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I haven't posted for a long time, so I wanted to make it a good one. I wanted to point out Victor Cruz because he plays for one of the remaining playoff teams, and because he reminds me so much of Wes Welker.

NE 83 Welker / NYG 80 Cruz
Draft: same, both undrafted
Experience: 8th year, Div I, SD, MIA, NE / 2nd year, Div II, NYG
Career: same; undrafted, then joined the team as 3rd-5th WR, became #1

2011 Regular Season Statistics

TDs: same, (9)
Longest play: same (99), both for touchdowns
Yards: Same (~1,550, 1569/1536)
Yds/Game: Same (~97, 98/96)

But Cruz has done the same with fewer catches, and longer plays:
Welker / Cruz
Rec: ~ 120, ~ 80
Yds/Rec: ~ 13, ~ 19
20+ plays: 21, 25
40+ plays: 4, 9

If you're interested in Welker's story, you should watch Cruz play the 49ers on Sunday. He played at UMass Amherst and went undrafted. He was a 3rd or 4th WR for the Giants, and became their #1 after injuries to the others.

Of interest to Patriots is that he caught 3 TD's in his debut against the Jets in the first game at the New Meadowlands Stadium in the preseason, and scored 1 TD and > 160 yards against each of the Jets and Cowboys to send them home at the end of this season.

Earlier this season, he caught 2 TD against New Orleans, and 3 against the Eagles (over two games). He ended up #3 in Yards, just barely after Wes Welker, and I could argue he has matched Welker this season.

Altogether, with the return of the other two Giants WRs, the weapons that Manning has right now may be better than receivers than Tom Brady has had during any of his previous AFC Championship game appearances (01, 03, 04, 06, 07 seasons), when the Patriots defense contributed more to our success than it does now.

Here's a video of his TD's, including the preseason game against Jets last year.

Victor Cruz #80 Highlights - YouTube