The Giants did not get value in Round 1 through Round 3. But that changed in a big way on Day 3. Wonder, the UltimateNYG draft analyst, was very positive on Round 4 pick BJ Goodson and he was even more effusive on the 5th rounder RB Paul Perkins. Lastly, Round 6 Tight End Jerell Adams is another gem too.
RB B.J. Goodson: Productive all the time on the field. “He’s a football player,” says Wonder, which is high praise for anyone he reviews. “I was impressed by him. He can be a good solid contributor, a poor man’s Zach Thomas. Will contribute immediately on specials. He’s a Bart Scott fireplug kind of player, not the greatest but plenty good. Smart. Fills hole. Hits guys. Thick, has an NFL body. Not an unbelievable athlete but he can be a starting MLBer for the Gmen. He is only going to get better. A combo of Thomas and Bart Scott, which is pretty damn good. Not the biggest guy, because he is only 6’1″. If he were 6’3″ he is taken in Round 2. But 2″ is not a lot to a MLBer so this is a very good pick. ESPECIALLY IN ROUND 4. This is a pretty damn good pick to find your starting MLBer in Round 4. He will probably get taken out on 3rd down in a 4-3 nickel, but he can learn coverage and get better there to stick on the field on some passing downs. He can be your MLBer for (many) years to come.”
RB Paul Perkins: “Fantastic pick. Middle to End of Round 3 value. The only knock on Perkins, and one that I find ridiculous, is that he doesn’t have that prototypical huge NFL body they want in that 6’2″ 225 lb frame. Perkins does everything you want him to do in a smaller size (5’10” 208 lbs). This is a really good pick. He catches the ball. He runs the ball well. He is an okay blocker. No injuries to my knowledge of any significance. In my opinion he was the best back in the PAC12. He can play all 3 downs. He can catch 40 passes and run 1000 yds for you. His upside is that he can be a GREAT back. So at Round 5 this is a GREAT pick. Unbelievable value. Plays bigger than he looks. Can run in between the tackles, can run wide on a sweep. He has a burst too. He kind of reminds me of Curtis Martin, although obviously that is not fair to compare him to a Hall of Famer, but the point is that Martin (and Emmitt Smith) broke the mold of the enormous RB being required to be successful. What Curtis Martin did so well was that he picked his way through holes and always got you 4-5 yards. As long as the OL gave you something, he did the rest. And that is the kind of running back Perkins reminds me of. Martin played at 5’11” and 210 lbs. Back to Perkins, he tries hard. He is a good guy. Good hands. He is already much better than Rashad Jennings (it was at this point that Andy became incredulous, but…) right off the bat. He’ll be the #1 back by the middle of the season. GREAT PICK. He is fast enough and quick enough. Good feet, jumps in and out of cuts well. The only negative thing is that because of his size, he is not going to be a guy who can deliver that 6″ or 18″ you need on 4th and 1 near the goal line. He’s not that short yardage guy. But he is EVERYTHING ELSE. He might be the 3rd best RB in the entire draft behind Elliott and Henry. For being able to get him in Round 5, this is an absolute STEAL.”
TE Jerell Adams: “Great pick. Tremendous value. I had him as my 4th rated TE, a Round 3- Round 4 talent. To get him in Round 6 was another terrific draft pick. He is a receiving TE, not an in-line blocking TE. So his weakness is that he is not very strong, not a strong blocker. But forget that because he is perfect for today’s NFL, as he is basically a Big Wide Receiver. He is athletic. Room for him to put on 10 lbs too. 6’6″ tall, can go up and get the ball, so this is perfect for Eli. Eli Manning is going to love this guy. Consider that the Giants added a smurf in Shepard (5’10”) and Eli is going to treasure his tall TE yet more. Adams is like a poor man’s Jimmy Graham. McAdoo needs to take advantage of these weapons and scheme these players to maximize their value. If you can isolate this guy on a LBer it is going to be huge. And that can be done when you have a RB in Perkins who can be on the field in running or passing sets. As an example, 2 TE set, 2 wideouts (Cruz and OBJ), Perkins play action, now Adams slips out and he gets a LBer because the FS is playing over the top on OBJ and the SS has bitten on run. Adams runs a 4.64, so he’s fast. Between his speed and athleticism, he will kill the LBer in coverage. So this is a great pick, and at Round 6, bravo.”
What a tremendous day for the Giants. 3 guys in Round 4, 5, & 6 who are projected as starters. That is a huge haul.
One thing to keep in mind. We trash the Eli Apple pick because of objectivity. It puts more relief into the same objective reviews here on Day 3 because we aren’t kissing a** about all 6 picks… only the ones we see as delivering help to the team commensurate with where they were picked. Apple and Shepard will be good pros. At Round 1 and Round 2 we wanted other players. Round 3’s pick was underwhelming. It is really exciting to have gotten some real nuggets here on Day 3. The Giants desperately needed help at Linebacker, so to get another one, especially in the middle, is extremely good.
That the Giants can find yet another solid RB late in the draft should not surprise anyone who follows the team. We cite this year after year as one of our reasons for not drafting RB high. About the only truly bad thing that came out of this draft was missing two opportunities to draft a fixture Offensive Tackle (in Tunsil or Spriggs). But everything else has solidified well with some terrific drafting here on Day 3. We were not complimentary of Jerry Reese on Day 1 (or Day 2’s pass on Spriggs), but Reese certainly gets the props for bringing in 3 guys in the later rounds who we believe can and will start for the Giants.
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