Thoughts and Reactions to the Draft

The Giants clearly addressed most of their needs through the draft this weekend, while still managing to draft from among the best available players when their turn came up. The only area of need they didn't immediately address was safety, and I'm not sure if this is because they plan on moving Terrell Thomas back to safety, or they just couldn't find anyone of value when their picks came around. Picking Hakeem Nicks was a no-brainer if the Giants weren't planning on moving anywhere from the 29th overall pick. He's a polished route runner, something Eli Manning desperately needs, with solid hands. Outside of Michael Crabtree, Nicks may be the most out-of-the-box NFL ready WR in the draft. Does that mean he'll be the #1 WR from day one? No, not necessarily. But considering the Giants receiving corps, it's certainly possible.

When the first round ended and both James Laurinaitis and Rey Maualuga were still on the board, I was holding my breath, expecting to see the Giants names appear as they moved up about 10 spots or so to grab one of these guys (Maualuga being one of my favorite LB prospects), and they didn't. I have a feeling the Giants brass might have made a few inquiries, perhaps with the Rams (I think Spagnuolo would probably be a good trading partner), but since the Rams apparently were trying to trade back into round one for Laurinaitis, there was no way they would move down and let us snag their player. Instead the Giants ended up picking Clint Sintim, who I wasn't very familiar with before the pick was made. Afterwards, I have become cautiously optimistic. As an OLB in a 3-4 defense, Sintim made a living as an excellent pass rusher. I love seeing the Giants defense swarm all over an opposing QB as much as any other Giants fan, but we are a defense that has more top-notch pass rushers on our D Line than some entire divisions. Sintim didn't play much coverage at Virginia, and of the few bad images I have of the Giants LB corps last season, it's fast RBs torching them in the open field. Since the GM Jerry Reese has been nothing short of spectacular with his draft picks the past 2 seasons, I'm going to have to give him the benefit of the doubt here and believe he knows what he can get out of Sintim.

Picking up William Beatty was a relief for me, since I have been clamoring for the Giants to spend a first day pick on an OT ever since the team cut "false-start" Luke Petitgout after the '06 season. Beatty is not likely to become a starter this year on an O Line that hasn't seen a player miss a start in over two seasons, but he can definitely replace Kareem McKenzie, who's play has been declining lately, relatively soon, and maybe even push LT David Diehl back to guard eventually, a position where he's much more suitable.

Picking Ramses Barden spoke volumes about how the Giants felt about losing a tall WR like Plaxico Burress. His height creates mismatches all over the place, and although Barden may not see a lot of playing time, you can be sure he'll be seen in the red zone, an area where the Giants offense has struggled for years.

TE Travis Beckum is another pick we're likely to see in the red zone. Since players like Hixon and Smith aren't likely to wrestle away any jump balls in the end zone, running two TE sets with Boss & Beckum, with Barden and Smith on the outside, and the threat of Brandon Jacobs plowing up the middle makes a much more dangerous red zone threat than the Giants had coming into the draft.

RB Andre Brown was picked as a replacement to Derrick Ward and seems to draw a lot of comparisons to him. A good value pick, but likely won't see much time outside of special teams with Jacobs, Bradshaw and Danny Ware already on the roster.

Overall, it seems like the Giants had a pretty solid draft. The previous two drafts seemed much more exciting to me, but that's obviously not the importance here. The point is to draft impact players and build for the future, which the Giants clearly did. I'm now as excited as ever to see the position battles in camp and get this season underway. Go Blue!