New York Giants Draft Review

The Giants really had an off year last year. With no leadership and a defense that was more bark than bite, New York had some work to do in the offseason. They decided to draft Jason Pierre-Paul, the physical dynamo defensive end from South Florida. There is no end to this guys athletic ability, as lots of people saw at the combine when he did a bunch of back flips in a row. But backflipping won’t get you to the quarterback and the Giants have their work cut out for them in developing his raw talent.

The defensive line was the strength of the Giants Super Bowl team and they’d like to return to that. They drafted defensive tackle Linval Joseph out of East Carolina. He’s a huge body at 6′4″ and 328 pounds and looks to plug up the middle for their defense. Another spot of weakness was safety with Kenny Philips seeming to be injury prone. Bringing in LSU free safety Chad Jones gives them a big, athletic player that should bring some depth. Phillip Dillard, linebacker out of Nebraska, helps fill the void at middle linebacker left by their staple all bark and no bite player Antonio Pierce. They added some serious strength to the interior of their offensive line by drafting guard Mitch Petrus from Arkansas.

William and Mary defensive end Adrian Tracy gives them another potential edge rusher who can get after the quarterback. Punter Jeff Feagles was the oldest player in the NFL last year, so the Giants filled a need of youth at the punter position drafting Matt Dodge out of East Carolina. New York was able to fill some of it’s needs in the draft, but leadership is something you can’t draft right away and it should still be a concern.

Technorati Tags: 2010 NFL Draft, New York Giants, NFL

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