40 Days to the Draft: NFC East holes

If Domenik Hixon had caught that bomb from Eli Manning against the Eagles in Week 14, chances are that this discussion wouldn't be happening.

Hixon dropped the pass, though, that came to signify the struggles of the Giants' offense without mercurial wideout Plaxico Burress in the lineup. With the threat of Burress going over or past defensive backs nullified, teams were able to disguise their coverage, push a safety into the box, and stifle the Giants offensively.

Hixon vs. Burress

The Giants were actually better with Domenik Hixon replacing Plaxico Burress.

Player, DVOA, Catch Rate, Yards In Air, YAC
Domenik Hixon (overall), 11.5%, 59%, 13.9, 3.3
Domenik Hixon (w/o Burress), 6.5%, 55%, 14.4, 3.0
Plaxico Burress, 4.9%, 53%, 13.0, 1.9

The only problem? The Giants were actually better with Hixon as the primary "X" receiver than they were with Burress. Hixon's statistics are more impressive than Burress', both over the season as a whole and in the games where he was specifically in Burress' role (Week 5 and then Weeks 12 through 17).

New York's offense was also better with Hixon as the primary receiver than it was with Burress; in the weeks where Hixon was in charge, the team had a pass DVOA of 8.9 percent and a run DVOA of 20.2 percent; with Burress as the "X" receiver, those figures were 3.4 percent and 20.0 percent, respectively. (Football Outsiders' advanced DVOA stats are explained here.)

The Giants are unlikely to commit another draft pick to the receiver spot after spending picks on Sinorice Moss, Steve Smith and Mario Manningham in recent years. They could choose to package several of their early picks in a deal for Anquan Boldin, but as the 2008 season showed, Hixon's got the talent to be the Giants' "X" if they give him the opportunity.