E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he is one of only four sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls. Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

GIANTS' HISTORY OF DRAFTING SECONDARY
ISN'T EXACTLY SPOTLESS, BUT THIS SUMMER
A RAY OF IS SUNSHINE BEGINNING TO APPEAR

By David Klein
Let's recap, in a secondary sort of way.

In 2005, the Giants spent their second-round draft pick (they didn't have a first, it went to San Diego as final payment for the Great Eli Manning Robbery) and chose LSU cornerback Corey Webster.

In 2007, when they did have a first round pick, they used it on Texas cornerback Aaron Ross.

In 2008, their first pick was dedicated to safety Kenny Phillips of Miami (Fla.), and the second pick went for cornerback Terrell Thomas of USC.

Ready for the recap?

Webster had perhaps the worst season of any starting cornerback in franchise history and never lost his job. Ross was a failed selection, never amounted to a lot, signed as a free agent with Jacksonville and has now re-joined the Giants with a new attitude and a new focus (or so he says).

Phillips waded through several injuries and is now in Philadelphia, that great graveyard down the New Jersey Turnpike, and Thomas is working through two knee injuries, one in 2011 and another last season -- both kept him out of the entire season each time.

Now he's going to be moved to safety, which might take some strain off his wounded knee, but since both injuries occurred in the preseason it has been suggested that head coach Tom Coughlin keep him on the stationary bike until the season starts.

(There's a funny story about bikes on the sideline during summer practices. Linebacker Carl Banks hated training camp and the long, hot, grueling practices under head coach Bill Parcells, so he allegedly developed a pulled hamstring and begged off. Parcells had him on the bike, morning and night, day after day, until one morning after about three weeks he walked past Banks and said: “Carl, how's the hamstring?" to which Banks replied: “Coming along, coach." Parcells fixed him with a laser-beam stare. “Banks," he said, “you keep pedaling, but if you're not on the field this afternoon why don't you pedal that damned thing home?"

Banks saw the light and didn't miss another practice.

At the moment, after the second day of minicamp in East Rutherford, where the Giants will hold training camp this summer, too, abandoning Albany, N.Y., the starting secondary lays out as Webster and Prince Amukamara (a first round pick in 2011) with safeties Antrel Rolle and Stevie Brown, although Will Hill and Ryan Mundy have exhibited flashes of competence.

Jayron Hosley is a challenging cornerback, and if Webster falters just a little he could swoop in and take the job. Amukamara appears to be solid – maybe the only truly solid prospective starter in the secondary.

There is also the possibility, however slim, that Thomas might be summoned back from his exile at safety to compete for a job at one of the corners, or at least to emerge as the third cornerback (and perhaps the nickel corner). TT, as he is called, has astounding athletic abilities but the knee injuries have left him to be thought of as damaged goods, if only slightly so.

Someone asked Thomas the other day if he thinks he's a cornerback or a safety, to which he replied: “I'm whatever the Giants want me to be."

EXTRA POINTS - The Giants will finish their off-season work Thursday, followed by nearly six weeks of vacation time (for some, more chance to practice, study and lift). ... A report has surfaced that fullback Vonta Leach, who helped Baltimore win the Super Bowl, wants to leave and return to his first team, the Houston Texans. ... Companion reports indicate that Houston is interested but isn't sure how to go about the reunion, especially since the Texans signed free agent fullback Greg Jones this spring.

Leach's agent, Ralph Vitolo, confirms his interest in the Texans, and theirs in him, but said that the Giants are also in the mix along with the Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns. ... Given the fact that Houston might not have a way to re-sign the 6-0. 260-pound nine-year veteran, would you pick the Giants, Chiefs or Browns? ... If you're interested in a possible playoff appearance, there is no choice

. It would also be ironic since the Giants presented Leach with a free agent contract offer in 2007, which the Texans ultimately rejected and matched the offer in order to allow the burly blocking back to remain in Houston.

It is also becoming evident that defensive coordinator Perry Fewell would like to see third-year Mark Herzlich win the job at middle linebacker, despite the fact that Dan Connor was signed as an Unrestricted Free Agent from Dallas this spring. ... Herzlich, from Boston College, was an All-American and ACC Player of the Year in 2009 before being felled by a rare bone cancer, Ewing's Sarcoma. ... The Giants signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2011.

Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS where you can subscribe to his newsletters which run much more frequently than what is available here.
- Team Giants

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