It's a day later, and I still can't get over how well the Giants were able to do at the 2011 draft. They were lucky! But it was their strict adherence to their BPA strategy that created their luck. While most other teams were reaching all over the place and trading around, the Giants sat patiently with their 8 picks and calmly collected the best player on the board each time their turn came up. And when I saw teams reached, I'm not just talking about all of those non-franchise QB's, I'm saying there's no way a 26 year old guard was the best player of the board when the Eagles picked. That was happening a lot, so don't take this as me just picking on the Eagles. They also made some nice picks, and as always got a player or two I had earmarked for the Giants.
In the first, the Giants watched in wonder as teams reaching around for "needs" caused Prince Amukamara to fall right into their laps. Had that not happened they most likely would have picked Mark Ingram, but since it did, they rushed to take a player they had in their top ten. Amukamara is exactly what the Giants are looking for in a corner. He has good size, is strong, can play press or off, and is an incredible athlete who has been profiled on Sports Science! Under George Young, and now under Jerry Reese, the Giants have loved taking their freaks, see Jason Pierre-Paul and Linval Joseph last year. And the Prince is certainly a physical freak. What's more he is highly intelligent and a very good kid.
In the second, the Giants liked Marvin Austin, a player who they had in their top 15, and Ben Iljalana, the Tackle from Villanova. When the Colts traded ahead of the Giants, to take Iljalana, the Giants just pulled the trigger on Marvin. Marvin, who had been one of the few underclassmen actually caught taking benefits from an agent, had used his suspension to get into absolutely magnificent shape, even better shape than he was in during his junior year at UNC. In other words, he had gotten his freak on, and destroyed the combine. The Giants did a lot of work on him to make sure he was really a good kid who made a bad decision, and were thrilled with what they discovered. They would have taken him even if Ben was still on the board. What they now have is another freak for the DL who comes to the Giants wanting to prove everyone else wrong. He is the ultimate three tech, complete with a quick first step, and represents another massive steal for the Giants who like to get after the the QB from all directions.
In the third, as I held my breath thae Jerrel Jernigan would make it down to them, the Giants just sat back, didn't try to trade up, and pulled the trigger when the ultimate GTP playmaker landed at their pick. I have had my Giant biased eyes on this kid for a couple of years and I am so happy that they got him. He's a terrific return man for punts and kicks, and an awesome run after the catch wide receiver. We haven't had this kind of return man/3rd down specialist since Meggett. And he is faster and even shiftier than Meggett was. He didn't have a QB who could throw deep at Troy, so he'll also be a guy who can use his great speed to get deep for the GMen. He's smaller than our other guys, but his huge hands, and great strength make up for a lot of that. We finally have a gamebreaker for the O and the return teams. He will be the toast of camp. Just another great pick.
In the fourth, the Giants kind of surprised me. They took Jim Brewer a huge right tackle from Indiana. But there was more to the story than I knew at the time. Brewer had been a great high school basketball player until he literally grew out of the sport. There arent a lot of 6'6" 300 pounders in hoops, and he didn't eat his way there, he's just that massive. What's more, it turns out that he retained all of his basketball athleticism and the Giants think they can turn him into a 6'6" 330 pound OLT. Guys like that, complete with long arms and great feet are RARE. When you can get one who's just a bit of a project in the 4th, you pull the trigger and don't look back. Okay, so now the Giants have Brewer, Beatty, Andrews, and Diehl as left tackle candidates. That's a lot, but they may even be able to trade one of them for picks if they all look sharp in pre.
The Giants didn't have a 5th, but they were probably all still celebrating their first four picks. But not so much that they didn't have 4 more excellent picks in them.
Starting in the 6th, the Giants got two coach on the field types, a freak outside linebacker and a speedy back who will finally replace what Derrick Ward used to give us as Wind. In the 6th alone, they took three violent men.
Greg Jones was the insanely productive middle backer for MSU. This was a kid, who when you saw him on TV, the announcers would talk about what a high pick he was destined to be. But as the DL declined for his senior year, so did his production and people started picking him apart. Not the Giants, Jones is a slightly undersized, super productive tackling machine, who is an absolute clone of what Antonio Pierce was before his steep decline. This guy plays so much faster than he times because, he piles amazing instincts on top of a massive amount of filmwork. This makes him, like Pierce, a coach on the field, and those guys are good to have as you'll all recall from our last Super Bowl run. He was a violent hitter and tackler to begin with, but now that he dropped several rounds in the draft, he's could really take it out on some folks.
Tyler Sash was a top SS prospect who also fell on his athletic limitations, after all he did was make plays and huge plays for Iowa. Somehow, with whatever limitations he has, he was always in the right place at the right time, collecting 13 interceptions and averaging over 30 yards per reception return, And like Jones he is a coach on the field type, who takes pleasure in the physical part of the game. Just a terrific piece for the Giants and player who should have gone higher.
Jacquian Williams seems like someone the Giants had stashed or something through their connections at USF. When you see tape of this guy, you see and absolutely long, sick athlete who runs around blowing people up and providing sticky coverage on backs and TE's. He's a kid who went to both the same Junior College and regular college as JPP. In other words, he was on the freak program. Some of the confusion that left him undrafted till we took him with our third sixth may have come from confusion over his weight. He was list as 216, but has been working out and was drafted at 235. This guy has all the talent to be an impact OLB for the Giants. It's up to him and the coaches now, and he's a kid who wants to be great. Yahtzee!
In the 7th the Giants were bored, so they added more explosivity. Da-Rel Scott, is a 5'11, 211 pound back who runs consistently in the 4.3's. After a huge Sophomore year at Maryland, he became more of a rotational back and his numbers fell. But he is the real deal with the ball in his hands and he can catch it, too. In other words, he's the third down threat the Giants have been lacking since Wind took that big contract from Tampa. Wind II is even faster, and once they give him the high and tight lessons, he'll be making huge plays in our running game. He's much faster than Brad and Jake and is a great complement to those guys, should both stay.
It was just a huge draft that was reminiscent of past drafts like the `86. `89, `04, `05, and `07 drafts, maybe even more "ecologically sound." We'll see. But the Giants are on cloud nine right now, and they should be. Go Giants!
Grandy hit a two run shot in the first and the Yanks never looked back. He collected more RBI's later, and they just rolled 10-3 over the A's. Freddie Garcia got the win and gave them another good start. Everyone is starting to hit. They are now sitting Po against lefties so they really should call up Montero, who hit a triple and a homer tonight for Scranton. This road trip has turned around. Go Yanks!
