Draft Day 2011! Today is finally the day that NFL fans everywhere, including here, have been talking about for months. Before we get on with a day filled with draft coverage, however, a few New York Giants-related notes for you.
Running back Brandon Jacobs was at the Giants' East Rutherford, N.J. training facility both Tuesday and Wednesday. He talked willingly with reporters and Mike Garafolo said the often-moody Jacobs seemed ... happy. Which seemed to amaze Garafolo, and even seemed to amuse Jacobs.
I feel great physically. I ended the season feeling good. I didn’t get dinged up one time. Hopefully I can add to that and keep working hard and work hard on all sorts of different things of my game I need to improve."
Jacobs provided lots of great material, including lauding Tiki Barber's comeback.
"I spoke to him, I’ve seen him twice," Jacobs said of the Giants’ all-time leading rusher, whom he backed up for two seasons. "He’s excited about doing it. A lot of people think he’s doing it for the wrong reasons; I just think he misses it. For his image, I think football is good for him. It helps build up our images according to the way you handle it. It can break you down or it can make you a whole helluva lot better."
Giants' offensive lineman Rich Seubert stopped by the Giants offices Wednesday simply because he could.
"I think that’s the weirdest part," the offensive guard and center said on his way out of the facility. "Like the equipment guys, the video guys, the trainers, I’ve spent more time with those guys than I did with my wife for the last 10 years. That’s the hardest part. You can’t even go get dinner, you can’t grab a beer somewhere or just hang out.
"That’s why I came in today, to make sure I came to say hi to those guys, see how their families are doing and make sure everything’s going all right with those guys."
Seubert also took time to visit Giants team physician Dr. Russell Warren and admitted he has no idea if his surgically repaired knee will allow him to be ready for the start of the 2011 NFL season -- whenever it comes.
The Star-Ledger had a great piece on NFL Network draft guru Mike Mayock the other day. Believe it or not, I did not remember that Mayock was a former New York Giant.
Boston College offensive lineman Anthony Castonzo, seen as a potential target for the Giants in the first round Thursday night, doesn't know Giants' lineman Chris Snee personally. He knows plenty about the former BC star, though.
"I know him through legend in the O-line room at BC," Castonzo said yesterday in a phone interview with The Post. "There are stories that just linger about guys -- you always hear his name pop up. They kind of paint a picture of a guy for you, the old guys tell you about the guys who have been there before, and Chris Snee just seemed like a real hard-nosed guy from all the little anecdotes I've heard."
I have finished my position-by-position Giants' draft analysis over at SB Nation New York. Give it a look, it's a pretty good draft primer.
(E-mail Ed at bigblueview@gmail.com. Follow Big Blue View on Twitter.)