Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports
The 2013 NFL Draft started on a strange and unexpected note for the New York Giants and ended on an all too familiar one. Thursday night’s selection brought Big Blue nation Justin “Who?” out of Syracuse and Friday closed out with edge rusher Damontre Moore — yes, that Damontre Moore, fell to the 81st overall pick — as Jerry Reese showed us once again how he rolls in taking a defensive end that gets after the passer early on.
“I love the Giants were able to get this kind of value. He’s way better than the 81st player,” NFL Network’s Mike Mayock said about Moore. “The downside is there’s a reason why he slipped.”
Apparently Moore’s own program, Texas A&M, didn’t even give him a full endorsement and that caused the fall. But if he can deliver half of what fellow Aggies edge rusher Von Miller has at the NFL level, or the 12.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss that Moore notched last year, then it was well worth the third-rounder. It will be interesting to see how Perry Fewell uses him on the edge; some think he can prove a 4-3 outside linebacker much like Miller.
Ohio State defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins was another lineman many experts had going in the first round that just happened to fall down to New York. Defensive tackle was a need with Chris Canty‘s departure along with Cullen Jenkins and Mike Patterson‘s spotty recent healthy history.
Then there’s the surprising first-round offensive tackle selection in Justin Pugh, which certainly hits a need at right tackle while the value just depends on how he pans out.
Picks: Pugh (1-19), Hankins (2-17), Damontre Moore (3-19)
Grade: A
Thomas Emerick is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasEmerick, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
