New York Giants: Where the Scouts Are October 27th And College Football Open Thread

The work for Jerry Reese and his team never ends. While Tom Coughlin and the players are getting ready to play a game tomorrow, the scouting team is out watching potential future New York Giants live in person. Chris Steuber ( @ChrisSteuber) is able to let us know which games the Giants scouts plan on attending today.

This list might not be all inclusive because I think Steuber probably only has a grip on a handful of each team's scouts, which is more than I have though, so I appreciate the hard work. Nevertheless here is where we know the Giants are this weekend.

Game 1:

Game 1 was actually last night's contest between Louisville and Cincinnati. A game I did not watch, so I'm no help to anyone here today.

Game 2:

Duke @ Florida State

This is at least the second time the Giants have attended a Florida State game in person, to which I say: great! After spending a majority of the high draft picks on offense last year and considering that most of the aging players and or bad contracts are on defense (or offensive line) I expect the Giants to go defense early in the draft. Florida State has a few elite defensive players.

I'll highlight three.

CB Xavier Rhodes-I'll continue to profess my love for cornerback Xavier Rhodes. He is a terrific player who is built like a safety, but has the hips of a cornerback. He is very physical and I think can be a number one cornerback in the league. A combination of Xavier Rhode and Prince Amukamara locking up on the outside, and Jayron Hosley covering the slot for the next five years is very appealing.

Defensive ends- Bjoern Werner and Cornellius Carradine- Both players are playing a very high level,and both players have names that are slightly difficult to spell. If either player can do backflips, he is a lock to be a Giant.

Werner is a strong, stout, and athletic defensive end who can rush the passer and play the run. I'm not sure, however, he has the length the Giants covet at defensive end. What he measures in at during the combine will be paramount to the Giants--Jerry Reese likes long pass rushers. Carradine is a little longer and also athletic and is a possibility for the Giants.

Here's a list of other potential Seminoles

Duke

The Giants have dipped into the Duke waters before coming away with a WR recently whose name escapes me this moment. The player the Blue Devils has who is interesting is QB Sean Renfree. The Giants might be looking for a late round developmental quarterback at some point in next year's draft.

Game 3 Kent State @ Rutgers

Rutgers linebacker Khaseem Greene is the name to know. He's having a terrific season, and has some late first round buzz in the draftnik community. The Giants could use a linebacker, though I think a more likely possibility is if Manti Te'o falls to 32nd (one can hope).

TE DC Jefferson is an athletic player who also might intrigue the Giants. My very early feeling though is that the Giants retain Martellus Bennet and move forward with Bennett and Adrian Robinson and some low level #3 TE, maybe a Bear Pascoe type or Christian Hopkins (currently on the Giants practice squad).

Game 4 Tennessee at South Carolina

Tennessee

The Vols best prospect is quarterback Tyler Bray, but he is a potential first round pick and is not on the Giants radar.

Offensive linemen Dallas Thomas is an intriguing prospect who could be an early round target for the Giants, most likely at guard. He's a player to watch in today's game.

Wide receiver Justin Hunter is a physical specimen and someone to watch for if the Giants feel the negotiations with Victor Cruz will turn contentious (I do not believe that to be the case, however), or if he fails a drug test, or gets arrested (not a prediction or indictment on his behavior) or some other reason keeps him out of the first round.

South Carolina

Devin Taylor Defensive end

Taylor almost screams "Giants" when you watch him play. Has he had as much production as he should? No, probably not. Is he tremendously gifted, athletic, and long? Yes he is. I could see Taylor in a Giants uniform.

Marcus Lattimore Running back

Ahmad Bradshaw's feet hurt. In other breaking news, the sky is blue, you're reading an article at Bigblueview.com, and Eli Manning plays well in the fourth quarter. Lattimore is insanely gifted, but he is coming off an injury and does not have quite the same burst as he did the last two years. Another year of healing and he should be good to go. Would the Giants dare consider adding another running back after taking Wilson so early because of the constant feet problems that plague Bradshaw? Time will tell. Lattimore, though is the perfect type of complementary player to David Wilson.

I'd be remiss not to mention super sophomore Jadeveon Clowney. Clowney is so good people are wondering if he'll be the first round pick next year, and whether or not he could have gone straight from high school to the N.F.L.

Safety D.J. Swearinger is another prospect to watch. I personally think the Giants need a safety early in the draft. Swearinger isn't a day one or early two prospect, but could be a nice player later in the draft.

Feel free to comment here on any of the College Football action today.