Meet Kenny Phillips. No. 1 on your Giants' draft board. No. 1 at the University of Miami. No. 1 in my heart ... for taking uniform number 21.

Yep, when rookie mini-camp opens today Phillips will be wearing 21, the number formerly worn by some former Giant running back. What was his name? Tiki something. Blabber? Blubber? Berber?

Seriously, it is interesting to me how quickly the Giants have put No. 21 back into circulation. I doubt there will be an outcry like the one that happened this spring when the Yankees tried to put their own No. 21, formerly worn by Paul O'Neill, back in circulation.

In fact, I doubt anyone will really care at all.

Why is it that, in baseball, we get all worked up about uniform numbers and which ones should no longer be worn? In football, though, we don't seem to give a hoot.

The Giants have retired only 11 numbers in their history. They are as follows:

• 1 -- Ray Flaherty
• 4 -- Tuffy Leemans
• 7 -- Mel Hein
  
• 11 -- Phil Simms
• 14 -- Y.A. Tittle
• 16 -- Frank Gifford
• 32 -- Al Blozis
• 40 -- Joe Morrison
• 42 -- Charlie Conerly
• 50 -- Ken Strong
• 56 -- Lawrence Taylor

Oh, and one more thing. Bryan Kehl, the rookie linebacker from BYU, will be wearing No. 53 when he hits the field this morning. Harry Carson's 53.

How is it that Simms has his number retired, but Carson doesn't? Isn't Carson the one in the Hall of Fame?

Honestly, it doesn't bother that 21 is already in circulation for the Giants. It does bother me, though, that the Giants haven't retired Carson's number.

Your thoughts?

In our ongoing look at where the Giants' draft choices fit in, we have reached fifth-round selection Jonathan Goff.

Let's put it bluntly. The selection of the middle linebacker from Vanderbilt is very bad news for fan favorite Chase Blackburn, a good special teams guy who has never gotten a full chance to play.

Antonio Pierce is entering his eighth NFL season, and is still a rock against the run in the middle of the Giants' defense -- as well as one of the team's emotional leaders.

Pierce will play as long as he is healthy. Down the road, though, Goff could be the guy who replaces him.

SI.com had projected Goff as a mid-second round choice, so he was great value in the fifth round.

Here is some video.

So, again, Goff is a guy who could end up knocking Blackburn off this team. If I was Blackburn, I would try to show the coaching staff I could also play outside.

In a very close vote, Dick Lynch edged Mark Haynes, 24-20, for the first cornerback slot on our Big Blue View All-Time Giants Team.

As promised, now we will select the second cornerback. Since many of you wanted Mark Collins on the original ballot, the second corner slot will be between those two.

Go ahead and vote in the poll.

After this, we have one safety slot remaining and our defensive unit is complete.

Big Blue View All-Time Giants Team

Punter -- Sean Landeta
Placekicker -- Matt Bahr
Defensive End -- Michael Strahan
Defensive End -- Leonard Marshall
Defensive Tackle -- Roosevelt Grier
Middle Linebacker -- Harry Carson
Middle Linebacker -- Sam Huff
Outside Linebacker -- Lawrence Taylor
Outside Linebacker -- Brad Van Pelt
Cornerback -- Dick Lynch
Cornerback -- To Be Determined
Safety -- Emlen Tunnell
Safety -- To Be Determined

Today is the last day to vote for the first cornerback slot on our Big Blue View All-Time Giants Team.

You can do that here .

Right now it is a really close call between Dick Lynch and Mark Haynes. After that is settled, I will run a poll allowing you to choose between the second-place finisher and Mark Collins for the second corner slot.

I said the other day I thought Peter King was pretty accurate saying the Giants are the 5th best team in the NFL, but who am I to argue with the Sporting News if they want to put the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants (Saying that just never ever gets old) number one

 Anyway, enjoy! We're number one!

SN Power Poll

One last thing: For my money, its much easier to paste a link in here than the old board

I mentioned last week that I was intrigued by Bryan Kehl, the linebacker from BYU for whom Jerry Reese traded up to choose in the fourth round of the NFL Draft.

Continuing our look at where all the draft choices could fit on the roster, it's time to look at Kehl.

Outside linebackers who could play prominent roles on this team include Mathias Kiwanuka (he's a linebacker until Jerry Reese or Tom Coughlin says otherwise), Gerris Wilkinson, free-agent signee Danny Clark and Zak DeOssie.

Unless Kiwanuka moves back to defensive end, I don't see playing time for Kehl in front of anyone is this group -- at least not right away.

Sports Illustrated was very complementary toward Kehl in it's profile, though.

Kehl is an active linebacker who has watched his game improve the past two seasons. Tough against the run, he also displays skill in coverage and could develop into a starter on the weak side by his second season in the league.

Here's some video, from the SI.com film room.

Kehl seems like a high upside guy a team like the Giants, with some quality players in front of him, can afford to develop.

In terms of the roster, his presence is probably bad news for end of the roster guys like Tank Daniels or Rory Johnson.

"There are days I wake up and I want to play football, and there are days where I wake up and I don't want to play. Right now there are probably more days where I don't want to play than I do."

-- Michael Strahan

What do you guys think? Is the big fella in for a 16th season in his Hall of Fame career? Or will he ride off into the sunset with his Super Bowl ring?

I think he plays.

Let's continue our look at where the various Giants' draft choices fit in. Today, let's look at the very intriguing third-round selection, wide receiver Mario Manningham.

For the sake of this discussion, we aren't going to get into all of the various issues with Manningham that caused him to fall to the Giants in the third round. Let's assume that he comes to training camp with his head screwed on right, stays out of trouble and shows that he can be a productive NFL player. And yes, I know those are all big assumptions.

We also have to assume, for this discussion, that all of the other Giants' receivers are healthy.

So, in that scenario, what can the Giants expect to get from Manningham?

This guy could eventually be a star, but with Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer and the emerging Steve Smith already ahead of him I only see Manningham getting on the field in four wide receiver sets.

What a group of weapons that is for Eli Manning. Those four wide receivers and either Jeremy Shockey or Kevin Boss. Or, forget the tight end and you can have a five wide receiver set that includes Sinorice Moss or Super Bowl hero David Tyree.

That's a pretty darn impressive group of weapons.

I remember saying last off-season that the group of receivers the Giants had assembled looked like the best they had ever had. Injuries and a poor season from Moss made that an overstatement.

If, however, all of these guys are healthy we are again looking at the deepest, most talented group of receivers the Giants have ever put together.

The question will be, if everyone is healthy who doesn't make the team? The Giants won't be quick to cuts Moss, the second-round pick a couple of years ago who has been disappointing so far.

Yet, Tyree is going nowhere. He's a Super Bowl hero, and a terrific special teams guy. Domenic Hixon is also a wide receiver and became the primary kickoff return guy. My guess is he stays this season and returns both kickoffs and punts.

Without injuries, it is going to be very, very difficult for Moss to make this team. If he doesn't, I'm betting he goes on to be the next ex-Giants wideout to have a productive career elswhere (like Ed McCaffrey and Joe Jurevicious).

[NOTE: Taking advantage of some of the new capabilities of SBN 2.0, there are some Manningham details and stats below.]

Giants Extend David Diehl's Contract

In a classy move for a classy guy, the Giants have handed David Diehl a six-year, $31-million contract extension less than three years after his last one. Diehl's agent, Peter Schaffer, confirmed the extension, which was first reported by ESPN.

"It's a recognition by the Giants of David's commitment to the team, his attitude and his personality," Schaffer said. "He's the ultimate team player."

That's true. Diehl has started all 80 regular-season games and six postseason games since he was drafted by the Giants in 2005. He's played through all kinds of pain and everywhere on the offensive line except center -- right guard in 2003, right tackle in '04, left guard in '05 and '06 and left tackle last season after the team cut Luke Petitgout.

No matter what the team has asked of him, Diehl has done it. And he's now played the most important position on the line for a Super Bowl winner.

Schaffer wouldn't discuss the financials of the deal, which was finalized about two weeks ago, but someone familiar with the terms of the contract confirmed ESPN's report of escalators that increase Diehl's contract by $750,000 to $1.1 million if he stays at left tackle.

Diehl's previous contract -- a six-year, $15.5-million extension -- would have expired after the 2011 season. He's now extended through 2013.

I'm curious to know what this does to the Giants cap situation

Congrats to Diehl

Giants announce 4 more rookie signings

The team has announced the signing of four more undrafted free agents:

*Alabama WR D.J. Hall
*Alabama DE Wallace Gilberry
*Tennessee DE Antonio Reynolds
*Michigan State S Nehemiah Warrick

That leaves Army P/K Owen Tolson, Akron DT Nate Robinson and Washburn DT Eric Butler as players who have reportedly signed but haven't been officially announced.

Thanks to Mike Garafolo at the Ledger

Peter King came out with his off-season team rankings yesterday in his weekly 'Monday Morning Quarterback ' column.

He placed the defending Super Bowl champion Giants sixth on his list behind New England, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Dallas (ugh!!) and San Diego.

The only one on the list that really bugs me is Dallas. Talent-wise, I get it. The Cowboys haven't proven they can win when it counts, though. The Giants, obviously, have.

Here is what King said about your defending champions.

This is a team that caught fire at the right time and rode the wave to a title. Was it the best team in football in 2007? For the last two games of the year, yes. For the rest of the season, not even close. But the last two games of the season are the biggest.

Funny how a season progresses: In Weeks 9-14, the Giants went 3-3, losing three times by double digits and winning by six, five and three points. Then, ka-boom.

Moving forward, the Giants will be fortunate if Michael Strahan plays. I think he'll retire because he always said he was playing for a ring, and now he's got it, and a cushy Fox job awaits. But the Giants will still be able to kill the passer if he does because Mathias Kiwanuka will be back healthy.

Eli Manning had a charmed postseason, but he's got to be more accurate than 56.1 percent for the Giants to be better than 14th in scoring offense, which they were a year ago. The encouraging thing about Manning is that the day after the Super Bowl, he was already talking about the things he needed to do to get better. Smart, because he knows he has to be more consistent to be a top quarterback. This should be a maturing offensive team and a threatening team on D.

Your thoughts?