NFL-Giants: NY Giants football news

For once the mock drafts were accurate beyond the first few picks – they said the Giants would take Miami safety Kenny Phillips at 31 and we did. I bet nearly all Giants fans like the pick. We need a safety who can cover and Phillips was the best prospect in the draft.

Supposedly, the Giants had an offer to give up the their #31 to Buffalo, and would have gotten 2 picks (#41 and #72). That would have been a mistake because we don’t need 100 drafted rookies. We are the Super Bowl champs and our roster doesn’t have that many problems. One very good prospect in Phillips is better than 2 lesser prospects in this case.

In the second round, our guy, Terrell Thomas, comes with some injury concerns. The Giants medical staff said he was in perfect shape and I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. So other than injuries what’s not to like about a corner who can run at 6’1″ and 200+ pounds? He played on an elite team and said he used to shut down Steve Smith at every practice. If that’s true we have a special CB. I have read that his run support is average but I think that can be coached if he’s not a wuss.

Some guys (like John Clayton) might be upset that we didn’t trade Shockey for a 2nd rounder. I know Shockey has been injury prone but whatever – the chances of a 2nd round tight end outplaying Shockey are slim at best. And if we did trade him we would need a tight end.

This article talks about Reese and lists a few possible draft picks at #31.

Personally I’d like to see the Giants move up (possibly in the 2nd or 3rd round) because we probably can’t draft 8 guys who have a good shot at making the team.

This other draft article mentions Marc Ross – he has Reese’s old job.

I know they suck and get it all wrong but this time of year you get trade rumors (Shockey) and mock drafts (this one). So this mock has us taking:

31. Kenny Phillips, S, Miami
63. Xavier Abidi, LB, VT
95. Roy Schuening, OG, Oregon St.

As far as I know those a 3 guys that could become good NFL players. I do notice that in later rounds it is usual for the Giants to draft based on need and value so I’m not sure if a guard in round 3 is realistic – the draft says we need offensive line depth – do we? Did we lose any offensive linemen?

The giants get the 33rd pick in the 6th round as a comp pick, 199th pick in the draft.That gives us 3 6th rounders I believe thanks to the Ryan Gran trade. Since I don’t see 8 draft picks making our team, it is time to start speculating about when and where the Giants will trade up in the 2008 draft….

Washington got a 3rd rounder which makes no sense to me. They lost Derrick Dockery, T.J. Duckett, Warrick Holdman, and Kenny Wright. They signed only London Fletcher. I don’t understand how that equals a 3rd rounder but whatever.

Philadelphia got a 4th and 2 6ths. The Cowboys got nothing.

In hindsight, what do we think of this article?

New York Giants
The Giants addressed their biggest needs early, and CB Aaron Ross and USC WR Steve Smith should be able to contribute right away. Jay Alford was a reach in the third round. Zak DeOssie is a classic Tom Coughlin pick and improves the special teams. TE Kevin Boss could help replace Visanthe Shiancoe, but their final three picks — OT Adam Koets, S Michael Johnson and RB Ahmad Bradshaw — while all talented, will take a lot of intense coaching to maximize their potential, and they may never get it. With Coughlin’s coaching staff, they might have a chance. Altogether, this draft would be lucky to produce more than a pair of starters, and there is little exciting about it.
Grade: Average

Personally, I suspect this guy wrote the article without ever seeing the final 3 picks he disparages play even college ball. Johson and Bradshaw helped us win the Super Bowl. So did Ross, Smith, Alford, and DeOssie (snapping).

This mock draft is interesting:

31. Giants – S Reggie Smith 6’0 200 4.5 Oklahoma
I still cannot believe they beat the Patriots, anyways, they need help at safety. Wilson is a free agent and James Butler got beat like a red-headed step-child last year. Smith has great cover skills but may lack speed to play corner in the NFL. He would make a heck of a cover safety though.

The mock has all 7 rounds… A punter in round 4…

As some of us begin reading mock drafts for 2008, this article talks about the last 2 drafts and how the rookies drafted in 2007 had a larger than expected impact.

Consider this crop: CB Aaron Ross (first round); WR Steve Smith (2); DT and long snapper Jay Alford (3); TE Kevin Boss (5); S Michael Johnson and RB Ahmad Bradshaw (7). At the same time, they signed only one free agent of note, LB Kawika Mitchell — for just a year — to fill an immediate need at the position.

This is an interesting article on how the draft might play out if teams had known how things would go in the first half of the season. The Giants end up with the same picks in round 1 and 2 but there are some interesting things to note.

DT Brandon Mebane, who was drafted right after the Giants 3rd round pick (DT ALford) moves into the first round (23rd pick). Has Jay Alford done anything this season?

A lot of draft experts slammed the Giants for not drafting a left tackle. I called them out on this site for being idiots.

Meanwhile David Diehl comes out and shuts down trent Cole (1 tackle, 1 assist, zero sacks). People just don’t get the simple fact that rookies don’t come in and play LT better than vets (see Gallery, Robert).

Basically, the Cowboys were the Browns last chance so they had to give up a lot more than they wanted to. Here’s the article. Still, you have to hate that the Cowboys might have gotten a good pick from the Browns – who thinks it’ll be a top ten?