After choosing to bypass holes at tight end and offensive line in the first two days of the draft, the New York Giants hammered in on them on Day 3, choosing projects with potential high upside.
4. #127- Adrien Robinson- TE (Cincinnati)
After the signing of Martellus Bennett, the Giants felt content to wait until the later rounds to select a tight end, a philosophy that has worked out well for them in the past with Kevin Boss in the fifth round and Jake Ballard who went undrafted.
Robinson is considered a boom or bust kind of prospect. He’s 6-4 and 256 pounds with freakish athleticism. He also ran in the 4.5s at the Combine, so he’s moderately fast. The problem is he wasn’t exactly productive in college; 12 catches last year and 29 for his college career.
Some will say the Giants would have been better of going with Coby Fleener or Dwayne Allen early. However, Giants TE coach Mike Pope has been able to get blood out of a stone in many cases with his tight ends, and Robinson should be no different. If Pope can help Robinson realize his potential, the Giants offense will take on an entirely new level of explosiveness.
Grade: A
4. #131- Brandon Mosley- OT (Auburn)
Late in the fourth round, the Giants finally decided to address their O-line deficiency.
Mosley is a behemoth, standing in at 6″5 and 318 pounds. He was a TE early on, but became an offensive lineman in 2010, and was named to the second all SEC team in 2011. He is considered primarily a right tackle.
A National Football Post scouting report says that Mosley is a tough, aggressive tackle who needs to work on his technique and the use of his hands. There are also concerns about whether Mosley is too top heavy and if he can maintain leverage against top defensive ends.
Given that rookie James Brewer saw almost no playing time in 2011, it’s fair to question if Mosley will get much playing time. There are some factors working in his favor. One, he will have a full offseason to refine his game and learn the Giants playbook. Two, the Giants got abysmal right tackle play from Kareem McKenzie, and if the Giants stick with their plan of veteran David Diehl at right tackle, it could potentially be even worse. If the Giants do hold an actual competition, Mosley may just be able to beat him out.
It’s unclear how much the Giants will get from Mosley in his rookie year. Down the line, Mosley could become a big time starter for the team. Taking on a prospect like him at the very end of the fourth is a risk worth taking.
Grade: A
6. #201- Matt McCants- OT (UAB)
The Giants, not satisfied with the depth at O-line, added another prospect with McCants in the 6th round.
McCants is also a big tackle, standing in at 6″6 and weighing in at 308, although there is a belief he needs to add more weight.
However, McCants is very raw and had an unimpressive combine. He ran a sloth-like 5.45 on the 40 yard dash, and only bench pressed 17 times, low for an offensive lineman.
While McCants has the potential to be a future starter on the O line, there are many questions beside his combine failures. In Pro Football Weekly’s scouting report, they see a guy who misses his target at times, who is slow to react and who doesn’t react well to blitzes.
From the reports, it seems like McCants is a guy who needs a lot of refinement and time to fully integrate himself as a full-fledged tackle. However, in the sixth round, upside should be your target and McCants certainly possesses it.
Grade: B+
7. #239- Markus Kuhn- DT (NC State)
The first thing I thought of when I saw a picture was dear lord, he has tree trunks for arms.
In the seventh round, the Giants finally use their first pick on a defensive lineman, Jerry Reese’s bread and butter.
Kuhn is from Germany, where he played on the defensive line for the Weinhem Longhorns, a team in the best German football league.
In 2011, Kuhn had 45 tackles, 4.5 sacks and three pass deflections. According to CBSSports.com, Kuhn has good ability to penetrate the pocket and at batting passes, but is not able to move well laterally and ends up on the ground often.
There’s also the fact that at age 26, Kuhn is a lot older than most prospects.
Given that the Giants have Chris Canty, Linval Joseph, Marvin Austin and Shaun Rogers ahead of him at defensive tackle, it is highly unlikely Kuhn sees any kind of playing time in 2011.
Unless Kuhn improves a lot, he’ll probably never see the field for the Giants. However, Reese has a gift of finding talented pass rushers and maybe someday Kuhn could become one of them.
Grade: B+
………
Overall draft grade: B+
Unlike their previous drafts, the Giants focused in on their needs, adding talent at running back, offensive tackle, and tight end. Rueben Randle looks like a great replacement for Mario Manningham, and the Giants 4th rounders, Brandon Mosley and Adrien Robinson could end up being steals. However, I can’t help but feel the Giants overreached for a running back in the first round. Running backs are a dime a dozen in the NFL now: Arian Foster, one of the NFL’s best backs, went undrafted and Peyton Hillis, a guy who excelled for Cleveland in 2010, was drafted in the seventh round. The pick is made worse by the fact that two good offensive lineman were waiting for the Giants at the end of the first round, and who could have stepped in from Day One and improved the Giants aging, ineffective line.
The Giants had a very solid draft for the most part, but in my estimation, better value could have been found in the first and probably third.
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