Giant Football Blog

Former coach Lloyd Carr says Mario Manningham is Giant bargain

Mario Manninghame is a "good person" who has made some bad mistakes, but his former college coach believes the newest Giants receiver is determined to turn around his life and his career.

Lloyd Carr, the former Michigan coach who spent three seasons with the Giants' third-round draft pick, told the Daily News Monday he's confident Manningham won't be any trouble in New York. Carr added that the rookie's past troubles were the result of youth and some bad advice, and he's "hopeful" he learned his lessons well. Continue

Super Mario

Giants GM Jerry Reese was eager to extol the physical virtues of Mario Manningham, the receiver from Michigan selected by Big Blue yesterday in the third round of the NFL Draft. "I'm telling you," Reese said, "you guys are going to say 'Wow, this guy has got the stuff.' "

Manningham's athletic value was not first and foremost on anyone's mind, which is why Reese fielded repeated questions as to the character issues that sully the receiver's reputation and make this particular pick one to keep an eye on. Continue

Meet the new Giants

Kenny Phillips, S, Miami, 6-2, 213, 31st overall

Widely regarded as the top safety in the nation. Three-year starter for the Hurricanes who entered the draft after his junior year. Excellent athlete with superior coverage skills. Not known as a huge hitter and had only seven INTs in his career. ? Fits in either safety spot and the Giants New York Giants believe he can play certain receivers as a cornerback.

Terrell Thomas, CB, USC, 6-1, 202, 63rd overall

Started all 26 games past two years for powerful Trojans. Good size, long arms, good speed (4.52) but has history of injury problems. Eight career INTs. Is said not to be afraid to "jaw" with opposing receivers. (NY Post)

Giants select S Kenny Phillips in 1st round

In a move anticipated by many, the Giants have selected Miami S Kenny Phillips with the 31st pick in the NFL Draft. The pick addresses an area of need for the team, which lost Gibril Wilson to the Raiders via free agency. Phillips barely became the fourth Miami safety selected in the first round this decade. The others were Ed Reed, Brandon Meriweather and the late Sean Taylor.

The 6-2, 212-pound Phillips, who had seven interceptions in three seasons with the Hurricanes, has good speed (4.55-second 40-yard dash), solid range, good tackling ability, great hands and shows good awareness. Basically, the former corner has everything you want from your safety. Continue

Draft Shock-er

There seemingly should be little pressure on Jerry Reese, who a year ago in his first full season as general manager of the Giants assembled a sterling draft class and then made several subtle moves that helped build a Super Bowl champion. Today, as the first two rounds of the NFL Draft come and go, Reese is sitting pretty, even though the Giants own the 31st overall pick, last in the first round. After all, he had a spectacular debut.

"No, this league is, 'What have you done for me lately?' " Reese countered. "All we have to do is go out there and lose a couple of games and we will all be dumb and the coach will be dumb and I will be dumb and the quarterback will be a bust. Last year is over with, and we are just trying to start over and build this team toward another championship." Continue

Giants' first pick must blend in with champions

In some ways, it might be easier to be the first pick than the last when it comes to first-rounders. Jake Long, already signed by the Dolphins, will play for a team coming off a 1-15 season and without particularly high goals. Whomever the Giants take with the 31st selection, however, becomes part of a defending Super Bowl champion.

Long will be allowed to develop with the program at a reasonable pace. The Giants' pick will be asked to step in immediately and help keep the team at a championship level. He'll also have to blend into team chemistry that was forged during a remarkable postseason run. In the spring of 1991, after the Giants won Super Bowl XXV, they drafted fullback Jarrod Bunch. Now an actor in Los Angeles after injuries forced the .Giants to cut him after three years, Bunch said his experience of joining the champions was strenuous and made all the more difficult by Bill Parcells' departure three weeks after the draft. Continue

Giants picking TE would be a real shock

It will come as little surprise if the Giants, with the 31st pick in Saturday's NFL draft, take a player at any one of six positions: any of four spots on defense other than defensive end, receiver or offensive tackle. Given that there is seemingly no need at tight end and there may not be a single tight end available in the draft that warrants a first-round selection, going in that direction would be a shocker for the Giants. Of course, this could change in the unlikely event Jeremy Shockey is traded.

Without Shockey, the job would fall to Kevin Boss, who is entering his second year with the Giants, and who yesterday said he believes he could handle a starting job."I think I can," he said, "but I think Jeremy will be back. We all want him back, especially as a tight-end group. I felt like I learned a ton from him this year." Continue

Safety net

One well-connected player agent recently spoke with three teams heading into this weekend's NFL Draft. All three compiled a mock draft to get a better feel for who might go where and all three had the Giants with the 31st overall pick taking Miami safety Kenny Phillips.

Intrigued, the agent fished around a little more, as these teams might have merely been going with the rote formula that the Giants lost a safety (Gibril Wilson) in free agency and, despite signing veteran Sammy Knight, need to add another one. Continue

Giants might use 1st pick on a linebacker

When the Giants lined up on defense in the Super Bowl, Reggie Torbor and Kawika Mitchell were the two outside linebackers. When the Giants line up to begin the defense of their title in September, the two will be on other teams.

With no clearly defined starters on either side of middle linebacker Antonio Pierce - defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka is penciled in as a strong-side linebacker for now and Danny Clark and Gerris Wilkinson should compete for playing time on the weak side - the Giants could be looking to fill vacancies in what some consider to be the impact positions in the scheme. Continue

Giants on the clock

At the time, there really was no overwhelming reason to believe the first draft class in the Jerry Reese era would be a classic. There were needs addressed one year ago, safe picks early in cornerback Aaron Ross and receiver Steve Smith and a few later risks with tight end Kevin Boss and running back Ahmad Bradshaw.

Ten months later, the Giants New York Giants were crowned Super Bowl champions, and they wouldn't have come close without the contributions of a precocious group of rookies. Continue

Jint guest list a smokescreen

A year ago, it was no great shocker that the Giants with their first-round pick in the NFL Draft selected Aaron Ross , given it was fairly obvious the team was looking for help at cornerback and Ross was highly-regarded at that position.

The pick made sense but took Ross by surprise. Several teams expressed strong pre-draft interest in Ross, but the Giants were not among those teams. They didn't even invite him for a visit. The Giants had a conviction about Ross and saw no need to advertise that belief, not even to Ross himself. Continue

Giants to work out a few locals

The Giants will bring in and work out a handful of local draft hopefuls on Friday, though most of them (if not all) will probably be undrafted free agents. There will be no RB Ray Rice or OL Jeremy Zuttah, who will both likely give Rutgers their second and third first-day picks in the past two drafts. Rice has no visit scheduled with the Giants as of now while Zuttah had a private workout with the team three weeks ago, according to his agent. Continue