National Football League

Is Plax better fit with Jets or Giants?

Published Jun. 11, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Will Plaxico Burress consider signing with the New York Jets or re-signing with the New York Giants? Would Randy Moss be a good fit with the Jets?

Can new Houston Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips make an impact in his first season?

Is Colt McCoy the answer at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns? What do they need to do in order to get to the playoffs?

We’re tracking those issues and more in the fifth installment of the post-draft email bag. (You can send your questions on Twitter @caplannfl or to caplannfl@gmail.com).

BURRESS TO THE GIANTS OR JETS? MOSS TO THE JETS?

Question: I hope you take the time to read this as I know you get bombed with questions. Don't you think the Giants would be more interested in re-signing Plaxico Burress since they lost him in 2008? They have yet to win a playoff game or make the playoffs since then. Consider that Steve Smith will be out half the season and that Domenik Hixon will not be signed due to the kick return rule and his injury to his knee.

The Giants' issues the last two years seem to have been the wide receivers tipping the ball in the air. Eli Manning was throwing perfect passes, but the receivers kept blowing them. The Eagles have great depth at receiver, so why would he go there? I would think the Giants would at least consider re-signing Plaxico considering their issues at receiver seem far from over.

And what about Rex Ryan with two or three receivers becoming free agents? They’re likely to retain Santonio Holmes and see Braylon Edwards and Brad Smith leave. The Jets showed last year they will sign anybody, even arch rival players. Mark Sanchez could benefit from having a tall receiver to take Edwards’ place. The talk is that Randy Moss might fill that role, but I could see Burress fitting into the Jets’ playbook. – Kevin K.

Answer: Kevin, just to get a few things out of the way; Hixon re-signed before the transaction freeze back in March. And with Smith, while he still has a long road ahead, there’s been no indication he won’t be ready to start the season. He’s also not signed for this season.

Let’s start with the Giants. If Smith re-signs, I think the chances of Burress coming back would be remote at best. And even if he doesn’t, the Giants have two very talented receivers already on the roster in Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham. Rookie Jerrel Jernigan figures to take over the slot role if the Giants aren’t able to re-sign Smith. And the Giants would like to develop big receiver Ramses Barden, who was selected in the third round of the 2009 draft. The bottom line is I don’t see Burress re-signing with the Giants.

With the Jets, I can see Burress fit, to a degree.

The team only has three wide receivers under contract for 2011, and only one of them – Jerricho Cotchery – was in the rotation last season. The Jets obviously need to re-sign either Holmes or Edwards and would also have to add at least two more receivers for depth and competition. Brad Smith only caught four passes last season, so he would only be a factor as a kick returner if he comes back for his sixth season with the team.

My sense is they would mostly focus on re-signing just Holmes based on his talent, upside and speed. Edwards, who is about a year older than Holmes, has been a bit inconsistent during his two seasons with the Jets. If Holmes re-signs, but not Edwards, the Jets would probably need to add a taller receiver to the mix – that’s where Burress or Moss would come into play. But depending on Burress, who hasn’t played since the 2008 season, to become a big factor this season would be a bit risky. But he would give them a bit more of a physical presence than Moss, who is more of just a deep threat at this point in his career.

HOW MUCH OF AN IMPACT WILL WADE PHILLIPS HAVE WITH THE TEXANS?

Question: Do you believe that with the addition of Wade Phillips and a quicker, slimmer (275-280 lbs) Mario Williams, that the Texans could be a top-15 defense? --Darnell R.

Answer: Darnell, while I think the addition of Phillips as defensive coordinator is a great move, the ongoing lockout of the players is a big problem when it comes to the defensive side of the ball.

Phillips will be transitioning the defensive scheme from a 4-3 to a 3-4, which I think will be very difficult to implement the longer the lockout goes on. And keep in mind the Texans spent their first five draft picks on defensive players, and those players have not even had one practice yet.

Under normal conditions, I think Phillips would have a much greater impact in his first season. However, over time he’s going to have an impact – it’s just a matter of how soon.

As for Williams, the move from end to outside linebacker is going to be interesting. For a player of his size (6-7, 290), Williams has tremendous movement skills, and as you noted, he’s lost some weight. I’ll also be interested to see what his weight is once training camp starts, and his positional move will allow rookie J.J. Watt to likely start in his previous spot at defensive end.

What I want to see is how much of an impact Williams, Connor Barwin and rookie Brooks Reed can make as pass rushers at outside linebacker. The impact of those three pass rushers will be paramount to the success of the much-maligned secondary.

IS McCOY THE ANSWER IN CLEVELAND?

Question: Big Browns fan here. Will Colt McCoy lead us to the playoffs? -- Fran L.

Answer: Fran, when the Browns selected McCoy, I wrote that they'd have to transition to a West Coast offensive scheme if he was going to have a chance to be their long-term answer at quarterback, and that’s the scheme they’ll be transitioning to this season.

For being thrown in there probably before he was truly ready to play, I thought McCoy did a nice job last season. It'll be interesting to see how he progresses, but I think late last season his lack of ideal arm strength got exposed. That’s something that actually can be improved upon over time (see Drew Brees and Tom Brady for example), but it’s not easy to do.

To help get the team and McCoy to the next level, they need to keep building around him. The addition of wide receiver Greg Little should help over time, but keep in mind he’s a bit raw as a prospect. Little has a tremendous upside, but he'll also need time to develop his skills. They also need to add more depth at wide receiver.

And a strong running game would help McCoy. While FB Peyton Hillis wound up being one of the biggest surprises in the NFL last season as a runner, they drafted Montario Hardesty in '10 to be the starting running back. It remains to be seen if Hardesty, who missed the entire season due to a torn ACL, can become the main ball carrier this season.

But the biggest issues to solve are on the defensive side of the ball. I really like the addition of first-round pick Phil Taylor, but the Browns really don’t have many impact players on defense. General manager Tom Heckert, who has a sharp eye for talent, has to continue to add more talent on defense if the Browns are to become a playoff team in the near future.

WHAT HAPPENED TO PAT DEVLIN?

Question: Why wasn’t Delaware quarterback Pat Devlin drafted? –Mark L.

Answer: I was a bit surprised he wasn’t at least selected within the last few rounds, Mark. But I think many fans got caught up in the fact he was a University of Delaware quarterback. He’s not close to the talent of former Blue Hen signal callers such as Joe Flacco or Rich Gannon.

Devlin lacks ideal arm strength NFL teams covet, so that alone was a detriment in his draft value. And his lackluster performances during the East-West Shrine Game practices and even during his pro day performance didn’t help him.

But I think he has a chance to make it with a team that runs a West Coast offensive scheme. Devlin's a timing and rhythm passer, which makes him an ideal fit for the WCO.

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