Monday’s Giants News: NFL Draft Weekend
I got back from South Carolina around midnight. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get anything done down there. I also wasn’t able to check out what happened in the NFL Draft, MLB, or NHL. I apologize to all of you for that.
A few Mock Drafts had the Giants picking Kenny Phillips in the first round. That turned out to be accurate. From what I’ve read, the Giants are very happy with that pick. I never heard of Phillips until he starting appearing in the Mock Drafts. The Giants signed Terrell Thomas in the second round, and I never heard of him before. Out of the players that the Giants signed, I’ve only seen Mario Manningham play and he’s the real deal. Overall, the Giants stated that they are happy with who they selected. I hope that turns out to be accurate. It makes me feel better when the team says they are content with how it all played out.
Something to prove - Thomas George pointed out that the Giants sixth round draft choice, Kentucky QB Andre’ Woodson will have time to develop.
Transcript: Post-Draft Coach Tom Coughlin
Transcript: Post-Draft GM Jerry Reese
Giants wrap up NFL Draft - Michael Eisen summarized all of the Giants selections.
Vanderbilt LB Jonathan Goff - Giants.com put together a Bio about Jonathan Goff.
QB Andre’ Woodson - Giants.com put together a Bio about Andre’ Woodson.
BYU LB Bryan Kehl - Giants.com put together a Bio about Bryan Kehl.
Michigan WR Mario Manningham Bio
Transcript: GM Jerry Reese - Michael Eisen had a Q&A Session with Reese regarding Manningham.
Giants select WR Mario Manningham - Michael Eisen reported that the Giants selected Michigan WR Mario Manningham in the third round. Eisen captured the Reese’s thoughts of Manningham,
We did our homework on him. Yesterday you guys talked about (first-round choice) Kenny Phillips and why didn’t we bring him in. There really wasn’t a lot to bring him in for. We brought this young man in. Our coaches spent a lot of time with him. We interviewed him at the combine. We did our homework on him. He has tremendous value right now where we are picking. We think he will be okay.
He convinced me, he convinced our coaches – and it’s well documented – that he made a couple of mistakes. He is a young kid. He is a junior. So hopefully he learned from his mistakes and he will come in here and he will give us a big play threat on the outside. This guy has got the production you want. He has got a big strike on the outside. He gets big strikes on the outside. And that was attractive for us.
Talent-wise, I think the guy could have really gone in the first row,” Reese said. “But at this point at the bottom of the third row, we think this is a guy that has great value and he is talented. He is really talented. And again, we did our homework on him. We have a couple of different testing agencies, psychological testing and stuff that we did with him. We are satisfied that he will be okay. And obviously when he comes in, probably kind of like Ahmad (Bradshaw) last year, we will bring him in and say, ‘Look, this is what it is going to be and we expect you to do that.’ And hopefully he will do that.
Bradshaw also had some collegiate issues off the field and was told told he would be on a short leash after being drafted in the seventh round by the Giants. Bradshaw became an important contributor late in the season and in the playoffs.
If you are screwing up, we are not going to spend a lot of time on you. You are on a short leash, just like Ahmad last year – I don’t care if you are seventh round or third round (choice). If you come in here and do the wrong things, we are not going to tolerate that. We don’t think he will do that.
Giants select CB Terrell Thomas - Michael Eisen reported that the Giants selected USC CB Terrell Thomas in the second round. Eisen found out what Ross thought of the pick, and he wrote up a Bio about Thomas. Ross stated that,
We don’t draft like that, by need. I think that is when you get hurt, when you say, ‘We need this, we need to take a corner, we need to take this.’ How the board falls and how we have them stacked, that is how we take them. I wouldn’t classify them as need picks.
We are happy we got two good football players. We didn’t go in saying we have to take two defensive guys or two offensive guys. We went in and stuck with our board and took two football players we really like. We didn’t have a game plan in mind of what positions or what side of the ball. We just wanted to get good football players.
2008 Draft Blog - John Schmeelk covered the first round of the Draft.
Giants select safety Kenny Phillips - Michael Eisen reported that the Giants took University of Miami safety Kenny Phillips with the first round pick. Eisen captured the thoughts of Reese and Coughlin about this regarding this pick, and he put together a Bio about Phillips. Jerry Reese stated had this to say,
We got nice value and we got a need position as well. That’s what we like to do in the draft. We don’t want to reach for guys. We got what we wanted. We got need and value with this pick.
Tom Coughlin stated that,
We were pleased to have the opportunity to draft a player of Kenny Phillips’ ability when we did in the bottom of the first round. We had him ranked high. We had him as the best safety on the board. It is a need position for us. He is an excellent football player. He is a guy that will come down in the box and tackle and can play in coverage. He has played over wide receivers during his career. He has a career which gives you the balance and the versatility of a player of his ability with his interceptions, his tackles, etcetera. We are excited to have an opportunity to draft this player. There is great value in this pick and it is a need position, so we have been able to accomplish a bunch of things here with Kenny Phillips.
Transcript: Dir. of College Scouting Marc Ross - On Friday, Michael Eisen asked Marc Ross about the upcoming Draft.
Transcript: GM Jerry Reese - On Friday, Michael Eisen asked Jerry Reese about the upcoming Draft.
Talent Evaluator - Michael Eisen sits down with VP of Player Evaluation Chris Mara.
Newsday:
Giants take chance on Michigan receiver Manningham - Tom Rock expresses his concerns on Manningham.
Reese takes a gamble on Manningham - Bob Glauber is also concerned about Manningham.
Giants don’t do deal for Shockey
Still a Giant, Shockey is the talk of the draft
Giants loved No. 31 pick Phillips from beginning
NFL Draft - Newsday pointed out where the Giants and the Jets will pick in the Draft.
“Good chance” Shockey could be traded - On Saturday, Tom Rock wrote that Jeremy Shockey could be traded over the weekend.
New York Daily News:
Giants select talented but troubled WR Mario Manningham in third round
Giants get their man, draft Miami safety Kenny Phillips with 31st pick
Michael Strahan to Giants: Don’t trade Jeremy Shockey
Live Blog: Behind the scenes at the 2008 NFL Draft
Will Giants trade Jeremy Shockey to the Saints?
New York Post:
SUPER MARIO - Paul Schwartz believes that Manningham was a steal in the third round. I have been waiting for someone to put this spin on it because that’s what I believe. I’ve watched him for years at Michigan, and he is much better than a third round pick. So off the field issues dropped him down two rounds. The Giants are paying third round money for first round talent which is much better than drafting first round talent for first round money with off the field issues.
GRABBING BARGAINS IN THE LATER ROUNDS
LOCALS HAVE AVERAGE DRAFT - Steve Serby graded the Giants and the Jets, and he gave them each a B.
GIANTS AND JETS: DRAFT DAY TWO
A TRADE OFF - Paul Schwartz reported that the Giants didn’t trade Shockey and they drafted Phillips.
GIANTS PLAY IT SAFE - Paul Schwartz likes that the Giants drafted Kenny Phillips.
DRAFT SHOCK-ER - Paul Schwartz believed that a Shockey deal could be a huge factor of the Draft.
New York Times:
Giants See Potential and Take a Chance
At Round’s End, Giants Find What They Need
The Star-Ledger:
Irvington grad Nate Robinson headed to Giants - Mike Garafolo reported that the Giants signed Nate Robinson to a free agent contract.
Big Blue drafts insurance behind Manning
Giants hope gamble pays off once again
A few undrafted free agents - Mike Garafolo reported that Big Blue signed two undrafted free agents last night: Cincinnati OL Glenn “Digger” Bujnoch and Alabama DE Wallace Gilberry.
A QB and a DE in sixth round - Mike Garafolo reported that, “With picks No. 198 and 199, the Giants selected QB Andre’ Woodson and Southern Miss DE Robert Henderson.”
Another LB in the fifth round - Mike Garafolo reported, “In the fifth round, with the 165th overall pick, the Giants selected LB Jonathan Goff from Vanderbilt.”
Is it Sunday yet? I wish. I’d even take Saturday right now knowing that two games are on. I am a bit concerned about the big play ability of the Cowboys. I can see the Giants trying to put as many points as possible early. I can also see them taking the lead. I can also see the Cowboys starting out slow after the miserable month that they’ve had, and then start clicking, and give up the lead to the Cowboys like what happened a few years ago against the 49ers. All week, I’ve been listening to people say that Romo is like a better version of Garcia. If that’s the case then Romo can hook up with T.O. like Garcia hooked up with Romo. Big Blue cannot give up the big plays. The secondary has to step up and stop all of their weapons which are much more than there were in Tampa Bay last week. 
The big game is getting closer and closer. It’s hump day…so we will start discussing the matchups between Big Blue and Big D. Did any of you make it to Tampa Bay? If so, please comment on your experience. Same goes for Dallas if any of you are going down there. Also, we are constantly looking to add pictures of fans to Die Hard Giants Fan. So if you got any good ones while tailgating or at the stadium then you can email them to me. Feel free to impress us with painted faces, crazy haircuts, tattoos. We want pics of pets too. Click on any of the pictures pages on the header bar for instructions and my email address.
