A Giant Monday, see ya Holmes!

What up Holmes?

In the 2005 draft, the Giants surprised many by trading down from the 25th pick in the 1st round with the Pittsburgh Steelers, moving from pick 25 to pick 32 (the Steelers selected wide receiver Santonio Holmes and as a surprise to many, the Giants selected another pass rushing defensive end, Mathias Kiwanuka. The Giants also received a 3rd round pick (Gerris Wilkinson) and a 4th round pick (Guy Whimper) as part of the trade down. How did that work out for everyone?
Kiwanuka has been a heady player, pretty strong against both the run and as a pass rusher, Holmes is, as of now, no longer a member of the Steelers, shipped in a deal to the other New York team (mean green Jets) for a 5th round pick in this year’s draft (oh, and the deal comes with the news that Holmes has been suspended four (4) games to kick off the 2010 season as part of league imposed discipline for violation of the substance abuse policy. Well, I am sure being in New York will help Santonio stay out of trouble, or not. Meanwhile, the Jets make yet another trade which can be characterized as low risk, high reward, “high” in the most liberal sense of the word of course.
Now, appropriately, onto Giants news for your Monday morning. Other than quietly hosting free agent center/guard Darnell Stapleton last week, the Giants have been pretty quiet as we enter into the stretch run before next week’s draft. No word yet on whether Stapleton will be wearing blue next year, he is young guy with starting experience and some nice upside and versatility, but also lingering knee injury questions as well (that’s not good folks), hence, why we haven’t heard more yet. If his knee checks out, bring him in, if not, I continue to think that the G-men are candidates to select the best offensive lineman on the board (via staying put or via a trade down in round 1) like Anthony Davis, Maurkice Pouncey, or Mike Iupati), just have a feeling on this one.
Also, don’t discount the Giants bringing in either Derrick Morgan or Jason Pierre-Paul in Round 1, Jerry loves pass rushers and I am not so sure that the Osi situation is truly resolved or will be resolved by training camp 2010, we’ll see, but I can completely see the Giants hedging their bet here.
Starting to think that the Giants will come away with a defensive tackle prospect in the first three rounds, just not in round one (think Cam Thomas, Mike Neal), would be nice to see the G-men add a guy with some bulk to help the linebacking core (hopefully a revamped one after the draft) have clear paths to the football.
Stay Blue!