NFL Draft five-year Review: New York Giants

NEW YORK GIANTS (2010 record: 10-6, finished 2nd in the NFC East)

5-Year NFL Draft Review: General Manager Jerry Reese is entering his fifth year on the job. Since 2007, he has added some good young talent like Steve Smith, Aaron Ross, Ahmad Bradshaw, Kevin Boss, and Kenny Phillips. The Giants scouting department in this 5-year span has done a excellent job in building through the draft. While adding talent they never force upon themselves to take a prospect based on need usually taking the best player available and then utilizing his skills and incorporating them into their system. That approach helped them to win the Super Bowl in 2008. The mid to late rounds of recent drafts have not produced many good results.

2011-(19th overall) Prince Amukamara - CB - Nebraska: Prince is one of the premier cover corners in the 2011 NFL Draft. The Giants have plenty of depth at the position with Amukamara now in the mix. The Giants went with best player available strategy, as they have been doing in recent drafts, instead of drafting and reaching at a position of need. Prince should immediately have the inside track as the nickel corner. He is physical at the line and has enough speed to run with any wide receiver in the NFL.

2010-(15th overall) Jason Pierre-Paul - DE - South Florida: He has tremendous speed and explosiveness to pressure the QB. He is extremely raw in his techniques and counts on his athleticism too often instead of smarts. He lacks the lower body strength to hold at the point of attack against the run. He has the ability, length, speed, and rare closing burst to be an impact pass rusher. He had an average rookie year with only 30 tackles and 4.5 sacks mostly because of playing behind such stars as DE Justin Tuck, DE Osi Umenyiora, and DE Mathias Kiwanuka.

2009-(29th overall) Hakeem Nicks - WR - North Carolina: Nicks was drafted to give the Giants and QB Eli Manning a solid number one wide receiver and red zone scoring threat and to replace WR Plaxico Burress who filled that rolled before his trouble with the law. He showed big time playmaking ability as he caught 47 passes for 790 yards and 6 tds his rookie season and this past season had 79 catches for 1052 yards and 11 tds. He is a future star in the making. New York hit a homerun with this draft pick.

2008-(31st overall) Kenny Phillips - S - Miami (Fla.): Phillips has the size, athleticism, and playmaking ability to be a perennial pro bowler. Up to this moment he has been very inconsistent some of it being due to not staying healthy for his short career. The Giants secondary really suffers when he is not in the lineup and usually gives up big passing plays. If Phillips can regain his playmaking abilities and become more consistent like his rookie season the Giants defense will greatly benefit.

2007-(20th overall) Aaron Ross - CB - Texas: Ross has had lingering hamstring issues the past couple of seasons missing a lot of game time. He is a great cover corner that can matchup with any receiver when healthy. Now with Prince Amukamara, Corey Webster, and Terrell Thomas in the mix at corner the Giants may want to have Ross and Phillips battle it out for the free safety spot, whichever one can stay the healthiest.

Future Outlook: The Giants need to infuse some youth, talent, and depth to the linebacking group. They have a history of not selecting linebackers in the early rounds instead opting to go thru free-agency. Instead of drafting a position of need like outside linebacker or offensive lineman in the 2011 NFL Draft they once again went with the highest rated prospect on their draft board CB Prince Amukamara. New York's main problem in 2010 was the inconsistency bug which led to some head scratching losses. The Giants also led the league in turnovers with 42. If they can solve that problem and produce better on special teams they have the talent offensively and defensively to make a playoff run in 2011. QB Eli Mannning has some very good receivers and the running game is led by the two headed monster of Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs. The defense is led by the big guys up front DE Justin Tuck, DE Osi Umenyiora, DE Mathias Kiwanuka, and DT Barry Cofield. OT Anthony Castonzo (Boston College) I feel would have been a better fit with the 19th pick overall.