Giants trade for big receiver (but not Braylon)
Well, the rumors were right. The Giants made a draft-day trade to get a big receiver.
It just wasn’t the guy you were necessarily expecting.
The Giants traded with the Philadelphia Eagles to acquire the 85th overall pick in the draft (the 21st pick of the third round) which they used to select Ramses Barden — a 6-foot-6, 229-pound receiver from Cal-Poly. I told you that even though GM Jerry Reese insisted receiver wasn’t “a glaring need,” the Giants were absolutely determined to walk away from this draft with two wide receivers, and they didn’t take long on Day 2 to get their second man.
To get Barden, the Giants gave up their third-round pick (91st overall) and one of their two fifth-round selections (164th).
Barden ran a 4.68 at the combine, which was slow for a receiver. But he makes up for it with his size, obviously, and scouts say he’s quicker than guys his size usually are. He should be a huge (no pun intended) weapon in the red zone. He’s also a pretty good downfield-blocker. He’s probably the closest match to Plaxico Burress — style and size-wise — the Giants were going to find in this draft.
So, from the way it looks, here is your 2009 Giants wide receiver corps (in no particular order): Steve Smith, Domenik Hixon, Mario Manningham, Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden. If there’s a sixth in the rotation it could be Sinorice Moss. David Tyree still could stick around as a special teams player. But I’m guessing the long-term hope of the Giants is that Nicks, Smith and Barden develop into some form of a 1-2-3.