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Giants snag touted cornerback in NFL’s supplemental draft


Tempest

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In a year or two, perhaps the Giants will look back on the gamble they took Wednesday and nod in approval.


The NFL’s supplemental draft is normally a mid-July non-event that comes and goes without any players going anywhere. The Giants, though, broke with that standard, rolling the dice to use a third-round pick to take Sam Beal, a highly regarded cornerback from Western Michigan.


That means the Giants will forfeit their third-round pick in the 2019 NFL draft next spring, a price tag that indicates the Giants view Beal as a legitimate prospect. Beal is the first player taken in the supplemental draft since 2015 and the highest player taken in this unique draft since the Browns selected Josh Gordon in the second round in 2012.


Clearly, the Giants see Beal, 21, as a piece in their defensive puzzle, and this underscores the absence on the roster of high-level cornerback depth behind Janoris Jenkins and presumptive starter Eli Apple.


“We feel like we’re getting our third-round pick now,” general manager Dave Gettleman said. “We discussed it at length yesterday, and had a great conversation. We basically had a draft meeting in the office, with people on the speaker phone who had seen him. It was a very thorough conversation.”


Only five players were eligible for this year’s supplemental draft, and the Giants waited until the third round to scoop up the most highly regarded of the group. Players enter the supplemental draft if they did not declare for the regular NFL draft, but are eligible to enter the NFL, usually because of a change in their college status or based on off-field issues.


In Beal’s case, his academic status at Western Michigan was uncertain and thus he opted to leave school after his junior year.


The Giants were not the only team to dip into the supplemental draft, as the Redskins took Virginia Tech cornerback Adonis Alexander in the sixth round.


Beal is 6-foot-1, giving the Giants a tall rookie corner, although at 177 pounds he is not considered to be especially physical and needs to gain weight and strength. He was a two-year starter at Western Michigan and finished his college career with 92 tackles and two interceptions — the first against USC and new Jets quarterback Sam Darnold.


He was clocked at 4.47 in the 40-yard dash at his Pro Day. If Beal were eligible for the draft in late April, he likely would have been a second-day pick, taken in the second or, more likely, the third round.


Giants rookies report to training camp July 22 and Beal will be behind, as he embarks on his NFL career without any spring work with the team. There is a hodgepodge of cornerback talent on the roster after Jenkins and Apple. Longtime Steelers corner William Gay, 33, was signed this offseason, as were other free agent veterans Teddy Williams, Curtis Riley and B.W. Webb. Donte Deayon, a slot corner who appeared in four games in 2018, also returns.


Beal is only the 44rd player taken in the supplemental draft since its inception in 1977. The Giants twice before dipped into this draft to take a player, selecting quarterback Dave Brown in the first round in 1992 and safety Tito Wooten in the fourth round in 1994.


“We’re very, very excited about getting Sam in the draft,” Gettleman said. “He’s long, he’s very athletic for a corner, he has all the physical skills, he can carry the vertical, he has very good play speed, he shows instincts out there, he has ball awareness, he doesn’t panic when the ball is thrown at his guy, and he is a very willing tackler.


“We just feel it gives us a really talented young kid with the ability to ascend.”

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Since Jenkins is going to count 12 million against the cap in 2019 and who knows what the hell is going on with Eli Apple, this was probably a pretty good risk to take.

For a corner that runs a 4.6? I know 40 times isnt everything but thats really slow for a corner. You think the Giants are going to switch him to safety?

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Simms retired after the 1993 season. I'm saying we gave up on Hostetler, who went on to start and had four solid seasons after the Giants. Did you prefer Dave Brown? lol

They had already given up on Hoss when Brown was drafted, he was already on his way out if not on the Raiders. Simms played for two more seasons after Brown was drafted, before he was forced into retirement.

 

And Hoss put up terrible #s in LA/Oak given how much talent they otherwise had on offense.

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They had already given up on Hoss when Brown was drafted, he was already on his way out if not on the Raiders. Simms played for two more seasons after Brown was drafted, before he was forced into retirement.

 

And Hoss put up terrible #s in LA/Oak given how much talent they otherwise had on offense.

Hoss made a pro bowl with Oakland. Led them to the playoffs run. What did Dave Brown ever do? 3 1/2 seasons of the shittiest offense in team history. Put up his numbers side by side in general with Dave Brown, and tell me who youd prefer.
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