Dave Gettleman explains why the Giants picked Sam Beal in the Supplemental Draft

By selecting Western Michigan cornerback Sam Beal in the third round the New York Giants will forfeit their third-round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft.

The Giants, with cornerback depth a question heading into the 2018 season, felt like it was a move worth making.

“We feel like we’re getting our third-round pick now,” Gettleman said via a release from the team. “We discussed it at length yesterday, and had a great conversation. We basically had a draft meeting in the office, with people on the speaker phone who had seen him. It was a very thorough conversation.”

A 6-foot-1, 177-pounder, Beal played three seasons at Western Michigan. He started 23 of 37 games and concluded his career with 96 tackles (68 solo), two interceptions and 21 passes defensed.

Beal is the Giants’ first supplemental draft selection since 1994, when they chose safety Tito Wooten from Northeast Louisiana in the fourth round.

Beal joins a group of cornerbacks that includes 2016 Pro Bowler Janoris Jenkins, 2016 first-round draft choice Eli Apple, as well as Donte Deayon, William Gay, Teddy Williams, Chris Lewis-Harris, Jeremiah McKinnon and B.W. Webb, among others.

“We’re very, very excited about getting Sam in the draft,” Gettleman said. “He’s long, he’s very athletic for a corner, he has all the physical skills, he can carry the vertical, he has very good play speed, he shows instincts out there, he has ball awareness, he doesn’t panic when the ball is thrown at his guy, and he is a very willing tackler. We just feel it gives us a really talented young kid with the ability to ascend.”

Final thoughts

Beal changes the depth chart for the Giants at corner, though he is several months behind his teammates in learning James Bettcher’s defense. Rookies report for training camp on July 22. Best guess is that Beal might not contribute much until later in the season.