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Pro Sports Wrap - Sports Personality of the Day:Seth Smith

6/2011 Team Scope: New York Giants

June 17th 2011 13:47
The New York Giants fell apart at the end of what should have been a promising 2010 season. There's quite a bit of uncertainty surrounding this team with Osi Umenyiora not happy again, and there is a laundry list of free agents. Barry Cofield, Kevin Boss, Ahmad Bradshaw, Steve Smith, and Keith Bulluck are the key players among the many that the Giants will have to make a decision on once the lockout is lifted.

Kevin Boss and Steve Smith are the Giants' only true possession receivers, and the Giants would be starved of talent at tight end if Boss were to leave. Smith is the best possession receiver in the NFL, and he's probably going to walk. If the Giants want to avoid a lack of depth at receiver, they will have to bring back either Derek Hagan or Dominik Hixon. I would choose the latter over the former.


Ahmad Bradshaw is one of the best all-around backs in the league, and he is a priority for the Giants to re-sign. Brandon Jacobs makes a nice tandem with Bradshaw, but he is the number two back on this roster. Kareem McKenzie is one of the best right tackles in the league, and Rich Seubert is a very good veteran guard. The Giants can live with Shaun O'Hara and Chris Snee, but left tackle David Diehl has become a horrible player. They need to find a new left tackle, but it doesn't seem like he will be replaced this season. That's a key weakness to watch out for in pass pro.

If Osi does leave and Matthias Kiwanuka walks as expected, then Jason Pierre-Paul will be able to start at right end. Justin Tuck is a force on his own, and Pierre-Paul is a physical specimen and was great as a rookie last season. Barry Cofield is a key player for the Giants, and he should be brought back even though the Giants drafted the promising Marvin Austin. Chris Canty is a solid and underrated defensive tackle. The Giants have a monstrous defensive line, and they will still be very good there if Osi leaves.


Jonathan Goff is one of the best linebackers in the NFL against the run but poor in pass coverage. Michael Boley is the exact opposite, so he's mainly used as a nickel corner. Clint Sintim is a talented linebacker who is best suited for the 3-4 and also struggles to stay healthy. The Giants don't have much depth at linebacker, and I think they need to try to bring back Keith Bulluck at a low price.

Terrell Thomas is a good corner because of how physical he is, but he isn't a good corner in coverage. The Giants have a lot of question marks at corner, and they desperately need Prince Amukamara to produce as a rookie. I think he will, but I still don't like their group of corners.

Antrel Rolle is one of the most overrated players in the NFL. He can tackle and make plays, but he is horrible in coverage. Kenny Phillips is talented, but we don't know how explosive he will be after an injury. Michael Johnson is set to become a free agent, so that hurts their depth. Deon Grant is gone, and he was key in their three-safety sets. I think they are alright at safety, and the real upgrades in the secondary need to come at corner.
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New England Patriots B Nate Solder has a ton of upside, and he'll develop on the bench under assistant offensive coach/offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia who is one of the best in the league's history. Ras-I Dowling is a physical corner with good length who fits the Pats' system. He'll most likely start right off as a nickel corner, and he can match-up against the tall receivers of the NFL too. Shane Vereen was a poor pick, but the Stevan Ridley choice was a pretty good one. He's the power back they need, and while he was somewhat of a reach, I think the Pats have something special worked up for him.

Ryan Mallet's character concerns are somewhat overblown. There really was none of that when he was at Arkansas, and he showed he could lead in college. While there are concerns, he can't really do anything stupid under Belichick. Marcus Cannon was my favorite pick by the Patriots, and I thought it was the best value pick in the draft. He will start right away if Matt Light is not re-signed, and he is a versatile lineman that was worth a second rounder. He only fell because he has Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, but he'll make a full recovery. The trade with the Saints was a nice one at the end of round one.

New Orleans Saints C plus- Cameron Jordan was a much needed choice because the Saints really needed a pass rusher. Jordan will give Gregg Williams even more options in his defensive schemes, and Jordan is a great player that should never have fell that far. My problem was the trade at the end of round one. It wasn't the picks they gave up. It was the fact that they traded up for a running back. Although Mark Ingram won the Heisman once, you should never trade up for a running back.

If you look at last year's draft, the Chargers dealt a crazy amount of picks for Ryan Mathews, and he was disappointing in his rookie year. Running backs are easily replaceable in this league, and it's so easy to find a starting-caliber back. The Saints could have waited and been like the Eagles and picked a guy like Dion Lewis where the value was good. Linebacker Martez Wilson is a leader, but he's going to need some seasoning before he can play. It was a solid choice though.

New York Giants B plus- I liked what the Giants did in the draft. They desperately needed a cover corner. Terrell Thomas is a physical corner, but he doesn't really cover and the other corners are terrible. The Giants went ahead and picked Prince Amukamara, who fell to the 20th pick because of character issues. I love his speed, and he is the most instinctive corner in the draft- even better at that than Patrick Peterson.

Marvin Austin will add another guy into an already very good defensive tackle unit, but he is a great one-gap tackle. Although D-Tackle wasn't a need, the Giants took a good player. I almost never doubt their scouting. Jerry Reese and his guys are among the best in the business. Jerrel Jernigan was the best slot receiver in the draft, and the Giants are preparing for Steve Smith to walk. I loved that 6th round pick to get Greg Jones. He was a great leader in the middle for Michigan State, and he'll bring his solid talents to the pros. The Giants do have good LBs, but they know that he was incredible value in the 6th.

Oakland Raiders D This was another poor draft by Al Davis. Stefen Wisniewski is the son of their offensive line coach, and he will finally give the Raiders a solid player in the interior. He's a smart player that is a true leader. The Raiders traded up to get everyone's sleeper Taiwan Jones. It wasn't a position of need, so the only way to justify trading up for him is for Jones- and his Al Davis like speed- to fulfill his super-sleeper expectations loaded onto him by all of us.
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