The New York Giants did a little undrafted free agent quarterback shuffling Friday. They signed Wake Forest's Riley Skinner, who had attended their mini-camp last week, and dumped Dominic Randolph of Holy Cross.
In the end, I doubt Skinner has much of a chance to beat out Rhett Bomar for the third quarterback spot, anyway. So, this is probably much ado about nothing.
The Giants also officially announced the signing of Kentucky linebacker Micah Johnson, something we have actually known about for a while.
- Pay attention to the Johnson signing -- and, for that matter, all of the undrafted free agents the Giants bring to training camp this summer. The Sporting News points out that no one is more effective at finding hidden gems among these UDFAs than Giants General Manager Jerry Reese.
The Giants, meanwhile, seem content to mine the ranks of the undrafted and undiscovered - more so than any other team in the NFL, at least. The six undrafted players currently on their roster average three more starts than those of the Chargers, the next best team in terms of getting production from undrafted players. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers goe the worst value out of their undrafted players, as the 13 averaged fewer than one start since joining the team. Nevertheless, the Giants' success in this department is indisputable. After no other team offered Chase Blackburn (pictured) a tryout, the Giants pulled the linebacker off a construction site in 2005. He's played 79 games since—and started 16 in the last two years. After only one other team offered Bruce Johnson a tryout last year, the Giants signed the cornerback and watched him return an interception for a touchdown against Dallas in the season opener. - New Giant Antrel Rolle has his own Web site, and blog. Here is a snippet from his newest entry.
It feels great to be a Giant. I couldn’t ask for a better situation. I feel like everything fell into place at the right time and it’s truly a privilege to be a member of the New York Giants. I am truly blessed to be part of such a great organization with a great atmosphere.
I’m very excited to be playing next to my old friend Kenny Phillips. I’m just waiting for that moment, I think it’s going to be special to the point where words can’t even explain it. This is going to be a nasty secondary. Teams are not going to want to throw against us. We’ve got ballhawks on both sides of the field. Where’s the quarterback going to go?