Should Saquon Barkley have been ranked higher than Hakeem Nicks on Giants Top 100
With the theme of the upcoming 2024 season for the NY Giants being the celebration of the 100th season, fans of the team were in an uproar over the announcement of the best 100 Giants players list that began this summer.
What had the Giants fanbase angry was the placement of two former players. At No. 97 was Super Bowl-winning wide receiver Hakeem Nicks. Meanwhile at No. 95 is former Giant, now Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. Some people were angry over Barkley being on the list in general because of his departure from the franchise, which is also being shown on HBO’s Hard Knocks: Offseason. However, the anger was that Nicks was ranked lower than Barkley, even with it being just two spots.
Barkley and Nicks were both included, so NY is recognizing that in the 100 years of the team, both players had importance, despite being on the low end of the list. Nicks had two tenures on the Giants, with his first one starting from 2009 until 2013. After a year away and leaving as a free agent, Nicks returned to the Giants in 2015 mid-season. During his first tenure, Nicks was a major reason why the Giants won Super Bowl 46 and most fans remember his playoff run that led to that Super Bowl.
The 444 yards and four touchdowns were a big part of the run. His six-catch, 115-yard and two touchdown game against the Atlanta Falcons set the tone for that playoff run. Nicks followed it up with a seven-catch, 165-yard and two touchdown performance against the Green Bay Packers that really put the league on notice. Nicks also had 10 catches for 109 yards in the 21-17 Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots and cemented his legacy in Giants postseason history.
However, after a game in Week 2 of the 2012 season where Nicks had 10 catches for 199 yards and a touchdown in a victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Nicks wasn’t the same player, as the injuries began to take their toll on his body. That was the last 100-yard game of the season for Nicks and in 2013, Nicks not only didn’t reach 1,000 yards, but he didn’t even score a single touchdown. Nicks departed as a free agent to the Indianapolis Colts and his regression as a player continued, even with a quarterback like Andrew Luck.
In 2015, Nicks returned to the Giants in the middle of the season, but even with reuniting with Eli Manning, Nicks wasn’t the same receiver we all once saw hoist up the Lombardi Trophy. In the six games he was active for, Nicks had just seven catches for 54 yards and no touchdowns.
During his playing career, Nicks only had two 1,000-plus yard seasons and one year with double-digit touchdown catches. But, the playoff performance of the 2011 season is what many remember and why Nicks is still a beloved figure amongst the Giants fanbase. However, because his career didn’t have the kind of longevity that most were hopeful of when he was selected as a first-round pick back in 2009, Nicks isn’t as high on the list like some thought he should be.
