The Giants found three prospective future starting defensive players in last April’s NFL Draft.  1st round pick (FS) Kenny Phillips is a hard hitter who should start in 2009 for the Giants.  He played in 16 games (3 starts) for the Giants last season and he made 67 tackles, defensed 5 passes and he had a interception.  In the 2nd round the Giants selected CB Terrell Thomas who is also a future starter.  He played in 12 games (2 starts) for the Giants last season and he made 45 tackles, forced a fumble, defensed 4 passes and picked one off.  OLB Bryan Kehl was quite a find in the 4th round as he was a solid defender and special teams player.  Kehl played in all 16 games (2 starts) for the Giants last season and he made 35 tackles, had a interception, a sack and he defensed a pass.  Kehl’s a keeper.  The biggest disappointment for the Giants last April was 3rd round pick Mario Manningham (WR).  He played in 7 games (0 starts) for the Giants last season and he caught 4 passes for 26 yards (6.5 avg).  He also carried the ball once and lost 12 yards.  5th rounder (ILB) Jonathan Goff played in only 5 games (0 starts) for the Giants last season and he made 2 whole tackles.  QB Andre Woodson was selected in the 6th round by the Giants and he spent his rookie season on the practice squad.  The Giants hope he will improve enough to back up Eli Manning some day.  Fellow 6th round pick (DE) Robert Henderson was waived in August by the Giants.

GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  C+

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  A-

The Giants have signed 26-year old safety C.C. Brown to a 1-year contract.  Brown played in 3 games for the Texans last season and he made 15 tackles and defensed 1 pass.  When Brown is healthy he’s a pretty good safety.  Brown has played in 50 games in his 4-year NFL career and he has made 255 tackles, defensed 16 passes, has 5 sacks, forced 4 fumbles and he has intercepted 3 passes.  This was a good signing for the Giants.

28-year old running back Derrick Ward has left the Giants to sign a 4-year, $17 million dollar deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Ward was sensational last season as he played in all 16 games for the Giants and he carried the ball 182 times for 1,025 yards (5.6 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 41 passes for 384 yards (9.4 avg) last season.  The possible bright spot about Ward leaving is that 3rd year man Ahmad Bradshaw will have a increased role in the Giants’ offense in 2009.  The 22-year old has played in 27 games the past two seasons and he has carried the ball 90 times for 545 yards (6.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also has caught 7 passes for 54 yards (7.7 avg) with 1 TD grab in his two years with the Giants.  The Giants will probably be looking for a new kickoff returner as they won’t likely want to use Bradshaw in that role anymore.  Bradshaw returned 77 kickoffs for the Giants for 1,788 yards (23.2 avg) so far in his career.  Bradshaw is likely to put up numbers similar to Ward’s if he gets enough playing time in 2009.

The Giants continue to replenish the defensive line as they have signed 26-year old Chris Canty to a 6-year, $42 million dollar contract ($17.25 guaranteed).  The 6′7″, 304 pound Canty played in all 16 games for the Cowboys last season and he made 37 tackles, defensed a pass and he had 3 sacks.  Canty has now played in 64 games in his 4-year NFL career and he has made 148 tackles, defensed 8 passes, has 10 sacks and 1 forced fumble.  Adding Chris Canty to Rocky Bernard will really improve the running defense for the Giants.