Report: JPP “Honorable Mention” In All-Rookie Defense

NFP has their all rookie defense nominations up today and while Greg Gabriel selected 5 defensive lineman to fill out his roster, he could only “start” 4. So the Giants Jason Pierre-Paul got an honorable mention:

"In the end it got down to five players but I only could select four. Because of that I give strong honorable mention to Jason Pierre–Paul of the Giants. Pierre-Paul didn’t get much playing time early but had a strong second half of the season."

The full D-line is as follows:

"Ndamukong Suh – Detroit, Lamarr Houston – Oakland, Tyson Alualu – Jacksonville, Carlos Dunlap – Cincinnati"

In other news, the highly coveted MLB draft choice from last year, Rolando McClain who went to the Raiders just one pick ahead of the Giants selection, made the cut.  Here is what was said about McClain:

"Rolando McClain had a great season at Mike linebacker for the Raiders. He started off playing mostly on run downs but as the season progressed he played more in passing situations. He is an excellent run defender who is strong and physical and shows very good awareness in pass coverage."

And of course, defensive backs Earl Thomas and Eric Berry also made the list:

"Earl Thomas had an outstanding year for Seattle. He has corner athletic ability and speed to go along with big-time hitting ability. He finished with 75 tackles and 5 interceptions.Eric Berry is much like Thomas. He has corner speed, athleticism and cover ability and the instincts and hitting ability needed at safety. He had 92 tackles and 4 interceptions."

So basically, if any of these guys were selected by the Giants and utilized their first year – odds are they would have had an immediate impact.  Good to know that all research and discussion from last years mock drafts actually paid off in terms of recognizing talent. In other words, there were no big league busts that the Giants were considering for their first picks… and I think JPP had a good enough year to warrant his honorable mention here.