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The Giants had the first surprise pick of the first round with WR Ike Hilliard of Florida. However, not a bad word was said about the pick. Hilliard should be able to step right in and add a serious playmaker to the Giants. He is not the fastest or tallest receiver, but his 29 touchdowns over the last two years should be a sign of ability to make the big play. He will complement Amani Toomer and Thomas Lewis extremely well. In the second round, the Giants picked RB Tiki Barber out of Virginia. This is a solid pick, as Barber is also a big playmaker on offense, a place lacking creativity and explosiveness. This may mean the end of Rodney Hampton, since Barber will immediately fit into the Dave Meggett mold as a third down back, as well as being able to fit into a decent backup every-down tailback. He was the ACC player of the year, beating out first round pick Warrick Dunn of Florida State, with his second straight 1300 plus yard season. He will also help out with punt returns. The Giants had two picks in the third round. With the 68th pick, they chose DL Ryan Phillips out of Idaho. He ran a 4.67 at the combine, and has decent size for a linebacker. Unfortunately, in college he never played one position consistently, and it is unclear where the Giants see him playing. He does have a lot of heart and intangibles, and will surely make the team. The 95th pick was used to draft PBrad Maynard out of Ball State. He certainly fills a need with the release of the ineffective Mike Horan. He has all the tools to be an excellent punter in the NFL, and he was a player the Giants really wanted to get. In the 4th round, the Giants found MLB Pete Monty from Wisconsin still on the board. He may not be the most naturally gifted athlete, yet he is definitely a player. He has great instincts and will help a weak position. George Young always seems to find players late in the draft. The 5th round brought DB Sam Garnes out of Cincinnati. He is a good run support safety, but he lacks speed to ever cover anyone man-on-man. May be helpful on special teams. In the 6th round they drafted QB Mike Cherry, a curious pick who probably will not stick, unless he beats out third stringer Stan White. He was the 10th rated quarterback, and he was the 5th one taken? The last pick was DL Matt Keneley, a former teammate of #2 pick Darrell Russell. He certainly does not possess the talent of Russell, but he is an achiever type and the Giants always have a few of those around. This draft looks quite nice for the Giants. No one unexpected fell into their laps, so they took a very solid player, and continued that trend throughout. The Giants can reasonably expect 5 to 7 of the picks to stay with the team, and the real question is now whether Rodney Hampton has any kind of future with the team.
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