During a phone conversation at mid-week, Ron Dayne excused himself when his call-waiting beeped. When he returned, he stated “That was the Giants on the line, checking in.”
Several weeks ago, Shaun Alexander visited Giants Stadium and came away feeling the Giants had an “awesome” coaching staff and that Jason Sehorn was “”real cool.”
Alexander also admitted that players and coaches were struck by how much he sounds like Tiki Barber. All it takes is one listen to determine the similarity in their accents and speaking pattern is uncanny.
“That’s what everyone says, that I sound just like Tiki,” Alexander said.
So it goes as the NFL Draft approaches. Players who later today will have no link whatsoever to the Giants spent the past few weeks experiencing close encounters with not only the Giants, but also a variety of teams, with these courtships ending the minute some other team selects them.
For the Giants, the first round of the draft will likely include the choice of either Alexander or Dayne with the 11th overall pick, as this does appear to be the year for this franchise to give us no great first-round surprise.
No doubt, either running back will soothe the increasingly bruised psyches of the Giants faithful, as adding players at marquee positions does wonders for fan morale. Judging from the way the Giants winds have blown the past few days, it is believed they will select Alexander, if he’s available.
As a complete package and a record-breaker at Alabama, Alexander will likely get the nod because he’s faster than Dayne and also a better blocker and pass receiver. Dayne, the 250-pound Heisman Trophy winner from Wisconsin, has intrigued the Giants, and he certainly wouldn’t be a bad consolation prize if Alexander is gone.
“I think they want me,” Alexander said, “and I like their team.”
There is a small chance the Giants will cross up the predictions and go with a defensive player with their first pick. If so, anticipate it will be linebacker Julian Peterson of Michigan State.
The vast pre-draft hype every year is always heavily concentrated on the first round, but the draft doesn’t end there. Far from it. The Giants own all seven of their picks and will select 11th in all seven rounds. With their second pick, they likely will take a linebacker, perhaps Barrett Green of West Virginia, Raynoch Thompson of Tennessee or Na’il Diggs of Ohio State.
In the later rounds, the Giants must add a defensive lineman, want to pick up a cornerback and perhaps get another offensive lineman.
After the bells and whistles of the first round, this is likely to be a defensive-oriented draft for the Giants, who are alarmingly thin in terms of depth on defense. “”Just from a numbers standpoint, we need guys,” defensive coordinator John Fox said.
Admitting his team needs more speed, GM Ernie Accorsi said the club’s evaluation process has been altered a bit in terms of sizing up players. In the past, the Giants were fairly rigid in their approach, sticking with height and weight requirements when assembling their draft board. Given the league’s accent on quickness and explosion, the Giants have down-sized their requirements.
“Players change and the system has to adjust,” Accorsi said. “You can’t use the same standard every year.”
Using the softened requirements last year, the 1999 draft class, after one season, must be considered far from an immediate success. First-round pick Luke Petitgout bombed as a guard and will be tried this season at tackle, his natural position.
Injuries robbed Joe Montgomery and Sean Bennett of time. The most significant contribution came from Mike Rosenthal, a fifth-round pick, who replaced Petitgout at left guard.
As always, Jim Fassel will have significant imput in the draft process, which will be coordinated by Marv Sunderland, the director of player personnel. Accorsi has final say.
“Everyone looks at the game a little different,” Accorsi said. “One thing about Jim and Marv and I, we all kind of see it the same way.”
The way Fassel is seeing it is that adding aggressive, swift players is essential, no matter that those players do not fit into neat packages.
“After the first heart-throbs in each position, let’s not try to tell us why this guy can’t play and why this guy can’t play,” Fassel said. “Find me some guys who can play. Some heart, speed, desire.
“Does the [draft] depth look good initially? No, it makes you nervous, but as we keep going through this, bring me somebody who has a big up side to him, and that’s who we have to pick.”