Giants Draft Day Three
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Round 4: MLB Philip Dillard (Nebraska)
Round 5: G Mitch Petrus (Arkansas)
Round 6: DE/OLBAdrian Tracy (William & Mary)
Round 7: Matt Dodge (ECU)
Day 3 of the draft has finally yielded a middle linebacker, depth on the offensive line, and special teams help. Here is the skinny: Dillard looks like he could be a good fit on this defense, you have to think Jonathan Goff is the favorite to start, but Dillard has good size and speed and if the defensive line plays strong (big things have to be expected from Linval Joseph to clog the middle and provide a push, same for Canty), either Goff or Dillard could thrive in a clean up, fly to the ball role.
Petrus is a good fit Round 5, he is a power type of guard, and the Giants need some more talent and depth. Petrus could very well grow into a pretty solid starter. Will be interesting to see who the odd man is out on the offensive line (Seubert and McKenzie are the two likely targets) after the anticipated insertion of William Beatty into the lineup. Round 6 yielded Adrian Tracy from william & Mary (20 sacks over the past two seasons, yes, we love large sack totals) is a good prospect whose main contribution should be on special teams, but he also is a very good athlete.
A collective groan can still be heard by Giants fans for the raiders selection of Rolando McClain at pick 8 in Round 1 and for the Giants passing up on Sean Lee and/or Daryl Washington in Round 2, but the Giants also needed to address their defensive line and they came away with the best pass rusher in this draft (Pierre-Paul is classic boom or bust, but he fits very well on this defense and I think this kid is going to be a star), the Giants grab a defensive tackle who has the ability to dominate on the inside and gives great size, plays with very good power in the middle, which was desperately missing last year. Reese stocked up on defensive line talent and Pierre-Paul and Joseph both will have a chance to make contributions right away, can’t argue with the thought process there (to put it nicely, the play of the entire defensive line was underwhelming in 2009). Chad Jones (chosen in Round 3) has every shot to grab punt return duties and provides a nice speed and size combination, Jones is another guy with very nice upside (yes, upside is the name of this draft for Jerry Reese, but I think they also really expect these guys, even Pierre-Paul, to contribute and make an impact in year one). Why Matt Dodge? Jeff Feagles may not return, which is a bit of shock given he signed a new deal this off-season, so suddenly, Dodge and Jy Bond (picked up earlier this off-season) will be waging a nice little special teams battle.
No word yet on undrafted free agents. but Reese is likely targeting the offensive line, running back, and corner, we’ll keep you updated and stay blue!