The New York Giants’ wide receiver room is currently a collection of what-ifs, unproven youngish guys, and veteran journeymen fighting for a concrete role. With Malik Nabers still recovering from ACL surgery and the rest of the depth chart wide open, anyone with a little bit of juice can shake up the depth chart.
Enter sophomore wideout Beaux Collins, who became a total afterthought after a neck injury followed by a late-December concussion wiped out the final half of his rookie season. He came onto the scene last offseason and is doing his best to stick around for Round 2.
Instead of getting buried in the mud of the 90-man offseason roster, the former undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame used the very first day of OTAs to remind his new coaching staff exactly what he can bring to the table. Collins quietly became the common denominator for the most electric highlights of OTAs Day 1.
The 23-year-old's tour de force immediately caught the eye of Giants.com's John Schmeelk, who unintentionally singled out Collins' impressive afternoon in his post-practice notebook:
"The best throw of practice came from Jameis Winston, who put a perfect pass on a deep out to Beaux Collins in the hole between the safety and cornerback towards the sideline.
Dart also had an excellent throw over the middle on a skinny post to Collins. The second-year quarterback threw a number of back-shoulder passes throughout practice as he builds chemistry with his new wide receivers."
Beaux Collins isn’t going quietly in the Giants’ wide receiver battle
I don't know about you, but while the quarterback talk is always awesome to see, Collins being on the receiving end of "the best throw of the day" and another "excellent throw" has to account for something.
It takes two to make an explosive play downfield, and Collins serving as the guy for both of those highlighted moments shows that he's not going to give up his roster spot to anyone without a fight... including a fellow Fighting Irishman.
General manager Joe Schoen and head coach John Harbaugh made a major statement during the NFL Draft by trading up into the third round to select Notre Dame WR Malachi Fields at No. 74.
The 6-foot-4, 220-pound wideout transferred to South Bend to essentially replace Collins after the latter went undrafted the year prior. He was then taken in the third round to basically replace Collins again, this time more literally at the pro level -- the rookie even added fuel to the fire on Tuesday by flashing his own sky-high potential, making an unruly catch from Dart, himself.
But not so fast, my friends.
While Fields possesses the massive frame the G-Men haven't truly had since Plaxico Burress, Collins is a big-bodied receiver himself. At 6-foot-3 and 206 pounds, he gives the G-Men another perimeter target to counterbalance the smaller-bodied receivers on the roster and another special teams ace for Harbs.
The battle for the backend of the receiver room couldn't be more open if it tried, and Tuesday proved Collins has his gloves on. If he keeps stacking days like this, he's going to force his way into the conversation. Collins just reminded everyone that he might be the real hidden gem of the offseason.
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