The Giants found some keepers in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft last April but they didn’t finish the draft too well.  WR Hakeem Nicks (1st round, #29 overall) out of North Carolina made a huge impact for the Giants last season.  He played in 14 games in which he caught 47 passes for 790 yards (16.8 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  Nicks also carried the ball 2 times for 8 yards (4.0 ypc) and he also returned 1 kickoff for 16 yards.  Nicks has a huge upside as he could develop into one of the better receivers in the NFL down the road.  In the 2nd round (#45 overall) the Giants took LB Clint Sintim out of Virginia.  Sintim played in 11 games for the Giants last season and he made 20 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and he had 1 sack.  OT William Beatty (2nd round, #60 overall) out of Connecticut played in all 16 games (4 starts) for the Giants as a rookie.  The 6′6″, 307 pound Beatty could develop into a full-time starter in the very near future for the Giants.  WR Ramses Barden (3rd round, #85 overall) out of Cal Poly only playing in 3 games for the Giants last season catching 1 pass for 16 yards.  TE Travis Beckum (3rd round, #100 overall) out of Wisconsin played in 15 games for the Giants last season in which he caught 8 passes for 55 yards (6.9 avg) and he also returned 1 kickoff for 3 yards.  RB Andre Brown out of North Carolina State (4th round, #129 overall) was on the Injured Reserve List the whole year.  QB Rhett Bomar (5th round, #151 overall) out of Sam Houston State stuck around last season but he didn’t play in any games for the Giants.  CB DeAndre Wright (6th round, #200 overall) out of New Mexico got cut by the Giants and signed by the Vikings but he didn’t play in any games for them.  CB Stoney Woodson (7th round, #238 overall) out South Carolina got cut by the Giants and picked up by the Buccaneers but he didn’t play at all for them last season.

GRADE FOR 2009:  C

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  B-

29-year old Eli Manning might have had his best year of his career in 2009.  He started all 16 games for the Giants this year and he completed 317 of 509 passes (62.3%) for 4,021 yards with 27 TD passes and 14 INTs (93.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 17 times for 65 yards (3.8 ypc) this year.  He has now played in 89 games for the Giants completing 1,593 of 2,793 passes (57%) for 18,644 yards with 125 TD passes and 88 INTs (79.2 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 126 times for 280 yards (2.2 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his career.  The Giants need Manning to keep playing at the high level he did this season.

30-year old David Carr is a solid back-up QB for the Giants.  He played in 6 games for the Giants this season and he completed 21 of 33 passes (63.6%) for 225 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (93.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 9 times for 27 yards (3.0 ypc) with 1 TD run this year.  Carr has now played in 91 games in his NFL career and he has completed 1,346 of 2,251 (59.8%) for 14,366 yards with 65 TD passes and 70 INTs (75.2 QB Rating).  Carr has also carried the ball 302 times for 1,331 yards (4.4 ypc) with 9 TD runs in his career.  I feel that Carr could do a decent job if forced into the starting line-up due to a injury to Manning.

The Giants didn’t look like they wanted to play yesterday.  Eli Manning was not too good completing 17 of 23 passes for 141 yards with a INT.  David Carr got into the act yesterday by completing 3 of 5 passes for 26 yards.  Danny Ware led the way on the ground for the Giants in this game with 22 yards rushing on 5 carries (4.4 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 19 yards (9.5 avg).  Ahmad Bradshaw pitched in with 13 yards rushing on 7 carries (1.9 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 33 yards (16.5 avg).  Steve Smith led the way in the passing game for the Giants with 10 catches for 57 yards (5.7 avg).  The Giants finished up with 181 total yards on offense (35 rushing, 146 passing) in this game as they only had the ball for 23:08.

Linebacker Michael Boley (8 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 pass defensed) and S Michael Johnson (8 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) led a poor effort by the Giants’ D.  The Vikings finished up with 487 total yards in this game (129 rushing, 358 passing).  The Giants finished up with a disappointing 8-8 record good for third place in the NFC East.

The Giants laid an egg last week in the team’s biggest game of the year.  The hope is that they will try to end the season on a strong note tomorrow but they also might be looking ahead to a extended vacation.  The Giants will have to make sure that they give Eli Manning enough time to throw the ball and it won’t be easy with Jared Allen lining up against them.  But if Manning has time to throw the ball he should be able to get it into the hands of Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham and Kevin Boss as the Vikings are allowing 223.2 yards per game through the air.  The Giants probably won’t have much of a running game tomorrow as Ahmad Bradshaw has a broken bone in each foot.

The Giants had better be ready to deal with Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor as the Vikings will likely be leaning on the running game a lot tomorrow.  The Vikings will likely keep the passing game short to help keep Brett Favre healthy for the playoffs.  If the Giants or Vikings get a big lead look for Tarvaris Jackson to get some P.T. at QB in this game. 

PREDICTION:  VIKINGS 27, GIANTS 20

The Giants are only sending one player to the Pro Bowl this season and it will be 32-year old center Shaun O’Hara.  O’Hara has started all 15 games for the Giants this season and he has done a excellent job of both run blocking and pass blocking.  He also works well with Eli Manning who likes to change up the plays at the line of scrimmage.