Tom Coughlin talks about Victor Cruz, 2013 NFL Draft

New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, appearing on WFAN Monday with Mike Francesa, said the Giants want Victor Cruz back in a Giants' uniform "as badly as we've ever wanted anybody."

Cruz, of course, has not yet signed the restricted free agent tender the Giants placed on him worth $2.879 million and is trying to negotiate a long-term deal.

"We want a win-win. We want Victor Cruz to be proud to be a New York Giant, to be proud of his contract," Coughlin said. "The New York Giants want him back as badly as we've ever wanted anybody. We'd like this thing to be settled and over with and we wish it would be that way so that he could be in here and working. The sooner it gets settled the better off we'll all be."

Coughlin also gave his thoughts on the players the Giants selected in the recently-concluded 2013 NFL Draft.

On first-round pick Justin Pugh, a versatile offensive lineman:

"He's very smart, he's technically sound. He is a good football player whether you talk about pass protection, whether you talk about run block, whether you talk about combo blocks inside. He's competitive, he's nasty, he likes the game," Coughlin said.

"You like his feet, you like a lot of the things that he does.

"I even think because of his intelligence and his scrappiness if you wanted him to learn the center position he could do that as well."

On second-round pick Johnathan Hankins, a defensive tackle from Ohio State:

"He's primarily a first and second down run-stopper. I just think the power inside is a very important factor. People want to talk to me about the quarterback read-option and the option that you'll face when you play Washington, well, the play that hurt us and everybody else is the dive. You've gotta hammer away inside at those people. This kid has proven to be very strong in there against the run," Coughlin said.

"He's a guy that was never substituted for. He plays and plays and plays, he'll chase you down the line of scrimmage. "

"He's a tough kind and he's a youngster. He's another guy that we think as he develops he's going to be even better."

On third-round pick Damontre Moore, a defensive end from Texas A&M whom Coughlin admitted is "immature."

"He's a tough kid. He is one of those guys who could play in versatile spots. He's also a guy who's got outstanding quickness," Coughlin said.

He's not a blazer, but he's in the top rank for his position in the quickness area in terms of his shuttles and his three-cone and that type of thing. so you know that he can get from Point A to Point B.

"He's around the quarterback a lot. He loves to compete, he plays hard."

On fourth-round pick Ryan Nassib, a quarterback from Syracuse the Giants traded up to select:

"What we liked about this young man is he's a natural leader. There isn't any question about it, he has that charisma. He's a tough guy, he's a fighter. He took a football team that some would question how talented they were and he moved the ball against everybody, did an outstnading job," Coughlin said.

"People want to talk about the velocity with which he released the football, he's very smart. Our people here -- Jerry Reese, Marc Ross, they liked this guy from day one.

"He's very smart, he's very technical, he can do it all."

On fifth-round pick Cooper Taylor, the over-sized safety from Richmond who could fit into the Giants' three-safety package:

"That's what the league is turning to. That's one of the reasons we were so attracted. This kid is smart, he has outstanding range, he had five interceptions, he had 78 tackles, he's 228 pounds. We can sit him down in there. He's got great range, long arms, stands tall and he'd be a top candidate to be able to slide down in there," Coughlin said.