That’s a Wrap!
Remember: these are my opinions. Take them with a grain of salt until you see the players for yourself because as I wrote to the Inside Football subscribers, stars and busts aren’t made in the rookie mini camp.
Remember that this mini camp was nothing more than a massive orientation. So with that said, here is my summary...
Most Impressive: Mario Manningham. I swore to myself this year I wouldn’t go ga-ga over the wide receiver mainly because the last two years when I’ve gone ga-ga over a drafted wide receiver, he’s ended up missing part s of the season due to injury. In fact now that I think of it, I wonder if I jinxed Manningham by waxing on so enthusiastically about him in my marathon 5,100-word day-one report? If I did, then I owe the kid an apology.
Seriously, Manningham might have some trouble expressing himself verbally, but he runs really nice routes and made several pretty catches on balls that weren’t exactly on the money. I also admire his confidence and his swagger. He remind me a lot of a young Plaxico Burress in that regard, and I think if Manningham puts in the effort that we saw from Burress in 2007, and he keeps his nose clean, he’s going to be something special.
Didn’t See Enough of: Kenny Phillips. Thank goodness for the video clips on the Giants first round draft pick from his days at Miami otherwise I probably still wouldn’t know a whole lot about him as a player. As a free safety, Phillips didn’t get a whole lot of opportunity in the first day of mini camp (possibly because it was in the bubble and not many plays were run at him). When he moved to strong safety, since there is no contact allowed in these drills, it was hard to really gauge his abilities there. But those chances that Phillips did get left me wanting to see more. I do have a good feeling about him as a ball hawk and I wouldn’t be shocked to see his weekly snaps increase to the point where he is starting by season’s end.
Most Disappointing: I hate to assign this category to anyone because it’s a rookie mini camp. These kids are coming in and being asked to learn a brand new system and execute it as best as they can, and all they really get on the first day is a couple hours at the most of meeting time to learn their assignments.
But you gotta do what you gotta do, and I have to give the nod to QB Andre' Woodson, who was inconsistent in his first day and who didn’t wow me on his second day before he was forced to the sideline with a pulled quad. What I still don’t understand is that every time we (the media) heard from Woodson, he was telling us how good he was doing.
Now granted, not all of the incomplete passes and drops were his fault, but I have to believe that SOME were of his doing. I also thought at times he took too long to make his reads and as I noted in my marathon report, he has a bit of a long windup (though not as bad as what Jared Lorenzen had when he was a rookie).
To be fair though, all of the quarterbacks in camp weren’t impressive on this initial showing, so it’s not just Woodson. And I do think with time and coaching he will get better. For now, though I don’t think Lorenzen has anything to worry about.
Most Surprising: (Tie) Linebackers Jonathan Goff and Bryan Kehl are a couple of playmakers just waiting to be born. It’s rather interesting as if memory serves me correctly, they were roommates for this camp which I found funny because Kehl is very outgoing whereas Goff is a man of a few words. But both are very athletic, very active players who share a hunger for wanting to be around the ball. Both had more than just a handful of moments this weekend where they flashed, and not surprisingly, both head coach Tom Coughlin and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo spoke glowingly of both young men.
Keep Your Eye On: Terrell Thomas. He’s probably going to battle Kevin Dockery for the nickel position, and from what little I saw, I think he could best Dockery, a former undrafted free agent. I don’t know if Thomas will unseat Corey Webster as a starter just yet, but I do think this kid, who as the number two pick is drawing less attention than Super Mario at #3, is going to surprise a few people once he gets going in camp.
Sleeper Pick: WR DJ Hall. I realize that this undrafted free agent has an uphill battle to make the roster given the numbers situation, and right now I’m picking him for the practice squad. However, as I’ve written before, I think the receiver battle is going to be the one to keep an eye on this summer. They have such incredible depth here (assuming everyone is healthy) that who’s to say GM Jerry Reese won’t try to swing a trade with someone, similar to what he did last year when he had an excess of running backs and he was able to get something for Ryan Grant?
While I know that the Giants haven’t given up on Sinorice Moss, for some reason I still think he’s the one player who might bring something of value if they do engineer a trade. But Moss isn’t going anywhere until at least training camp comes to a close – and even then there is no guarantee.
The Happiest Coaches: Receivers Coach Mike Sullivan and Special Teams Coordinator Tom Quinn. Sullivan must be drooling over the crop of receivers he has to work with this summer. Ditto for Quinn, who will have the pick of the litter as far as who he lines up on special teams this summer. Actually all of the coaches have a nice crop of talent to work with, but receiver and special teams are going to be two areas I think are going to be most interesting to see unfold.
The “Yuck” Moment: For those of you who like the little behind the scenes stuff that never makes it into print, I’ll share a quick story. When I met one of the rookies – I won’t say who in order to protect the young and innocent – as I always do, I extended my hand as I introduced myself.
Well this particular rookie must have been caught off guard by my best business manners because when he went to reciprocate the handshake, apparently he forget he was clutching something, um, slimy in his paw -- a wad of used tissues. SThe rookie, realizing what had happened, quickly discarded the offending wad into the nearest trash bin, but it was too late. I had been “christened.”
And in case you’re wondering, no I didn’t embarrass the kid. I calmly did the interview -- after all I had requested the young man so if I'm going to drag them away from whatever it is they do during their break, I'm going to follow through. I thanked the kid when we were done, and then I discretely took care of the, um, problem.
Final Thoughts: When I look at the rookies – and granted I didn’t get a chance to look at every single one brought into camp, but my overall impression was possible, even with the sloppiness of the first and second days. It’s clear that Jerry Reese and the front office favors speed, athleticism and versatility, and I think every single player on that mini camp roster, whether he’s signed or not, brings that to the table, some more than others.
These young men are eager pupils who, to my eyes, didn’t seem like they were in awe of the fact that they were attempting to become a part of the defending Super bowl champions. They also handled themselves well in front of the media, which peaks volumes about their maturity.
The next step for them, as I have said before, will be to see how they do with the veterans. Certainly we’ll want to look for improvement as the level of competition increases and the speed of the game goes up a few notches. But even then, because of the limited contact in spring camps, we still won’t know for certain whom the cream of the crop will be.
But I will say this. Having entered my coverage of this camp with a lukewarm feeling about the draft class and the rookies in general, I have a much different perspective now. I’m looking forward to seeing these guys again on the gridiron and I feel confident that once they begin working with their position coaches on a daily basis, many of them will improve by leaps and bounds the next time we, the media, get to see them in action.
Up Next: As I mentioned, they’ll have some early morning meetings tomorrow and then be sent on their way. The rookies can then rejoin the team this Friday at which time they’ll meet the veterans, who will be back from their week off from the off-season conditioning program.
The Organized Team Activities (OTAs) start on May 30th, and the whole team should be there -- with most likey guys who haven’t been cleared medically, or who might be contemplating retirement or who might not be happy with their role on the team. That's another blog for another day.
Anyway, thanks for reading.
