Severino Brilliant Again

Luis Severino just wrapped up another 7.1 inning start.  He gave up one run on 7 hits.  Four of the hits were infield hits and one or two plays should have been made and no run scored.  Anyway, he struck out 8 and the change was get swings and misses as we as the fastball and his nasty slider.  Yanks are crushing 8-1 right now in the top of the 8th, and both Gardy and Holliday hit two early bombs.  Judge had a single, a walk and a laser double that reminded me of one I saw Bo Jackson hit that went by Winfield before he could move. Severino is becoming as big a story as Judge and that is saying something, since Judge might be the MVP.

This Week on the Blog

This was a weird week as the Yankee starting pitching came on strong and the bullpen collapsed, as well as some Giants skipping OTA's, no progress between KP and the Knicks and the Rangers not firing AV. Let's hope for a better week ahead.

Yanks: Joe Girardi is not a very good manager, to wit, he has never figured out what he has in Dellin Betances, or how leverage works in ballgame.  He prefers inning roles, rather than situational roles for his relievers, with the perfunctory "save" rules ruling him. This week we saw high leverage situation after high level situation blow up because he wouldn't use Betances and was saving him for a possible save situation. It cost them two games.  And it's curious that the Yanks have not figured this out yet as an organization. Sparky Lyle was used in high level situations, regardless of save rules, and that's how Betances should be used, when necessart and not if necessary.  He's been underused this season.

In the minors, everyone named Domingo is breaking out, and Clint Frazier is stating his case.

Giants: Odell Beckham Jr. is one of the two most talented Giants I've ever seeen.  But his catastrophically bad playoff game, probably called for a more serious commitment from him this year: but he's skipping OTA's.  That could be meaningless, but the optics suck, and it looks like a repudiation of the coaching he feels he's getting from the Giants.  This is really weird since the Giants brought in OBJ's position coach from LSU.  He says he'll be there for the perfunctory MiniCamp, but the bare minnimum is not what was being called for - a burning desire to make it back to the playoffs and win was.   Oh, and Olivier Vernon is also a no show, though no one seems to be worried about where he is or what he is up to.

Knicks: the Knicks's version of OBJ, Kristaps Porzingis is boxing in Latvia. Though this seems really dysfunctional, I think it will clear up once the Knicks trade or buyout Carmelo and add a bunch of young ball-sharing guys who realize D is part of it. Whether, he's currently cheery or not, he's about to get built around, and then he's going to have to stand up and lead. I'm still hoping they can gather more picks before or during next months draft.

Rangers: Doesn't look like the Rangers are going to dump AV, and I don't really expect any action from them until it's closer to the draft and the expansion draft.  They'll probably hold off re-signing Smith or anyone else until they are clear of the expansion draft, and they'll have to make some tough decisions on whom they should expose.

So that's about it.  Let's hope the Yanks BP improves through usage, performance or promotion.   Let's hope OBJ shows up before MiniCamp.  Let's hope the Knicks have a GREAT PLAN, and the Rangers do, too.   Mostly I hope you all have a great week.

Ace(s) of the Future

Luis Severino just pitched 8 shutout innings.  It was the longest shutout streak of his career so far, and he hit 100 on his 112th of 114 pitches.  He only gave up 4 hits, though one was really an error on Castro.  He walked 1 and K'd 7.  His slider was falling on the table and he worked in 15 changeups.  On days like this, he really goes out there with no-hit stuff, and I'm sure we'll see one this summer.  Betances struck out the side in the 9th for the save.  The other highlight was a Sanchez steal of second, that so surprised the Royals that they threw it into CC and El Gary went to third.   Nice 3-0 win.

But Sevy and Dellin weren't the Yanks only pitching studs. Domingo German pitched 7 shutout innings in AAA and Domingo Acevedo pitched 7 shutout innings in his second AA start.  This is going to be the most fun MiLB pitching season we've had since 2006 when Joba, Hughes, IPK, Clippard and Horne were thrilling us every start.  And we still have 4 or 5 pitching staffs we haven't met but will over the next few weeks.  What a night for Yankee pitching!

Giants Sign Devin Taylor

The Giants just signed DE Devin Taylor to add yet another body to their endless waves of passrushers. Taylor will either join the rotation or force guys like Owa and Wynn to up their games. He is a reasonably Spag-type DE and it's a mild surprise he's still available now.  But, with the comp pick rules, I guess it makes some sense.  Interesting signing for an already crowded position group.

UPDATE: The Giants have also signed S Duke Ihenacho, who was a pretty popular sleeper prospect at one point.  Again, more competion at a loaded spot on the D.

LB?

UPDATE 2: To make room for Taylor and Ihenacho, the Gianst cut S Rahim Moore and LB Ishaq Williams.

I thought Williams might turn out to be a ringer, given that he'd already come back from missing so much time, and still made it through the whole season on the PSquad and even getting activated.  Oh well.

Adam Warren Puts His Foot Down

Jordan Montgomery just got lifted from the best start of his career.  He pitched 6.2 with 6K's and only gave up 2 hits, one being a solo shot in the 7th. He was a different pitcher tonight as he got most of his pitches down and hit 95 on the gun again, like he can when he engages his lower half.  Meanwhile, the manager lifted him. and Warren came in and gave up 2 runs, so the Yanks are currently losing.  But Warren can build off what he did tonight, and if he does, we'll have another solid starter.

Gleyber Torres Hits AAA

After yesterday's win, they announced the promotion of Gleyber Torres to AAA and Jose Mesa Jr, and Josh Rogers to AA.  This is probably bad news for Chase Headley, though I hope it will eventually lead to a sell off of Didi. Gleyber spent 32 games at AA, and it wouldn't surprise me if he spends just another 32 or so at AAA.   And meanwhile, the RailRiders are even more loaded.  In fact they're so loaded that that they can't promote many more guys from AA till they promote guys to the majors.

This Week on the Blog

This week was nasty. Yanks blew some games, and blew most starts, the Knicks got screwed in the lottery again, the Rangers watched lesser teams compete for the cup and the Giants got ready for OTA's.

Let's hope for something better.


Yanks: Tanaka is in the tank, and the Yanks really, really need him.  If they have to shut him down, the chances of the Yanks have to make a trade for a pitcher, rather than just letting Chase Adams come up becomes more likely.  Also, Severino is getting screwed on balls and strikes. I have no idea how that happens.  Does he throw too hard for unps to see his pitches?  Or is there something a little more ridiculous going on here?  Whatever it is, he'll figure it out and become an ace.  Our other kid pitcher, Jordan Montgomery, isn't using his legs enough.  When the Yanks got him, they showed him how to use his lower half (just as they had with Red Ruffing) and Jordan start throwing 93, 94 and 95, and finishing his pitches.  Last two times out his pitches have been UP, and that means he's not using his legs.  Hopefully the coaches will remind him.  Weird that Pineda is currently the least of our worries. The really good news is we get Tyler Austin back this week, and that's probably the end of Carter.  Also, Greg Bird will begin baseball activities this week...


Giants:  The Giants still haven't signed Evan Engram and Avery Moss. That's pretty meaningless, but OTA's start Monday, and those are pretty important.  What we want is, of course, no injuries, and exciting news about improvements for the young players and the rookies on Thursday when they talk to the media.  I don't know if we'll get anything else before then, though they might have some stuff on Giants.com.

Knicks: The odds against the Knicks falling for the fifth time were pretty slim.  But fall they did. I think it's going to work out, though, because the player I wanted for them, Frank Ntikilina and 6, then 7, should probably be there at 8. The Knicks need Guards, and if they end up with more first rounders as the result of trades, they should hit the 2 and 3 spots as well.  I see no reason to add Dennis Smith Jr, to the Knicks.  I like the player, but ultimately, he's a selfish player with an ACL injury in his recent past.  Frank is already a plus defender, and an unselfish offensive player who can shoot as well as pass it to KP and Willy.  We'll see what happens, but a young PG like Frank has to be part of the plan.

The Rangers: The Rangers need major changes, and they already fired Ken Gernander from the Wolfpack and installed Chris Drury as the new GM in Harford.  Doesn't really seem like Harftford's been a problem. Their lack of draft picks over the last six years has caused a problem, but that can't be traced to their minor system.  Their minor league system cant be traced to them.  Anyway, if feels like Drury wants to be an NHL GM and when he didn't get the Buffalo job, they gave him something that would get him more specific experience.  It will be interesting to see if they sign another ex player for the player development role Drury will be leaving. Also, this doesn't really do much for the Rangers.  And they need big changes.

Alright, let's have a better week!  And thanks for reading.

Knicks Fall for the 5th time out of 15 Lotteries

Since the season has ended, the Knicks have fallen from a tie for 6th to 7th, and now in the lottery to 8th.  This looks like a 6 or player draft to me, so at this point I feel like the Knicks might get a good player, but unless Frank Ntilikina is available, they're not likely to get a "second piece."  I think Jayson Tatum is Kenny Sky Walker part 2.  The best the Knicks can now hope to do, is find another first rounder or two by trading Carmelo, Kyle O'Quinn and Courtney Lee - and put a cheap, tradeable cast around KP for the near future.  I actually think if they can dump Carmelo and bring in some young talent, they can avoid the lottery for awhile.  Btw, I think it is statistically odd that, though the odds of falling are always lower than the odds for moving up, the Knicks have now done it 5 times in 15 lotteries.

Giants WR/KR Kevin Snead

The Giants have signed 6' 190 lbs WR/KR Kevin Snead from Carson Newman.  The signing was based on his tryout, and I'll tell you why that's a little encouraging after I give you the big headline.  Snead has run 40's in 4.22 and 4.26 seconds. That's crazy fast.  Anyway the Giants' decision to sign him after a tryout, and cut another player (OL Martin Wallace) is that they must have seen something other than straightline speed.  He's a great track athletes who has also played football in HS and college, but not much.  He only had 5 catches last year, and some scouts called him straight-liney.  I saw one high light with an explosive jump cut (took a pitch out of the backfield), so maybe he's got some hips.  Anyway, it's encouraging that they signed him after a tryout, rather than more or less sight unseen.

Chapman to the DL

Yikes.  Aroldis Chapman, he of the sudden lapse in performance, has been put on the 10 Day DL with  rotator cuff soreness.  Egad, this is not good.  Chad Green has been called up.  Of course, Chad has been a starter in AAA, so this is probably for long relief, while one of the set-up guys either becomes closer or takes over the 8th for Betances as he moves back to closer.  This is going to expose a bit of a shortfall in the rightly respected system.  The Yanks used to have bullpen options out the gazoo, but injuries, trade throw-ins, and their constant problems with the 40 man have cost them some of their previously ready options.  Still I'm reasonably confident that whatever Chapman's woe is, they won't suddenly turn Chance Adams into a reliever, which they might have done a few years ago.

In other disconcerting news, the Yanks have promoted 1B Mike Ford from AA to AAA.  Ford, who was an undrafted amateur FA out of the Ivy League, has performed and is a good hitter and fielder who once hit 4 homeruns in a game.  This season he only has 2 so far, but he's hitting over .300 with and OBP that's over .400. This is just a troubling because of the lack of progress with Greg Bird's injury, though Ford probably deserved the promotion and has turned himself into a useful piece.

Giants Make Three Roster Moves

As we talked about earlier, the Giants have already started making moves off of Day 2 of the Rookie minicamp.  More of these are surely on the way, and I probably won't list them all unless someone of possible signifcance is added.  Today, they signded RB Khalid Abdullah out of JMU, 25 year old CD SaQuan Edwards, formerly of the Raiders, and CB/S Trey Edwards out of Furman.  These guys could be signifcant, the Giants have made a habit of signing kids out of JMU and Abdullah may be the best.   He's coming off a nearly 2K 22TD 5+ YPC season, and he can catch the ball.   He's quick and fast, and just barely undersized at 5'10" and 194.  I don't think Darkwa is long for the roster, and I'm not imprest beyond with any RB on the roster beyond Perkins and Gallman.

SaQwan was injury settled from the Raiders, but has decent size for a slot CB, unless he's gotten his weight up from 187.  He's 5'10'.

Trey Robinson got some small school gem buz as a corner, but apparently the Giants are listing him  as a Safety for now, though he is 6'1" and 217 and may have outgrown CB. We'll see, but the Giants have a history of striking gold with mid-majors like JMU and small schools like Furman, so let's see how they do.

This Week on the Blog

This past week, we saw the Yanks slide a bit, the Giants welcome their rookies, Knicks brass attend the NBA Combine, and the New York Rangers disgrace themselves and their fanbase against a lesser opponent.  This week will probably be less painful, and could be sort of great.  Let's take a look.

Yanks: The Yankee veterans, this week, sort of regressed to their recent means, and that was bad news for the team.  Both CC Sabathia and Jacoby Ellsbury individually cost the Yanks a loss, and Chase Headley has returned to last year's form.  What's more, Aroldis Chapman has been awful and was seen shaking his arm last night. Also, Greg Bird is still experiencing pain, so can't start his rehab yet. The good news is, Tyler Austin should be back soon, and will probably mean the end of Chris Carter on the roster.  And Chance Adams is probably just a few more CC meltdowns away from making his Yankee debut. At the very least, Judge and Sanchez should start raking again, soon.

Giants: The Giants are in the midst of their rookie mini-camp.  At the conclusion of the camp, the rooks will just join the rest of the team in the offseason program and OTA's. Those will last about four more weaks before they begin their annual 6 week layoff before camp begins. There will probably be more roster turnover as the camp breaks up tomorrow and try-out players are signed, as well as all the way through training camp. We'll see what the moves are.

Knicks: The NBA Lottery is this week and the Knicks haven't won it in 32 years. It's sort of amazing that expansion teams, that needed quick builds, like Orlando have won it multiple times, but the Knicks have gonet 18 years badly in need of some of that "luck" and gotten none of it.  So let's hope it finally arrives, or that the Knicks AT LEAST don't fall further back in the lottery.  The PG's are going to go fast and the Knicks will be lucky to even get one at 7.  At the combine, the Knicks were seen talking to some players who could end up in the second round, where they do have two or three picks already.

In other Knick news, KP's brother, who is also his agent says KP wants to stay in New York, but, KP reportedly didn't respond to a text from Coach Hornacek.  This is a little ridiculous, and KP is behaving like a spoiled child, and that's not what we ever thought he was.  And it really seems like he's upset about the way Melo is being treated, and that's really none of his business or what he's being paid to do.  Let's hope they win the lottery and KP jumps back onboard.

Rangers: The Rangers season ended this week in utter disgrace. Now it's  time to clean house. They never should have extended AV abd should fire him straightaway, after the loss the other night, he blamed the players and took no responsibility with how he used the players, which was the biggest problem, aside from a constitutionally leaky D, with the team.  So he needs to be fired.

The D needs to be improved and it might be time to trade Stepan to that end.  What's more, it might be time to trade Hank. Goalie Igor Shesterkin is the Rangers best prospect and he's playing in Russia now. If and only if, they can get him over for next season, the Rangers should try to trade Hank for a combination of young players and #1 picks before this year's draft.  Hank has been a great Ranger, but he's never been that "hot goalie" in the playoffs who takes a team all the way.  And somehow, they have to get rid of Staal and Girardi, as well as Holden.

We'll have more on this as it develops, but the Rangers are at a crossroads and major changes are needed.

Chance Adams Promoted to AAA

In what might be the beginning of the end of CC Sabathia's spot in the Yankee rotation, the Yanks promoted Chance Adams from AA to AAA today.  Adams has been terrific thus far, though his walks have been up. They'll probably look to fix it or see if it straightens back out before hitting the big.  With Kap on the shelf, Adams is the Yanks best pitching prospect. Interestingly, like Severino and Sheffield, he's sort of short for a starting pitcher, not being 6'3"-`6"6" which seems to be the current model. That said, Whitey Ford and Ron Guidry were both under 6 feet tall, and they are among the greatest pitchers in Yankee history.  And both Montgomery and Kap are tall, so we could end up with two big guys, and three smaller flame throwers in our rotation in the coming years.   As you probably know, Chance throws a fastball, slider and change, and K's people.

The Rangers Season Ends in Disgrace

This is painful, and I'll have more to say about this in the next few days.  But anyone watching this knows they never should have extended AV,

Rangers Sign Dawson Leedahl

Here we go again.  The Rangers just signed undrafted WHL F Dawson Leedahl from the Regina Pats. I have no idea why this kid was never drafted, as he's had more than a point a game in his last three seasons in the WHL.  That's something that's harder to do in the WHL than in the OHL or the Q, and this year he had 89 points in 71 games and 121 pim, so he's WHL tough, most likely, or Kreider dumb;)  It's unclear how sought after he was, but he's a 21 kid who got an ELC from the Rangers, in just the latest example of their finding young talent outside of the draft.

Severino Dominates as Chapman Fails to Deliver the Win

Severino was once again splendid on Sunday Night Baseball's Big Stage against the Cubs.  The Yanks' blossoming ace pitched 7 innings of 1 run, 9K, 1BB and 4H ball.  Of his 21 outs, 9 were K's and 11 were groundouts.  He also hit 100 on a strikeout pitch in the 5h.  That's a pretty sick thing to do to the world champs.  Lester was also dealing, and held the Yanks to 2 runs through 7. Fortunately, Gardy singled for Sevy, and Ellsbury homered him home.

Betances got into some trouble in the 8th, but also hit 100 on his way to getting out of it.

Chapman pitched the ninth, and became the third of the three Yankee pitchers to reach 100 on the gun.  And he also got into trouble in the 9th, giving up a walk and a hit before  K'ing the next guy, and giving up a run scoring single to the next, and then gave up another run, and stolen base to put the winning  and tying runs of 2nd and 3rd, before getting a K for the second out.  Dammit, he just gave up the tying run and stole a win from Severino.  And Girardi has taken him out.  What a disaster and maybe Girardi shouldn't have waited 3 runs and only two outs to take him out.

This Week on the Blog

This past week saw the Yanks continue to win, the Rangers back themselves into a corner, the Giants sign more UDFA's and the Knicks sit on their hands. This coming coming week could be more exciting.

Giants: the Giants will have their rookie mini-camp, with physicals Thursday and practices on Friday and Saturday, before a meeting and dismissal on Sunday. They've reportedly signed a bunch of UDFA's, but the first hurdle for all of them will be those physicals, so there might be some turnover right out of the gate.  But Friday, the excitement should start.  It will be the first look at Evan Engram, the superfast weapon guy, as well as Davis Webb, the big armed QB, and Wayne Gallman, the versatile RB who can also execute some routes and catch.  Should be fun.

Yanks: The Yanks have a chance to sweep the Cubs tomorrow with Severino on the bump.  It's Sunday night baseball and a great opportunity for Luis to announce that he's for real.  Neither Sanchez nor Judge has homered in the two games they've been back to back, but the explosion could start at any time.  I think they have Monday off, then a rare trip to Cincy.  I'm not a particular fan of interleague, or constant interleague which we now have.  It goes back to the idiocy between Clemens and Piazza, as well as the injury to CMW running the bases in Houston. Let's hope they keep winning, and Hicks and Castro keep helping so much.

Rangers: The Rangers have backed themselves in a corner, and I believe that is completely of Vigneault.  He seems to never have the right guys on the ice during the crunch moments of games, and thus the Rangers down 3-2 in a series they should have won in 5. I'm sickened that they've blown leads and over time, with the same coach and same roster, they seem bound to.

Knicks: The Knicks are keeping a low profile, but Knick fans are blowing up twitter with imagined deals that see Kristaps Porzingis traded, either because he's seeking one or the Knicks are mad that he missed a meeting.  No one, not even the Knicks are this stupid.  And neither is KP.  Winning in New York are immortalized, and they're about to build a winner around KP.  I think the lottery is on May 15th.  That's their next significant date.

Alright, have a great week everyone!

Giants Draft Review, Pt.3: The UDFA's

Let's start with a proviso, and it is this: no matter who we talk about now, there will be an absolute revolving door of undrafted names between now and the season, so let's not count too heavily on the current ones.

That said, while it is best to draft by taking the BPA, both UFA and UDFA are the times to shop for NEED. And the Giants seem to have done with the 16 or more players they have signed or invited for tryouts at the May 11 rookie mini camp.

Two of their most interesting signings were USC's LT, Chad Wheeler and Tennessee State's G Jessimen Wheeler.

Chad Wheeler is a guy with gifted hands and feet, but may not ever have taken football that seriously.   Still, but for a myriad of family and personal problems, he would have been drafted and some even thought he was the #2 OT available in this draft. His lais a fair attitude also showed insufficient testing at the combine. So what we have here, is a natural tackle who needs a year or so in an NFL weight room. He'll let us know if he's worth stashing.

Jessimen Wheeler is a freakishly athletic OG.  He's naturally huge and talented, and at his best will remind you of Larry Allen. And then he'll remind you of every bust you've ever seen.  As with Wheeler, it will be all about reaching him and his accepting the coaching, but he's a guy who does seem to want it, so he might be worth hanging onto and trying to turn the key.  The upside here it pretty big.

They've also signed Fullback Shane Smith from SDSU.  Without a real FB on the roster other than the combo TE's, this strong, and explosive kid is a possibility for a roster spot, if the numbers work.

And speaking of TE's they also got Temple's Colin Thompson, a 260 pound two way TE who might be able to push the other guys.  He was originally at Florida but had a recurrent foot injury that cost him his ride.  Temple stepped up and got a quality player, and perhaps so have the Giants.

Going back to the theme of big and inconsistent, the Giants also grabbed ND DT Jarron Jones.  This guy is a load and, if motivated, could easily be the 4th DT on the Giants.  They also grabbed DT Josh Banks for Wake Forrest, who seems like much more of a longshot.

Jadar Johnson from Clemson has some nice tape and had 5 ints this past season as a Safety in the ACC.  Seems like he should be better, but could be a latter day Percy Ellsworth as the third or fourth safety.

The Giants didn't grab any CB's during the CB loaded draft, but just today, it was learned that they've signed DeShaun Amos an athletic CB out of East Carolina.  He's like the baseline model running a 4.5 40 and backing it up with a 7 even 3 cone.  CB position is one where we've done pretty well in UDFA, and last year's signing Donte Deayon could still make some noise.  They also signed CB Nigel Tribune for Iowa State.

They added the QB from Auburn, but he's probably just there to lighten Webb's load during the camp.

LB Calvin Munson from SDSU is athletically limited but had some sacks.

They also grabbed some WR's, but they're probably just camp targets, though Travis Rudolph from Florida has production and a story, and WR Jalen Williams is a WR from Massachusetts and the best UDFA the Giants signed over the last 15 years was a UDFA WR from Massachusetts named Victor Cruz.

Some of these names will change, but there are some interesting talents, particularly at OL, DL, FB and S. So, it looks like a strong class for the Giants.

Yanks Roll

Judge hit two more.  He not only has Babe Ruth's old job - he's actually doing it.  Gardy had two more tonight, himself, and Aaron Hicks hit another one. These games are a blast. And Gary Sanchez homered and doubled in what may be his only AAA appearance since Austin Romine pulled a groin and we only have 3 catchers on the 40 man roster. So Sanchez is probably back tomorrow.  And what Judge is doing, he can also do. Good time to be a Yankee fan.  Tanaka got the win but wasn't sharp.  He was able to hold it together through five though.  Unfortunately, Tyler Clippard once again could not come in and shut the door and had to burn Betances.  So middle relief probably still needs to refirgured a bit.

Earlier, Bird went on the 10 Day DL after an MRI revealed no healing had taken place from his earlier ankle injury.  So it was something.

Also, Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier and heating up and will be knocking soon.

Rangers Win Game 3

The Rangers were pretty dominant, until they got the three goal lead and started standing around.  Still it was a must win and win they did, 4-1.  Zucc started it going in the first, and was followed up by Grabner, who made a great play from behind the net.  Nash blasted goal #3, and Miller set up Oscar for goal 4. Through the first two periods, AV was finally giving McD, Skjei and Smith the most minutes.  Not sure it carried through the third, but it was trending that way.  Huge win.

Giants Draft Review, Pt. 2

We looked at the Giants first three picks yesterday and, thanks to the tradeup for Bisnowaty, we can look at their last three, instead of four, today.  If picking Davis Webb in round three made you think the Giants had come unglued, day three showed you that the same heads who've been on a hot streak over the last few drafts, are still in charge.

In round four, the Giants took Clemson RB Wayne Gallman. Wayne didn't run a good 40 at the combine, but has good tape from Clemson.  He not huge, but is a very physical guy, who runs hard.  Sort of like Ahmad Bradshaw, in that sense.  And also - and I think this is going to be huge - can catch the football, like Perkins and Vereen. No more guys who can't catch. Gallman is also tough in short yardage and murder at the the goal line. Coach Fassel used to say, you have to be able to run in the redzone, to have consistent success there. The Giants should be able to do that again.  Solid, Giant-type pick.

Meanwhile, one of the differences between Jerry Reese stacking the board to Marc Ross stacking the board, is that Marc has tended to pick almost exclusively fom major colleges.  Jerry used to hit the small school's like SIU or Morgan State with some frequency.  So, when round five started, it was reasonable to expect the Giants to pick someone from a major program.  They didn't.

In the fifth, the Giants reached down to Youngstown St. to take Giants-type DE Avery Moss.  This guy had actually started at Nebraska then left after an "incident" and was brought to Youngstown St. by his Nebraska coach Bo Pellini.  I think it's pretty clear that Justin Tuck was Spags' favorite player first time around, and Moss is very, very similar in terms of being able to rush the passer and foil the run.  This is a great examble of the Giants finding just what they like and not taking a 3-4 OLB and trying to convert him. This could end up being the pick that makes this a great and not just good draft.

In the sixth, the Giants used their seventh to move up and get Pittsburgh OT Adam Bisnowaty.  This was a terrible draft for finding OL's, and because of the spread offenses in college football, most drafts are now.  The Giants didn't reach early and kept their powder dry, then took the kind of blue collar guy they have always won with.  Bisnnowaty had been highly regarded going into his senior season, but got hurt - thought kept playing - halfway through. I have no doubt that moved him from day 2 to day 3. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this guy turns out to be a 10 year OL in the league. Also, and we'll get to this in part 3, this wasn't the only thing the Giants did for their OL.

So in all, the Giants found 3 Giant-type guys to finish off the their draft.  We'll talk about their impressive UDFA class tomorrow.

Rangers Sign RHD Neal Pionk

Today, the Rangers did something that they've gotten quite good at: they landed another collegiate FA in RHD Neal Pionk. A right handed, offensive defenseman is something the Rangers usually need, and Pionk, from Minnesota-Duluth, is just such a guy. scoring points in 75% of his games. I write this post a few times every Spring, but the Rangers have replaced some of those traded off draft picks with all these moves.  And come June, they have their own first rounder again!

Giants Draft Review, Pt. 1

We're gonna look at the just past draft in a few parts.

In general, NFL Offense is under attack, and it's not under attack from NFL Defenses, it's under attack from NCAA Football Offenses.  The spread offense is making it nigh on impossible to find OL's or QB's who can come in an play or come in and be developed into NFL Offensive Players under the terms of their first QB's.  This will reach a dangerous point over the next several years, because the NFL needs OL's and QB's.

Onto the Giants.

Back in 1979 the Giants took Phil Simms instead of The Throwin' Samoan Jack Thompson.  There was much consternation, but it worked out in the Giants favore.  In 1981 the Giants took a guy named Lawrence Taylor instead of Pitt's Hugh Green.  More consternation, and an immortal player.  And there've been tons of other cases just like that in Giants history.  So I was thrilled Thursday when they took freak hybrid Evan Engram over Miami's Njoku.  Njoku's a marginally better drafter, but and infinitely more limited weapon. And Engram is a weapon.  There's not a TE he reminds me of, but he does remind me of some big WR's like Megatron.  Last year, I thought the Giants had achieved checkmate when they added Sterling Shepard to Odell and Victor Cruz.  Unfortunately, try as he had, Victor was no longer that guy.  So this year, the Giants brought in Brandon Marshall, who may or may not still be in his prime, but immediately backed it up with Engram, who can do all the same things and faster.  So the Giants now have one or two jumbo sized receivers instead of three shorter targets.  Now this really good be checkmate.  Love the pick.

In the second round the Giants took their perfunctory DT, Alabama's Dalvin Tomlinson. No I have nothing against this player and he definitely fills a self inflicted need for the Giants.  I just don't like drafting for need, even if it just is one second rounder, every four years. Fortunately, he was a good value where they got him and this was a pretty weak draft. I would have taken Webb there, but they got him anyway. We'll revisit the situation in three or four years.

To end the first part, I love Eli Manning.  I'm reasonably certain he'd now have three rings instead of two had Plaxico Burress not shot himself and the Giants chances for a repeat in the leg in 2008, but it's become time to start looking for a replacement.  Last year, the Giants O underperformed the standards it had set for itself in the prior season, and part of the reason was that Eli and Odell never seemed to be on the same page.  Enter Davis Webb.  Webb, along with Pat Mahomes were the only two QB's I liked for the Giants this year. And, if he is a make it guy and the next start QB of the Giants, a third round pick will turn out to be a pittance.  KC ended up trading up for Mahomes, thus creating a must succeed situation for management given the price paid.  And the Giants got Webb for a third.  And Webb had been the starter over Mahomes at Texas Tech until he first tore his labrum and then broke his ankle.  If you want to see how good he might someday be, take a look at the 2013 Holiday Bowl, where as an 18 year old he shreaded a very good Defense first, Arizona State team.  

As I reminded everyone last week, the Giants have had really bad luck with their third rounders, so, why not take a gamble on greatness.  You would not believe who Webb reminds me of, but look at his footwork and passes and see if you can guess.