My take on Kenny Phillips

by Ed Valentine on Apr 27, 2008 10:36 AM EDT in New York Giants News

I loved the Giants' selection of Miami safety Kenny Phillips with their first-round pick, No. 31 overall, Saturday in the NFL Draft.

If you frequent this site, you know Phillips is the guy I had been hoping the Giants would target with their first choice.

As far as I'm concerned, it worked out perfectly.

Phillips comes from Miami, where churning out great safeties is a way of life. See Ed Reed, Sean Taylor, Brandon Meriweather and Bennie Blades.

He was the best safety available, and fills a huge need for the Giants who had only stop-gaps Sammy Knight and James Butler, and the still-developing Michael Johnson.

Scouts Inc.'s take

What he brings: We thought the Giants would address the safety position here, but we thought they would take Arkansas State's Tyrell Johnson. However, the fact that Johnson played at such a small school may have given the edge to Phillips in the eyes of the Giants' personnel department. At this point, Phillips is a better athlete than football player; he gets caught out of position too often and takes too many false steps. He has a great deal of upside based on his 4.48 40-yard dash, which is impressive for a 212-pounder. He also changes directions very well, plays with great intensity and is big enough to line up in the box once he proves his ability to shed blocks.

How he fits: Phillips was the safest pick and makes the most sense because of the loss of Gibril Wilson in the offseason. Sammy Knight is best used as a box safety and SS James Butler's contract is up next year. The Giants have the most explosive pass-rushing unit in the NFL and Phillips will stabilize the back end. This addresses a major need on their team.

Mike Garafolo of the Star-Ledger has some extensive info on GM Jerry Reese's feelings about Phillips.

Here is part of what Reese said.

"We like his size, we like his speed. He's multi-dimensional. We like those kinds of players. The guy's played corner before, so we feel he can go down and (cover) the third receiver if he has to. He's smart and he's a good person. We like all that stuff about him. He was clean. He's been a three-year starter at (a school with) a high level of competition and he's a young kid who's only going to get better. There's nothing but upside for this guy."

I agree. This was the right pick for the Giants.

Let's see what Reese has up his sleeves today. He has six picks from rounds 3 thru 6.

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Comments

I've just looked at the picks in rds 3-6

So much for my prediction of a DT. Maybe Manningham will become the deep threat I've been dreaming of for more than twenty years. Two LBs provide depth and competition in the LB corps. Both guys look like projects who can help immediately on special teams. Is Woodson good enough to be the #3 QB? Have we seen the last of the Pillsbury Throwboy? What, if anything, does the addition of 2 LBs and one DE tell us about Stray and the possibility of moving Kiwi back?

I like the idea of bringing in all these defensive players. Except for the Shockey situation the offense look set for now

Bottom line: It looks like a pretty good draft to me, especially for a SB winner (SB WINNER) with only one area needing immediate shoring up.

I'm pretty sure we'll see more activity later on

by george cronin on Apr 27, 2008 5:14 PM EDT reply actions

Woodson

is absolutely good enough to be the #3 QB. As I mentioned in my recent diary entry (that sounds girly, doesn't it?), Woodson at one time was thought to be one of the top 2 QBs in the draft, along with Matt Ryan. His stock plummeted after the senior bowl, but he's obviously still talented. Ironically, he broke a ton of the Hefty Lefty's school records at Kentucky, and now he's gonna take his job too. Poor guy...

by cjmulrain on Apr 27, 2008 5:20 PM EDT up reply actions

fatty mcQB

i shed no tears for the end of our corpulent quarterback's career. he was useless. sorry bro. i will miss all the fat jokes, tho.

by DieEaglesDie on Apr 27, 2008 7:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Woodson

I've seen him play a number of times in person; he seems like a football savvy, canny player. Good legs and substantial vision - some of his shorter passes were terribly innacurate, though.

We didn't even have a chance for the "perfect season", but we did have the perfect ending.

by GAgiantfan on Apr 27, 2008 7:02 PM EDT reply actions