Nicks (1 Viewer)

I was sifting through this year's red zone and goal line data to see what kind of looks my players were getting inside the 20 & 15, etc., and I was a little surprised when I looked at Nicks' numbers.

In the three games that Nicks' has played, he's received 3 targets inside the red zone. That's in line with last year's totals when he was targeted 15 times in the red zone.

But it's worth noting that all of Nicks' targets this year have come outside the opponents' 16 yard line. Nicks' currently has zero targets inside the 15 yard line, while Cruz has received 5, Bennett 3, and Hixon 2 in the games Nicks has played. (Last year Nicks tied for the team lead with 10 targets inside the 15.)

Granted, Nicks only appeared to perform near 100% in the 2nd game and he's only played in three games--so it's too early to draw any big conclusions--but at this point the fact that the Giants haven't targeted Nicks once near the goal line in the three games he has played is just another reason for Nicks owners to be somewhat concerned and to expect less than top 20 results going forward.

I hate to say it, but until Nicks starts getting more looks near the goal line, I don't feel comfortable starting him. At this point, I'm going to go with Denarius Moore until Nicks proves me wrong. (Hopefully Nicks does it soon, because my team is sinking fast...)

Nicks has been hurt pretty much all year. I don't think you can draw any valid conclusions from the data until we see him play healthy.

Of course, if he never gets healthy, then he sucks anyway.

Looking at passing plays from inside the 15 from weeks 1, 2, and 6, this is what I see:

Cruz - 4 inc passes, 1 td (6 yards)

Hixon - 2 inc

Bennett - 2 inc, 1 td (9 yards)

Beatty - 1 inc

If you want to look at passing plays inside the 5:

Cruz - 2 inc

Hixon - 1 inc

Beatty - 1 inc

Notes: I don't know who was in on those plays, and I don't know if there were any pass attempts to Nicks that were nullified by penalties.

Your worries come 3 games played. He was coming off of 3 weeks missed vs a good defensive team. Expect better production going forward.

'Andrew said:

Looking at passing plays from inside the 15 from weeks 1, 2, and 4, this is what I see:Cruz - 4 inc passes, 1 td (6 yards)Hixon - 2 incBennett - 2 inc, 1 td (9 yards)Beatty - 1 incIf you want to look at passing plays inside the 5:Cruz - 2 incHixon - 1 incBeatty - 1 incNotes: I don't know who was in on those plays, and I don't know if there were any pass attempts to Nicks that were nullified by penalties.

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Nicks played week 6, not week 4... But over games 1, 2, & 6, the numbers look pretty similar: the Giants are not completing a lot of passes near the goal line. Best case scenario for Nicks owners: Manning starts looking more to Nicks since he's struggling to connect with the other guys.

'Maven said:

Your worries come 3 games played. He was coming off of 3 weeks missed vs a good defensive team. Expect better production going forward.

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Three games aren't a lot, I know. But there's no reason to ignore the early returns, especially since one of those games included Nicks' 15 target performance in which Manning threw 11 times inside the 20 and 4 times inside the 15... I hope Nicks turns it around. I really do. But at the moment he's slipped down to my bench until I see something different.

Give him a chance. Yesterday wasn't a good matchup and his first game back in a few weeks. We saw what he did against Tampa. He is going to have big weeks.

'strong said:

Nicks played week 6, not week 4... But over games 1, 2, & 6, the numbers look pretty similar: the Giants are not completing a lot of passes near the goal line. Best case scenario for Nicks owners: Manning starts looking more to Nicks since he's struggling to connect with the other guys.

Click to expand...

Ah, you're right. I actually used the right data, just mistyped in the post. Edited it for clarity.Andrew