great opportunity,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect, but I thought maybe my best shot to go in the first round was if the Giants took me. They did, but not until the second round.”

Sintim simply wants to work hard. “I’ll show up with my hard hat every day,” he said. “This is different. This is playing with grown men [and against them] every day. The Giants told me when I visited with them about two weeks ago that I would play the SAM [strongside] linebacker position, and that’s fine. It’s similar to what I played here at Virginia. I’m used to playing ‘on top’ of the tight end. I’m ready.”

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- Team Giants

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