GREAT BLUE NORTH GIANTS DRAFT REPORT Vol 4, No 7 October 15, 2009

Still taking care of business … For the third week in a row the Giants took on and demolished one of the NFL’s bottom feeders in what was supposed to be something of a trap game on Sunday when they embarrassed the once-proud Oakland Raiders 44-7. And again it really wasn’t as close as the score indicated. The Giants were up 28-0 less than 18 minutes into the game and had it on cruise control pretty much the rest of the afternoon.

And while the Giants haven’t exactly been playing Vince Lombardi’s Packers the past three weeks, the win over the Raiders culminated a three-week stretch in which the Giants have dominated as much as anybody in the league in a long while. Indeed, in wins over Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Oakland the Giants outscored the three by a combined total of 95-23; they also averaged 25 first downs a game, while giving up just 9 per week. Most astounding perhaps, in the three weeks the Giants averaged over 300 MORE yards of total offense per game than their trio of opponents. Again, no one is confusing the Buccaneers, Chiefs or Raiders with anything close to resembling a playoff contender - indeed, the three have a combined record of 1-14 with the one win by the Raiders over the Chiefs - however, those kind of numbers aren’t often seen in the NFL on any given Sunday, even from bad teams, much less over a three week stretch.

Given the level of domination over the past three weeks, it hasn’t made a whole lot of sense to grade the Giants by unit, however, with the preliminaries out of the way and the schedule about to become much more demanding in a hurry, here are the Giants’ grades over the first third of the season. And with the 2010 draft now less than 200 days away - 190 to be exact - we have included some thoughts on the potential draft needs for each area at this time.

Quarterback: Eli Manning seems to get a little bit better each year and 2009 has been no exception to date. Indeed, Eli is currently ranked second behind only brother Peyton in the NFL’s mysterious QB-rating system. Eli still throws the odd duck and will go through stretches within games when he is wild and wild again, but overall he seems to be more poised and confident in the pocket this year; in particular, he has been reading the field better and has been finding the open receiver. As well, prior to hurting his foot against the Chiefs, Manning had also been much smoother moving around the pocket, while his release appears more compact and quicker. Meanwhile, David Carr has been solid and relief and has to give the Giants some confidence that they could still contend even if Manning were out for a while. Grade: A

Early read on the chances the Giants take a QB early at the 2010 draft: None… The Giants may continue to use a late round pick or two on a development QB if they feel a player at the position is just too good to pass on, however, they’d probably like a better return than they’ve gotten from either Andre’ Woodson or Rhett Bomar in the past couple of drafts. Other than that though the Giants would look to be pretty well set at the position for the next 5-6 years at least.

Running back: Both Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw are on pace to rush for over 1,100 yards this fall. Jacobs, though, has yet to run with the kind of power that he showed earlier in his career and is averaging just 3.6 yards per carry, a full yard less than his career average coming into the season. In fact, Jacobs has been outplayed to date by Bradshaw who is actually the team‘s leading rusher despite getting barely half Jacobs carries. Indeed, Bradshaw, who is averaging 6.5 yards per carry, has looked like a threat to go all the way just about every time he’s touched the ball this fall. Don’t expect the ratio of carries to change anytime soon, though, as Bradshaw hasn’t been able to practice much because of a foot injury. Neither Bradshaw nor Jacobs, though, has yet to really get involved in the passing game on a consistent basis, although Bradshaw did have a key 55-yard reception on a screen pass in the win over Oakland. Both, however, have blocked very well. Meanwhile, waiver wire pick-up Gartrell Johnson hasn’t looked out of place in garbage time, although he is likely to be ticketed to the inactive squad once Danny Ware returns from an elbow injury. Grade: B

Early read on the chances the Giants take a RB early at the 2010 draft: Less than none!… Barring an injury or other unforeseen calamity, the Giants should head to camp next summer with far more backs than they could possibly use so they may not even want to waste a late round selection on the position. The Giants, though, might be tempted to bring in a FB with a later round choice to give Madison Hedgecock, who may have lost a half a step, a push in training camp.

Wide receiver: Plaxico who! WR was supposed to be a huge question with former go-to guy Plaxico Burress cooling his heels in prison, but Steve Smith has emerged as the best receiver in the league through the first third of the season. Indeed, at his current pace Smith would finish the year with a remarkable 118 receptions and over 1,500 yards. And while normally thought of as a possession receiver, Smith is tied for second in the league with receptions over 20 yards; the league leader in that category by the way is Mario Manningham, who has emerged as a big-play #2 receiver, although he has been a tad inconsistent on occasion. Meanwhile, the key to the Giants’ passing attack the rest of the way this season could be 2009 first rounder Hakeem Nicks, who didn’t play much early in the year because of an ankle injury, but has TD receptions in each of the past two weeks and looks to be the kind of physical receiver who would be the perfect compliment to Smith. Grade: A-

Early read on the chances the Giants take a WR early at the 2010 draft: Slim to none … With Smith, Nicks, and Maningham supported by Domenik Hixon and Ramses Barden, the Giants have one of, if not the best young receiver corps in the league.

Tight end: Starter Kevin Boss has 10 catches, including some big plays, and appears to have the skills to do more, but for the most part, the Giants TEs have been kept in to block so far this fall as other teams have crowded the line of scrimmage. Meanwhile, rookie Travis Beckum has started to get more comfortable in the offense as a situational receiver who poses some mach-up problems for opposing defenses, while Darcy Johnson did a nice job filling in for Boss last week against Oakland with a couple of receptions. Grade: C+

Early read on the chances the Giants take a TE early at the 2010 draft: Slim… Boss has the skills to be a real star in a scheme that features the TE. The Giants, though, could use a later round pick to bring in someone to compete with Johnson for the #2 role or as an extra blocking TE.

Offensive line: There were whispers around the NFL that the Giants offensive line could start to slip this fall, but someone forgot to tell Snee, Diehl and company. The run blocking hasn’t been quite as crisp as in the past couple of seasons, but the pass protection has been exemplary as QB Eli Manning has only been sacked twice all year. RG Chris Snee, in particular, continues to quietly establish himself as one of the best offensive linemen in the game, while both RT Kareem McKenzie and C Shaun O’Hara should at least get some Pro Bowl interest later this year. Grade: A-

Early read on the chances the Giants take an OL early at the 2010 draft: Moderate … The fact that OT Will Beatty, the Giants’ second round pick at the 2009 draft, is the first offensive lineman off the bench tends to indicate the Giants like his potential as a possible future LT. If nothing else, Beatty will be given a year or two to develop at that spot meaning the Giants likely won’t use that early a pick on an OT Compared with most other units on the Giants, though, which almost all have several good young players with the potential to step into the starting line up, there isn’t a ton of quality depth on the offensive line. As such the Giants might be tempted to take an offensive lineman or two in the mid-to-late rounds this year, especially on the inside. As well, while no one up front is all that close to being categorized as a graybeard, there is a little age creeping into the OL as O’Hara is 32, while McKenzie and his bad back and LG Rich Seubert are both 30 and LT Dave Diehl 29.

Defensive line: Sometimes the best laid plans work out; sometimes they don’t! First and foremost, the Giants’ plan to get back to the Super Bowl was built around what was supposed to be a dominating pass rush. It hasn’t quite worked out that way to date as various members of the front four deal with injury issues. DE Justin Tuck, for example, has played much of the year with one arm, while fellow DE Osi Umenyiora appears to be still feeling his way after missing the entire 2008 campaign with a knee injury. Meanwhile DT Chris Canty has barely played because of a hamstring problem. Still, the Giants have gotten decent pressure to date, including 14 sacks, 11 of which came in the past couple of games, although it hasn’t always been consistent. For the record, Tuck leads the team with 3.5 sacks, while Umenyiora has 3 and DE Mathias Kiwanuka another two. However, if these guys ever really get going watch out. At the same time, the DT rotation has done a solid job of clogging up the middle, with the exception of the game in Dallas, although none of Fred Robbins, Barry Cofield or Rocky Bernard has necessarily made a lot of plays themselves. Grade: B

Early read on the chances the Giants take a DE/DT early at the 2010 draft: Low to moderate… Assuming everybody returns healthy next summer - remember DT Jay Alford who was having a breakout camp of sorts himself this summer before going on IR with a knee will hopefully also be back in 2010 - the Giants will have a ton of capable bodies along the defensive front, but could grab a potentially dominating DT if one were available early on, while they might consider another pass-rushing DE later in the draft - one can never have enough pass rushers - in what should be an excellent draft year at both DE and DT.

Linebacker: An average group has played about average this fall to date. MLB Antonio Pierce, for example, has appeared to be a little more mobile this year and leads the Giants in tackles; he’s also been better in coverage - although that isn’t necessarily saying much - but he still really struggles to get off big blockers on plays between the tackles. At the same time, SSLB Danny Clark doesn’t get caught out of position much, but also doesn’t make many - well any - impact plays, while Chase Blackburn has brought some nice energy to the unit while filling in for an injured Michael Boley. The Giants, though, got a peek at what the future at LB might look like in the two games Boley was able to play as he showed a different level of speed and instincts from the rest of the group. Meanwhile, Bryan Kehl and Jonathan Goff have played well on special teams. Grade: B-

Early read on the chances the Giants take a LB early at the 2010 draft: Low to moderate… Whether the Giants opt to use an early pick at the 2010 draft on a LB may depend on whether they think either Blackburn or Goff can adequately replace Pierce in the middle at some point down the road. Same story at SSLB where Kehl and 2009 second rounder Clint Sintim have plenty of potential. In the end, we wonder if LB will be all that much of a priority because with at least Boley penciled in as a 3-down backer for the foreseeable future, there really isn’t a lot of room for another 3-downer such that any LB the Giants did draft wouldn’t likely be a full-time player anytime soon.

Secondary: The defensive backfield may be the best story on the Giants so far this fall as the banged up unit has more than held its own even though starting FS Kenny Phillips and CB Aaron Ross as well as nickel corner Kevin Dockery have played little or not at all because of injuries. In fact, the Giants lead the league both in allowing opponents to complete only 52% of their pass attempts as well as the fewest total passing yards allowed. Indeed, in the latter category the Giants are allowing only a measly 105 yards a game with the #2 team not even close. It all starts with CB Corey Webster who gets tested so infrequently he may have to start buying a ticket to get into games in the future. And opposing teams haven’t had much more success trying to pick on third-year CB Terrell Thomas who stepped in for Ross on the other side, although his tackling has left something to be desired. Meanwhile unheralded undrafted rookie free agent Bruce Johnson held up well replacing Dockery. At the same time, safeties Michael Johnson and C.C. Brown, who are second and fifth on the team in tackles, have done a nice job in run support, although neither has much range in coverage. Indeed, its somewhat surprising that other teams haven’t really tried to throw the ball deep over the middle to date. Grade: A

Early read on chances take a DB early at the 2010 draft: High… Even before FS Kenny Phillips went on IR with what could be a career-threatening knee problem, the Giants were thin at safety. And with Phillips’ long-term availability in question, safety figures to be the team’s top priority at the upcoming draft. Indeed, even if Phillips makes a full recovery, we’d like to see the Giants add another FS with range and ball skills and consider sliding #21 over to the SS. The Giants also have to be just tad concerned about how long CB Aaron Ross has taken to recover from a pulled hamstring. Because of his long, sprinter’s frame, Ross could be susceptible to such problems in the future which could have the Giants looking at corners as early as the middle rounds this coming spring for some added depth.

Special teams: P Jeff Feagles is still one of the better punters in the game even though he seems be going on 90, while both the punt and kick coverage teams have been solid! On the other hand, PK Lawrence Tynes has made even chip-shot FG attempts into white-knuckle events, while Sinorice Moss has been an adventure returning kicks. Moss’ days as the Giants’ primary return man are likely numbered though as both Domenik Hixon and Danny Ware, the team’s nominal punt and KO returners respectively, appear ready to return from injury. Grade: C-

Early read on chances take a special teamer early at the 2010 draft: None … That’s not to say though that the Giants might not look at a major upgrade for the special teams this off-season with a PK to compete with Tynes as well as a true return specialist. And of course someday they will need a replacement for the venerable Feagles.

Are you ready for some football!! … Sunday’s game with Oakland had all the look and feel of a pre-season contest complete with the starting QB taking a seat before half-time. Which seems appropriate because for all intents and purposes the real season starts for the Giants this coming Sunday when they travel to New Orleans to take on the 4-0 Saints, one of the three remaining unbeaten teams in the NFC along with the Giants and the resurgent Minnesota Vikings. And the game with Saints starts a streak of 11 games in which the Giants scheduled opponents have a combined W-L percentage of almost .700.

While it is still early, Sunday’s game in New Orleans has real potential playoff implications as the winner gets a leg up on the home-field tie-breaker should it come down to that in January. Certainly, the Saints, whose resume so far this year includes a 48-22 thrashing of the Eagles right in Philadelphia, as well as a 24-10 win over the Jets two weeks ago, will be the best team the Giants have played so far this year. And while the Saints are probably best known for QB Drew Brees and the passing attack, the turnaround in New Orleans has really been keyed by an improved defense as well as a surprising ground attack. Indeed, the Saints currently rank #2 in the NFL in rushing with RBs Mike Bell, Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush all contributing. Thomas, though, may be limited by a lingering hamstring problem this weekend.

This is still New Orleans, though, and the guy that makes it go is QB Brees who is finally starting to get some mention as one of the NFL’s elite QBs. Brees is currently the 3rd ranked passer in the league, and the top-rated one not named Manning. Ironically, Brees’ numbers so far this year are very similar to those of the Giants’ Eli. Brees, though, tends to be a little more accurate with a completion rate of 67% versus 64% for Eli, but tends to be a little more dink-and-dunk and has averaged almost a yard less per completion than the Giants’ Manning. Brees has a couple of deep threats in WRs Marques Colston and Devery Henderson, both of whom are on pace to accumulate around 1,000 receiving yards this fall. Then, of course, there is former Giants’ TE Jeremy Shockey who now wears #88 for New Orleans. Finally healthy for the first time in what seems like forever, Shockey is having a pretty good season in which he is on pace to haul in over 70 passes, although he is also only averaging about 9 yards a reception as he has clearly lost a step since his heydays in New York.

For the record, the Saints have also gotten great productivity from an emerging offensive line that has only given up 4 sacks to date. The Saints, though, will be without star LT Jammal Brown who went on injured reserve late last month. He’ll be replaced by journeyman Jermon Bushrod who Osi Umenyiora will look to exploit. Meanwhile, starting OG Jahri Evans has been held out of practice this week by a turf toe injury. Whoever ultimately plays along the Saints’ offensive line, though, will benefit from the fact that Brees is very hard to sack because he gets rid of the ball so quickly.

The real key to the Saints’ resurgence this fall though has been a much improved defense that currently ranks 6th in the NFL, up from 23rd just a year ago. The Saints have been especially tough to run on this year with an active front seven that has allowed less than 85 yards a game on the ground, while holding opposing backs to just 3.7 yards per carry. The Saints, though, have been vulnerable at times to the pass. They don’t get much of a pass rush from anyone other than DEs Will Smith and Charles Grant and neither of those guys is going to the Pro Bowl this year. The secondary can also be exploited, especially CB Jabari Greer. One player Giants’ QB Eli Manning will want to account for an almost every play, though, is veteran FS Darren Sharper who has discovered the fountain of youth in New Orleans where he already has 5 picks this fall, two of which he has returned for scores.

Old home week in New Orleans… The major sub-plot in New Orleans other than the fact Sunday’s game will be the first time the Giants have faced Jeremy Shockey since the trade to the Saints after the 2008 draft will be Eli Manning‘s return home. Manning is from New Orleans, but hasn’t played there since high school so will need to keep his emotions in check. Meanwhile, along with Shockey, the Giants will renew acquaintances with several former teammates including PK John Carney who is kicking for the Saints this fall. The Saints are also hoping DT Kendrick Clancy and TE Darnell Dinkins, another pair of former Giants both of whom have not played to date this fall because of injuries, will be good to go on Sunday.

Fearless forecast … At least on paper, the Giants simply match up better against the Saints than visa versa: Giants 23 Saints 20.

College guys to watch… Speaking of the 2010 draft, there are a couple of games of real national interest on the college schedule Saturday afternoon including Southern California at Notre Dame (3:30 PM ET; NBC) and the Oklahoma and Texas shoot-out in Dallas on ABC at Noon ET. Players to watch from the perspective of the Giants’ 2010 draft interests include Notre Dame OT Sam Young (#74, 6-7, 330), who plays LT for the Irish but probably better projects to the right side in the NFL, and SS Kyle McCarthy (#28, 6-0, 200), along with USC junior C Kris O’Dowd (#61, 6-4, 305), the top C in college football although he’s had some injury problems in the past, LT Charles Brown (#71, 6-5, 295) and DB Josh Pinkard (#36, 6-1, 215) when the Irish hosts the Trojans. Pinkard is an interesting prospect in that he has missed a ton of time with several serious injuries, but when healthy is a LB-sized DB who actually plays a lot of corne with the Trojans. The Oklahoma-Texas lost much of its luster when the Sooners lost twice while star QB Sam Bradford, the presumptive #1 pick this year if he opts to enter the upcoming draft, was out with a sprained shoulder, however, there are always quality players to watch when the Sooners and Longhorns hook up including OU OT Trent Williams (#71, 6-5, 320) and DT DeMarcus Granger (#96, 6-2, 330), while Texas players worth a look include OT Adam Ulatoski (#74, 6-6, 310) and LB Rod Muckleroy (#38, 6-1, 235).

Have a really great weekend!