Late last week, Giants quarterback Eli Manning took a pro-Braylon Edwards stance as his team looks to fill the role vacated by the recently-released Plaxico Burress. And with the NFL draft four days away, one of his teammates is jumping aboard the “who’s going to catch the ball” bandwagon. Enter defensive lineman Justin Tuck:
“He can lock down one side of the field when he’s playing his best football,” said [Justin] Tuck. “He has the same kind of factor that Plaxico (Burress) has, a big strong receiver who can down the field in a hurry and stretch a defense, which has the ability to open up our running game.”
Tuck claims that he actually spoke with Edwards three weeks ago but did not discuss a potential trade. Right. The Giants lineman also claimed that he and Edwards go “way back” to their days where Notre Dame played Michigan, which makes sense. At least until I read this:
“I know Braylon is not the type of guy, a look-at-me type player. From what I know about him he comes to work every day, he keeps his mouth closed. You don’t hear a lot of things about him off the football field.”
Hmm. Well, perhaps Tuck was too busy with the entire Plaxico Burress saga last season to recall the entire “They hate me because I’m from Michigan” rant from last season. In other news, potential draftee Michael Crabtree recently told Dan Patrick that if he were to run today, his 40-time would be under 4.4 seconds. Recall that Crabtree could not run in the combine due to a foot injury and that many scouts have him pegged as a 4.6-type guy without that top end speed. If you’re in the mood to piece this all together, Edwards ran a 4.5. Even if Crabtree is closer to the 4.6 seconds, would you be willing to sacrifice a tenth of a second for a younger receiver that has quite the highlight real of impressive catches? Couple this with the likely addition of another first-round pick and it’s tough to pass up.
For what it’s worth, Crabtree currently has the highest odds (per Bodog) of being selected with the fifth pick with 3/2. Brian Orakpo is right behind him with 5/2, BJ Raji with 3/1. Eugene Monroe (5/1) and Jeremy Maclin (10/1) bring up the rear.
With that said, stay tuned for more Braylon Edwards fun.
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Tuck on Edwards… [Tom Rock/Newsday]
Crabtree Says he Could Run Under a 4.4 right now [SI.com]



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