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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.
Is He Serious?
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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.
Next Project: Nate Solder
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2011 First Round Draft Notes

April 29th 2011 15:07
I can't say that I'm happy, but I'll have to give Cam Newton a chance. I didn't want the Panthers to take him at number one, but I don't want him to bust now that he's "the guy" for my favorite team. I wish the Panthers took a Marcell Dareus or A.J. Green and give Clausen and Moore another shot. After all, it is rare that a QB does well after just one year. It takes time. Smart teams like the Bucs wait three years for their QB, and the Bucs were rewarded when Josh Freeman had the year he had last season.

Newton is one of my least favorite players already, but I can't deny his athleticism. I just wish he had better footwork and was a better person. Jake Locker deserved to be picked at number eight by the Titans. He was high on their board, fits their system well, and he wasn't a reach. There are plenty of unintelligent people that dropped Locker from the first choice over Sam Bradford the year before, to somebody values in the late teens. And why? Well, that's because suddenly mystifying accuracy problems arose. This happens when those said unintelligent "experts" read stats- meaningless in college football- like completion percentage and don't watch what actually happened. Locker's receivers were terrible, and he was almost always under pressure due to an incompetent line.

Christian Ponder was a reach at 12, but the Vikings couldn't risk waiting too long. They made a smart choice because if you think that QB can be the guy, then by all means take him. Bill Musgrave wants to instill a WCO, and Ponder is the most accurate QB in the draft and best suited for the West Coast Offense. Ponder is an early second round talent and would have been most likely off the board by the time the Vikings would pick again.

I don't like the Saints' idea to trade up to the first round to select Mark Ingram. You should never do that for a running back. The Patriots accepted the basically free second round choice, and they own the top pick in the second round thanks to another horrible draft-day trade by Carolina the year before. That pick is a highly coveted one, but the Pats should keep the first of their three second round choices to select Da'Quan Bowers. He's far too talented to pass up on, and he is a first-round talent. The Pats could use a pass rusher like Bowers.

The Falcons did a nice job in trading up to get Julio Jones at number six. They knew that they desperately needed a playmaking receiver, and the choices after Jones were all developmental projects. It wasn't a reach because a lot of teams near that pick also looked like they really wanted one of only two top receiving prospects. The other guys are all boom-or-bust players or sleepers. The Falcons got their man.

Von Miller will be a good pass rusher in this league, but he is awfully similar to a great pass rusher the Broncos already have; Elvis Dumervil. I would have taken Marcell Dareus in that spot, because the Broncos start the poor Kevin Vickerson at defensive tackle. The Bills gladly picked up Dareus, and he will form a great defensive line duo with Kyle Williams.

I thought Aldon Smith was taken too high. Smith has a lot of upside, but the 49ers would have been better off drafting Robert Quinn and then re-signing Manny Lawson. Quinn and Fairley took big drops, and the teams that took them pounced on both top prospects on the D-Line. While the Rams and Lions are set on the line and have needs elsewhere, they took the best guys available and acquired two elite prospects outside of the top ten.

Prince Amukamara also took a huge plunge, and the Giants finally have a coverage corner. Terrell Thomas is solid, but he's a physical corner that mainly stops the run. Thomas isn't really a coverage player. Aaron Ross and Corey Webster are poor corners, so Amukamara will greatly boost a secondary that just couldn't cover. I love his instincts.
No. 1 Pick
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