The Giants have lost WR/PR/KR Domenik Hixon for the season as he tore his ACL at OTAs yesterday.  This is a huge blow to the Giants offense and special teams.  Hixon played in 14 games (2 starts) for the Giants last season in which he caught 15 passes for 187 yards (12.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He also returned 17 punts for 256 yards (15.1 avg) with 1 TD return and he also returned 57 kickoffs for 1,291 yards (22.6 avg).  It could take as many as three players to replace what Hixon can do.  Not only that but he’s a darn good football player.

The Giants are going to be pounding teams on the ground once again in 2010.  27-year old Brandon Jacobs is a monster as he loves running over defensive players.  He sometimes winds up hurting himself in the process but it’s hard to get a tiger to change his stripes.  Jacobs played in 15 games (all starts) for the Giants last season in which he carried the ball 224 times for 835 yards (3.7 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  He also caught 18 passes for 184 yards (10.2 avg) with 1 TD grab last year.  Jacobs has now played in 70 games (37 starts) in his five years with the Giants in which he has carried the ball 779 times for 3,455 yards (4.4 ypc) with 40 TD runs.  He has also caught 58 passes for 543 yards (9.4 avg) with 3 TD grabs in his career.  Jacobs will handle the heavy lifting in the running game for the Giants.

24-year old Ahmad Bradshaw graduated up to the #2 spot at RB for the Giants last season and he was outstanding despite playing hurt most of the year.  Bradshaw played in 15 games (1 start) for the Giants last season in which he carried the ball 163 times for 778 yards (4.8 ypc) with 7 TD runs.  He also caught 21 passes for 207 yards (9.9 avg) last season.  Bradshaw is a very elusive running back but he doesn’t shy away from contact either.  He has now played in 42 games (1 start) in his three years with the Giants and he has carried the ball 253 times for 1,323 yards (5.2 ypc) with 9 TD runs.  He has also caught 28 passes for 261 yards (9.3 avg) with 1 TD grab in his career.  The best is yet to come out of Bradshaw as last season was just a preview of things to come.

25-year old Danny Ware is the #3 RB for the Giants.  He played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Giants last season in which he carried the ball 13 times for 73 yards (5.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Ware also caught his first three passes of his NFL career good for 15 yards (5.0 avg).  Ware has now played in 15 games (0 starts) in his three years with the Giants in which he has carried the ball 15 times for 88 yards (5.9 ypc) with 1 TD carry.  Ware would likely share the load with Jacobs or Bradshaw if one of them went down to injury.

23-year old Gartrell Johnson was claimed off waivers from the Chargers before last season started.  Johnson played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Giants last season as a rookie and he carried the ball 13 times for 43 yards (3.3 ypc).  He has a nice little upside but he’s buried on the depth chart for right now.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE GIANTS RBs in 2010:  A

29-year old Eli Manning just doesn’t miss games and that’s one of the biggest reasons that he’s a big asset for the Giants.  Despite having a great year throwing the ball last season the Giants would like to get back to the ball control type of offense they were when the won the Super Bowl.  For that to happen the defense is going to have to improve as Manning was often operating from behind on the scoreboard.  Manning played in all 16 games for the Giants last year and he completed 317 of 509 passes (62.3%) for 4,021 yards with 27 TD passes and 14 INTs (93.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 17 times for 65 yards (3.8 ypc) last season.  Manning has now played in 89 games in his NFL career and he has completed 1,593 of 2,793 passes (57%) for 18,644 yards with 125 TD passes and 88 INTs (79.2 QB Rating).  Manning has also carried the ball 126 times for 280 yards (2.2 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his career.  Manning has led the Giants to a 50-37 (57.5%) record in games that he has started during the regular season.  Look for Manning to continue playing well as he seems to have learned a lot from mistakes that he made earlier in his career.

29-year old Jim Sorgi has signed on to back up Eli Manning after having the same job the last few years backing up his brother Peyton in Indy.  Sorgi played in 1 game for the Colts last season but he didn’t throw a pass.  Sorgi has now played in 16 games in his NFL career and he has completed 99 of 156 passes (63.5%) for 929 yards with 6 TD passes and 1 INT (89.9 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 31 times for 0 yards (0.0 ypc).  The Giants would be in deep trouble if Sorgi had to start because he has a pretty weak throwing arm, plus, he has never started a game in his NFL career yet.

24-year old Rhett Bomar will likely hang on as the Giants’ #3 QB again in 2010 but don’t expect much out of him.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE GIANTS QBs in 2010:  B