While Domenik Hixon is listed as the starting wide receiver for the Giants opposite Steve Smith, that spot doesn’t figure to be his for long.

With Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham waiting in the wings, Hixon, a fourth round choice for Denver in 2006, will have a tough time hanging on to his starting role.

Hixon’s stand out game came against Seattle last season. He had 102 receiving yards, and 8 catches. He also had a touchdown in the game. However Seattle wasn’t a very good football team.

His play was mixed, however, during the rest of the year. Who can forget the pass he missed when he was wide open against the Eagles? Hixon has admitted that he needs to put previous plays behind him and concentrate on the current play at hand.

I believe Nicks or Manningham will get the starting nod over Hixon when the Giants play the Redskins in their opener. I see Hixon as more of a third wide receiver. He’s got the speed, but he doesn’t seem to have the concentration, or the body type to be a number one guy.

As far as Ramses Barden; he’s the wild card. I can see him helping in the red zone and some passing situations, but unless he learns the system quickly, it will take him time to step onto the field.

If the Giants were so happy with Hixon at the receiver position, why did they draft Nicks, and Barden, not to mention Travis Beckum, who appears to be in Big Blue’s plans this season?

Hixon is a good player, but I’d rather see him as a third wide receiver and a return specialist. Let’s give the other guys a chance.

Last season Eli Manning had two starting WRs well over 6ft. Plaxico Burress was 6-5 and Amani Toomer was 6-3.

This year he has Domenik Hixon who is 6-2 slated to start on one side, and the 5-11 Steve Smith on the other. Sinorice Moss who is set to play in the slot is only 5-8.

Eli Manning says there are some things he can’t do as easily with this group of receivers that he could with last year’s crop,

“Naturally, you just see them and you have to put it in a spot,” Manning said. “Some throws we threw to Plaxico, we might not be able to throw to these guys — some back-shoulder, high balls.”

On the other hand, some different throws should open up for Manning. He explains,

“But these guys will be able to run by some guys and get deep on them. So what you lose in something, you gain somewhere else.”

Hixon, Moss, and Mario Manningham can fly, but Hakeem Nicks, and Smith don’t have that kind of speed. What they can do is run nifty routes, and hang onto the ball.

It appears the Giants have a good mix at the wide receiver position. Don’t forget about Ramses Barden, who is 6-6 and should see some playing time this season, especially in the red zone.

So what can we expect from Manning and his new look receivers this year?

I think we will see them take more shots down the field. The reason being so they can keep opposing team’s safeties out of the box to open up the running game. Big Blue will look to use play action to hit medium and short range throws.

Manning went on to say,

“Some of the receivers might be a little smaller than what we’ve had in the past, but they have a lot more speed,” Manning said. “They can get deep on the corner backs and get over the top of them. That’s exciting. That kind of takes a lot of the reads out of things.

“You just say, ‘You’ve got a go-route. Let’s go win. Let’s go back to a little backstreet football and let’s see if we’re better than the other guys.’”

There will be an offensive challenge for the Giants this year, but they do have the talent at the wide receiver position. Also they have training camp and the preseason to work out the kinks.

Of course all that doesn’t matter until September.

“We create objectives, we create goals and we work towards accomplishing those things.  Just like in anything else, perfection.  But you know you are human, but let’s keep that as our goal regardless of that fact.  So we have had an outstanding off-season program.  The attitude has been really good for all of the OTA’s, for the work here in the mini camp.  The attitude has been great.”

“It is a longer stretch than normal for us.  I gave them some notes about the number of practices up there and how it is reduced.  Let’s face it; we don’t get the same number because we play the Monday night game.  So we have to make things count when we get them.  I wished them and their families, “God bless them for the summer.”  But they need to think long and hard about the disappointment of January in terms of what we have created for ourselves and how badly we want to prioritize our 2009 season.”

Other thoughts:

• Sinorice Moss looked great in camp before tweaking his hammy. Let’s hope he’s at full speed for training camp.
• It looks like the Giants are going to attempt to have a deep passing attack this season. Domenik Hixon is looking to improve off of last season where reports are that injuries slowed him down near the end of the year.
• Kenny Phillips looks stronger due to putting on some muscle in the past few months. Look for him to have a big season.
• Patricia Traina notes that the Giants defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan appears to be adding some new wrinkles. Patricia  wrote that the defense looks more aggressive, and is disguising more pressure packages. Look for more safety blitzes.
• Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden didn’t look out of place this spring, and I hope they make an impact this season.

They are both represented by the same agent, and have become friends, with Diehl becoming a mentor to the rookie Nicks.