Amid all this talk of wide receivers and the rookie linebacker, you were wondering just one thing.

What the heck are the Giants going to do with Mathias Kiwanuka?

That was it, right? Well, even if it wasn’t, I’m going to tell you, anyway. They’re going to leave him right where he is, as a featured player in the defensive end rotation. In other words, his days as a linebacker, which effectively ended last year when he spent the season at right defensive end for the IRed Osi Umenyiora, will now officially be over under new defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan.

Own opinion here, but that whole Kiwi-to-LB experiment under former DC Steve Spagnuolo failed. All it did was keep him from being the best defensive end he could be.

Now, he’ll get that chance as he comes in behind Umenyiora and Justin Tuck; no ands, ifs, or buts.

“He won’t, no,” Sheridan said when asked if Kiwanuka would head back to linebacker. “He is going to play defensive end.  And that is a fair question. But no, he is going to play defensive end.”

Putting him at linebacker in 2007 was a curious move, anyway. They fell in love with his mobility. But in the end, Kiwanuka is what Ernie Accorsi drafted him as—a pass rusher.

“And you can never have enough pass rushers,” Sheridan said. “Specifically, just talking about him, when we played nickel defense, or sub-defense on third down, he is starting.  And you are in that personnel group literally 50-55% of the time every game. At the end of the year we played over 1,000 snaps last year and we had over 500 snaps on sub – nickel personnel.  So he is in essence a starter, even though with Osi and Tuck back now, they will be in a rotation at defensive end on first and second down.

“But when you get to third down, guys like that are starting for you.  So no, he is going to be a defensive end.  That is where he is going to play.”
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There’s an interesting little backstory to new assistant offensive line coach Jack Bicknell, Jr., whose father hired Tom Coughlin as a Boston College assistant and served as the Eagles’ coach when Doug Flutie threw his magical 60-yard Hail Mary pass to Gerard Phelan against Miami in 1984. According to Bicknell, Jr., one of the greatest pass plays in NCAA history might not have happened if not for the coach’s son, who was Flutie’s center. Oh, and what Bicknell, Jr. did wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

“I helped get Flutie flushed out of the pocket,” Bicknell said, laughing. “That timed up the whole thing.”

Basically, Bicknell missed a block because, according to him, the guard pulled out too quickly and left a clear pass-rush lane to the quarterback. Flutie took off and heaved it downfield and, well, you know the rest.

Bicknell was one of the last to know what happened, though.

“Greatest play in college football and I was on my back,” Bicknell said. “I was knocked right on my butt. I never saw it.”

EP

The Giants were awarded cornerback Brandon Sumrall off Indianapolis waivers a few minutes ago. Sumrall could help the training camp depth after serving on the Colts’ practice squad before a foot injury Nov. 5 put him away for the rest of the season.

Sumrall is 5-foot-9, 200 pounds. He originally signed with the Vikings as a rookie free agent out of Southern Mississippi.

UPDATE 5:20 p.m.: Never mind. He failed his physical and was waived.

EP

The Giants’ new defensive coordinator and formerly their linebackers coach, Bill Sheridan, said not to expect any sweeping changes with Steve Spagnuolo’s schemes. They worked for Spags, the players liked them, and that’s good enough for Sheridan.

In other words, they’re going to rush the passer a lot. The biggest change might be that the linebackers and defensive linemen won’t be asked to cover as much as the last couple of years.

“We are going to definitely try to have the pass rushers rushing as much as we can,” Sheridan said. “As you know, when you get into zone dogs you have down guys dropping out. And you are never going to get away from that. But as much as we can, we are going to try to orchestrate it where we have the pass rushers rushing, as much as we possibly can. Because that is our strength, and we recognize that and everybody knows that.”

He’s also excited about the defense’s only high-round pick over the weekend, 255-pound linebacker Clint Sintim. He’s a pass rusher who will go to work on the strong side, mostly in a situational pass rush role. The Giants figure they can do that kind of platooning on the strong side because free agent pickup Michael Boley is considered a three-down linebacker because of his pass rush speed and ability to fall into coverage. That’s one position they needn’t worry about. If Sintim can master his side, he could be a third-down upgrade over Danny Clark.

Other than an increased pass rush—and it had better get there, otherwise the Giants defensive backs will be in for some long afternoons of chasing hot reads down the field—Sheridan said the major change will be his own coaching style. He’ll spend gamedays in the press box rather than the field, the better to call his defenses in a “calmer” environment.

“It is like an office atmosphere,” Sheridan said. “You are sitting up there, you have your charts, you can chart your own calls and the opponent. And you have a chance to look, where if you are standing on the sideline, whatever you can’t hold in your hand, you can’t really refer to. I have always thought it would be a much better situation.”

EP

According to the NFL Draft Bible undrafted free agent tracker, here’s a partial list of those who have or will sign with the Giants.

DE Alex Field, Virginia
DE Maurice Evans, Penn State
DT Dwayne Hendricks, Miami
LB Kenny Ingram, Florida State
DB Sha’reff Rashad, Central Florida
DB Vince Anderson, Webber International
UPDATE 3:45 p.m.: Oops. Had S Otis Wiley of Michigan State on the list but saw the Detroit Free Press is reporting he signed with the Lions. Sorry for the mixup.

EP

Eli Manning smiled the whole interview session, but you got the idea that somewhere in his heart he wished the Giants would have made that trade for a veteran wide receiver.

Not that he had anything against Hakeem Nicks or Ramses Barden. But it’s obvious now that, unless things change before training camp, he’s going in without a concrete, No. 1 receiving option. That can be disconcerting for any quarterback, much less one who now has a receiving corps of two rookies, a successful third-year player in Steve Smith, two mid-level vets in Domenik Hixon and David Tyree, an injury-prone and underachieving veteran in Sinorice Moss, and a second-year guy trying to come off injuries in Mario Manningham.

Really, Smith is the only one who sticks out as a dangerous option. And right now, he’s a third-down, move-the-chains type guy, not a gamebreaker.

Still, Manning put on an optimistic smile.

“That doesn’t worry me,” Manning said. “You’ve got to trust our players. Know what their strengths are and know what they do well. The more time we get to work with our guys here, the better they’ll get.”

The good news is that they’re all working in the offseason conditioning program. That wasn’t always the case. As you might remember, Plaxico Burress used to work out with Jeremy Shockey in Miami. Not that the constant presence of the young veterans ensures success, but it’s better than not having them around at all. Besides, none of them can afford to go off on their own, anyway.

Eventually, it will come time to add the rookies into the mix.

“I’ve seen how rookies come in and how it’s a learning curve,” Manning said. “It’s a process. We’ll see how well they can do and how they can help us this year. Just talk to them, get them to relax, play fast, and see what they’re capable of doing.”

The highest expectations from fans will fall on Barden, a 6-foot-6 leaper who is expected to contribute in the red zone. But Manning warned that there’s a little more to the pro game than just throwing a jump ball and having the receiver run under it. Barden is going to have to learn how to get off the line in press coverage, along with the other nuances of receiver play, even in a limited role.

How fast he masters the fundamentals will determine how effectively Manning can use him.

“We just gotta see how he does with that,” Manning said. “He can help with throwing fades. We just have to see what he does when he gets in here with minicamps and practices. It’s nice to have that option, but there’s a lot of other things you can do down there besides just throwing it up and hoping somebody catches it. It’s about guys getting open, running routes, and learning the system.”

In other words, let’s all cool our jets over the rookie receivers. It’ll be a long time before the jury gets in on them.

Tell me, do you think either Nicks or Barden will make an immediate impact? Better yet, what if they don’t. Do you have any faith whatsoever in the returning vets?

EP

We’re waiting to get back into the locker room to talk to Eli Manning about the new receiver draftees. But while we wait, here’s a few tidbits from current wideouts Steve Smith, David Tyree, and Domenik Hixon on the impending arrivals of first-rounder Hakeem Nicks and third-rounder Ramses Barden.

The mixture of different body types and physical attributes means the Giants will try to replace the head-up threats of Burress and Toomer with sets of mismatches. Isolate a Barden against a shorter corner. Find the slower defensive back and run Nicks past him. Continue to get Smith in there on third down and let him find the first-down marker for the sideline throw.

It kind of looks like the football equivalent of bullpen by committee. Half the time those things don’t work. It’ll take a lot of finesse work by Tom Coughlin to make this arrangement effective, especially because the Giants can’t rightly expect to have that one special receiver to carry the team. Not at this point, anyway.

Still, Nicks and Barden are looked upon as viable and valuable talents. Smith, for one, said he’ll be just delighted to have them around.

“I was just excited to get new teammates and good players,” Smith said. “I’ve seen Hakeem play. He’s a big, physical receiver and he’s got good size.”

As for Barden, Smith loved the idea that he and his 6-foot-6 frame can leap in the end zone on those Plaxico Burress-like fades.

“He’s someone who can keep Eli happy in the red zone,” Smith said. “We’ve got a lot of options now. Maybe we’ll go more three-wide, four-wide, or five-wide sets now. We’ve got a lot of guys for Eli to have fun with.”

That they do. Smith, Hixon, Sinorice Moss, Tyree, Mario Manningham, plus whatever free agents and first-year players come down the pike. The problem is, the whole corps is basically untested now. Now that Burress and Amani Toomer are gone, Tyree is the old man of the group, and he’s always been used as a fourth or fifth receiver at best. And he’s recovering from knee surgery, though he says he’s back and ready to go.

If he’s ever had an opportunity to rise on the depth chart, this would be the year.

“I love doing what I’m doing,” said Tyree, the kick coverage specialist.  “Just don’t tell me I can’t play this position and catch 45 balls a year while I make 20 tackles a year.”

Hixon was once rumored to be part of the Braylon Edwards trade talks with the Browns, but he didn’t seem too concerned about the addition of two supposedly dynamic receivers to the mix. It is conceivable, however, that if Nicks develops quickly, Hixon’s current spot as the No. 1 target could vanish.

That doesn’t mean he won’t welcome his new teammates, however.

“With what Plaxico and Tooms did for us, getting us through different situations, we can pass that along,” Hixon said. “We’ve got a lot of guys with different talents. It’ll be nice to see how everything pans out.”

EP

Here we are at Giants Stadium again. Seems like only yesterday they were just completing the seventh round. Oh, wait, it was actually the day before yesterday. Can’t get too much off a good thing, I guess

Anyway, I’ll be blogging the latest stuff that comes out of here, so stick with me. In the meantime, I want you guys to do me a favor. Sign up for the Shaun O’Hara golf tournament May 20 that benefits the Cystic Fibrosis people. Each foursome will be accompanied by a celebrity from New York Giants Finest. It’s a nice day on the exclusive Liberty National course and a good chance to help some kids who really need it. Get in touch with Jim Ruh to sign up, 908-612-8100 or e-mail him at jruh@comcast.net.

I’d like to say you’d get a chance to play with yours truly, but I am not a celebrity. Nor would I ever inflict my game on any paying customers.

EP

We’ve taken the poll on Hakeem Nicks down, and “I like it” won with 17 of the 38 total votes by a hair over “They should have traded for a veteran.” And four utterly misguided souls voted that I’m a genius for hitting the pick on the head. Well, thanks for the sentiment, anyway, but that was pure luck.

We get some locker room access tomorrow. It’s going to be interesting to hear what Eli Manning thinks about getting not one, but two young receivers and a tight end to throw to. Hope he’s around.

Any stray thoughts on the draft, drop them off right here. We’re always open.

EP

So the draft is over. For my money, I think the Giants would have been better off getting the veteran wide receiver rather than drafting three receivers in hopes that the combination of all would equal one Plaxico Burress.

But, hey, I’m not the one in charge of scouting or decision-making, am I? As for the last two picks, DeAndre Wright and Stoney Woodson, director of college scouting Marc Ross had this to say.

On Wright: “An athletic guy with good ball skills, good size. (He’s) what we call an eye corner. Plays the ball well. He had a little shoulder injury this year, so his run support was a little off. He got that fixed, so we expect him to be a good, physical presence there.”

On Woodson: “Again, another eye corner. We look for those guys late. WE look for guys that have size and speed and that’s what he has. Was in a rotation there at South Carolina, but a real competitive kid. Tough in the run support.”

The key to this whole draft is Ramses Barden, however. If the Giants don’t go out and trade for Braylon Edwards or Anquan Boldin—still possibilities considering their contract situations with the Browns and Cardinals—they need to have Barden contribute immediately as a red zone and end zone pass-catcher. He’s got 6-foot-6 height and leaping ability. And the fade route is not exactly the most complicated route in the book. A smart guy like Barden should pick that up, no problem. He can learn the rest later.

We’ll have more stuff as the week goes on. For now, I’m gonna take a nap.

EP

Now that we’re out of the first 100 overall and into the fourth round, let’s start a new post. Those long posts get wearisome, I know. So here’s a fresh one for you.

UPDATE 6:39: And with the seventh-round, and final pick, the Giants chose Stoney Woodson, a cornerback out of South Carolina. He’s 5-11, 195.

UPDATE 5:04: With their sixth-round pick, the Giants chose DeAndre Wright, a defensive back out of New Mexico. The 5-10, 198-pound Wright is a reliable tackler but doesn’t have great speed. He’s also had injury problems, including surgery on both shoulders in 2008. He can return kicks, having averaged 23.6 yards on 23 career returns.

He had just four completions of 15 or more yards against him all last season, and opponents threw in his vicinity just 16 times the final seven games.

One more pick and the Giants are done.

UPDATE 2:47: And with the fifth-round pick that came to them in the Jeremy Shockey trade, the Giants chose Rhett Bomar, a quarterback from Sam Houston State. Lots of back story here, starting with two arrests for alcohol possession as a minor, and then his dismissal from Oklahoma for basically accepting money for a no-show job at a car dealership. Oklahoma wound up losing scholarships and forfeiting games because of that. Wonder how he’ll get along with Coughlin, who has had enough player shenanigans the past year to last him a lifetime.

Still, there’s some talent here. Not that Bomar is going to challenge Eli Manning for the starter’s job, but he could land the third spot behind David Carr if he stays on the straight and narrow. He’s got a cannon and can throw on the run. That hurts him at times, as he tends toward mistakes caused by having too much faith in the arm and not enough savvy in reading defenses.

Bomar threw 27 touchdown passes as a senior, and had nine 300-yard efforts once he got to Sam Houston in 2007.

Cocky kid, apparently.

UPDATE 1:38: Giants just picked Andre Brown, a running back from NC State, with their fourth-round pick. Okay, I was a round late on the running back. He’s 6-0, 224, but mostly he can help as a return guy on special teams. In fact, he wasn’t all that productive at NC State, though he did have seven touchdowns. He’s also had some injury problems, including a fractured foot that kept him out of much of 2007. Known as a between-the-tackles runner, his only 100-yard effort of 2008 came in the opener against South Carolina. He had 93 against Miami. And never had more than one touchdown in any game.

Here’s Andre.

EP