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My take on Kenny Phillips

By Ed Valentine

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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