Assessing The Giants' Draft

Mel Kiper's favorite weekend of the year is over, and I must say I am quite pleased with the Giants' draft this year.

Now mind you, last year, the so-called experts did not think much of the Giants' draft; but when all was said and done, all but one of the players they drafted ended up playing some sort of role (in varying degrees of importance) in their march to the Super Bowl. As a result, the bar was raised in terms of expectations this year, but at the same time, the bar for the "benefit of the doubt" department was also raised.

The Giants' 1st day picks were these guys, and their 2nd day picks were these guys.

I especially like the Kenny Phillips and Mario Manningham picks. Phillips not only fills a need at safety, but I think he's gonna be a really good one. Manningham's ability is not the question with him, rather his off-field issues were. But if he stays on the straight and narrow, the Giants might have just gotten the deep threat they did not have last year. I also like the Andre Woodson pick. This kid fell way too far I think, and he can be developed as a good backup QB for the team. David Carr isn't planning on sticking around for too long, and the Hefty Lefty and Anthony Wright are not exactly primo backup material.

The highlight for me though was when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stepped up to the podium and said: "With the 31st pick in the NFL Draft... the SUPER BOWL CHAMPION NEW YORK GIANTS select...". Just hearing those magic words were awesome, and the Giant fans at Radio City Music Hall who chimed in with their cheers agreed as well.

Go Big Blue!