Excellent Value Taken by Gmen on Day 3!

<![CDATA[The Draft is 3 days and 7 rounds long.  Tom Brady and Ahmad Bradshaw will tell you that.  Jerry Reese and the Giants did a great job on Day 3 of collecting a lot of good talent for where they picked.  This will hopefully translate to production on the field.

Our draft analyst Wonder is not perfect; he’s always on the record, good AND bad.  But the last time he was excited about the latter rounds for the Giants was 2009. That was the year they took Andre Brown, who might very well have had a tremendous career if he did not tear his Achilles his rookie year. Some of his other likes, like Bomar, did not pan out, but he saw opportunity for where the Giants took those players.

This year his verdict on Day 3 is a resounding success for the Giants.  He absolutely believes the Giants got 3 solid players who will contribute at the pro level: RB Andre Williams, OLB Devon Kennard and CB Bennett Jackson.  In order to put how well the Giants did in perspective, look at these players rankings in the table below vs where they were taken:

Wonder’s praise for the RB Andre Williams pick is effusive.  As he explains it, the grade for Williams went way up for WHO took the player.  If the SD Chargers took him, he would not be ranked as high.  (Similiarly, this is one of the reasons why he dropped the Richburg rating, based on scheme. Yes, we are aware that McAdoo may be changing the scheme, but that’s not yet there.)  Williams will get that yard for the Giants on 3rd and 1.  He’s got upside and can pound the ball, something that Jennings and Wilson do not do.  So this is a very good fit for the Giants.  Add that the Giants have historically drafted RB very well in the latter part of the draft and our confidence in this pick is higher than it would be otherwise.

OLB Devon Kennard is great value.  He has the potential to become a starter.  He certainly will be able to contribute on specials.  He’s a classical 4-3 OLB with decent speed, something Wonder does not say about LBers easily.  He can rush the passer a little. He can go into coverage a little. He’s a good solid pick for when the Giants picked him. No, he’s not likely to become a Pro Bowl HOFer, but “he’s a football player,” one of Wonder’s highest compliments.

The Giant Round 6 pick is also a great value.  CB Bennett Jackson has played in big games at ND, good speed, a 4.5 guy.  Decent size.  No, he is unable to transition and turn the way Justin Gilbert can, but he can play and he can stick on your roster.  Given how poorly the Giants have done lately in these latter rounds, that is more than enough to feel pretty good about the potential of the Giants’ 2014 draft.

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