May 1, 2006
Giants First Two Selections
The first and second rounds of the 2006 NFL Draft are complete and the New York Giants made some last minute moves trading down in the first round and then up in the second round. With their first pick of the Draft the Giants selected Mathias Kiwanuka, a 6-6, 266 pound defensive end out of Boston College.
“I was a little bit surprised,” Kiwanuka said. “I was waiting throughout the whole draft and knew somebody would take me, I just didn’t know who. When it got to that point I was surprised that the Giants took me, but I wasn’t surprised that I went.”
“He is just a big, fast pass rusher,” said general manager Ernie Accorsi, who said Kiwanuka was easily the highest-rated player left on the team’s draft board. “He will probably get bigger weight-wise. There are games he just dominates. You can turn the tape on and see him against certain teams. Or he just burns the edge. He can run around the corner. He has great speed. And they (pass rushers) are just hard to find.”
“We’re excited about this pick,” coach Tom Coughlin said. “It’s truly a valuable pick at this point. Picking 32, we had a group of players that we really liked and from that group, without a doubt, he’s the highest rated
player. We’re excited because of 11.5, 11.5 and 9.5. Those were his sacks over the last 3 years.”
The Giants took their second pick of the draft and selected Sinorice Moss, a blazing wideout who played for University of Miami Hurricanes in college.
“We really wanted him,” Accorsi said. “He was our highest-rated receiver. He is a game-breaking receiver. He is not big but he can catch and he can run. For a short guy he is very powerfully built. He has a chance to be an outstanding receiver.
“We were prepared to pick him in the first round if our other options were gone. We had other options. But we just didn’t think he would be there at 24 in the second round (which is why they traded up).”
We will have to see who the Giants select in the latter rounds as the 2006 NFL Draft continues.
Moss is a great pick. A fast receiver for Eli to underthrow.
Posted by: NHGiants at May 2, 2006 12:44 AMThis was a terrible first round for the Giants. As you mentioned, we have two probowl DE's. Why did they spend our first round pick on another? The thing that people are failing to realize is that Justin Tuck is also a very very serviceable DE if Stahan or Umenyiora were to get hurt. I'm not understanding the Giants logic here drafting Kiwanuka. There were plenty of players that could have been more of an impact, and more of an IMEDIATE impact than Kiwanuka. I'm not knocking the Moss pick in the second round. I think that was a pretty good pick, but if they wanted to go with a WR, why did they trade down? They could have had a better WR in Santonio Holmes if they just stayed at the #25 pick. This is just mind boggling to me. I can think of atleast 10 different guys that would have been a better pick for the Giants in the first round. unbelievable.
Posted by: Anthony at May 2, 2006 2:25 AM