What do you like about Terrell Thomas?
Terrell has excellent size for a corner. Really a top-notch athlete. Big, fast corner who has played at a high level and has been productive. Really a smooth, fluid athlete, and has played in big games. He won’t be intimidated when he gets on this stage because at SC obviously they have played a lot of big games and this guy performed well in those.
Is he projected as a corner or a safety?
We drafted him as a corner. We like him as a corner.
Are you surprised that you went defense with both selections today?
We are happy we got two good football players. We didn’t go in saying we have to take two defensive guys or two offensive guys. We went in and stuck with our board and took two football players we really like. We didn’t have a game plan in mind of what positions or what side of the ball. We just wanted to get good football players.
Do you think both picks were need picks?
Again, we don’t draft like that, by need. I think that is when you get hurt is when you say, ‘we need this, we need to take a corner, we need to take this.’ How the board falls and how we have them stacked, that is how we take them. No, I wouldn’t classify them as need picks.
It does look that way as you lost a safety and then drafted a safety in the first round?
You can look at it however you want, but we don’t look at it like that, no. We like Kenny Phillips, he was the highest rated guy on our board and we took Kenny Phillips.
The previous injuries are not a concern with Thomas?
No. We have a top-notch medical staff here and when Ronnie Barnes says the guy is okay, I trust him 100 percent. Everybody has their job to fulfill during the draft and leading up to this process. Obviously I am new here but I trust people here 100 percent. When Ronnie says it is okay, then I don’t even think twice about it.
How did your first year go with the Giants?
Yeah, I knew when I got hired that we were going to win the Super Bowl…
Your first draft as college scouting director?
It is great. This is a great group of guys here, a great staff, coaches, Jerry (Reese) is great to work with, and Coach Coughlin, and Mr. Mara. It is just such a great environment here and it has been really smooth. This day was smooth; the whole draft meetings were smooth. A professional group here at the Giants.
Had you met more with Thomas before the draft than Phillips?
Kenny, we were looking at him and he just didn’t know, but Terrell, we went to his workout, we looked at him at the combine, we interviewed him at the combine, so we did a lot of work with him. The kids, sometimes they have no idea what is going on. It is just like this, there is a room full of scouts that they don’t know, but we are always evaluating throughout the whole process.
Is Thomas ready to get playing time in the NFL?
Playing time, I don’t know. As a player, yes, mentally he will be fine, the kid is a very smart guy. They used him in a bunch of different roles there at SC, on the slot, outside, and that is one of his strengths, his mental and his savvy and his football instincts. I don’t think he will be intimidated by this setting at all and I think he will be ready to compete from day one.
How is his speed?
Speed is good. His speed is good. He runs well, he is a big man who runs well and smooth.
What kind of resource was Steve Smith with this pick?
Steve Smith? None. We didn’t call Steve up and ask him what he thought about Terrell. I asked Terrell about Steve and he said he shut him down every day in practice so I figured that would be good enough. We didn’t ask him.
How much did these guys’ grades change from the end of their seasons to now?
They were pretty steady. These guys didn’t make drastic ascensions or anything because they ran fast or worked out great or had great 40s. These guys were steady. Some of the picks that happen, guys skyrocket a little bit, but I don’t think these guys did at all. You didn’t hear any buzz about them so I think they were steady guys.
Did you have clusters of guys who you were interested in around the time of your picks?
Well, you always want to have a group of guys in the discussion. Two or three players you want to talk about and that brings out people’s passions for players. Let’s see how much they really are going to step up if they like them or not. Now ultimately somebody has to make the decision but when you talk about a group of players together it brings more clarity to the situation.
Was there a lot of passion for Thomas?
Yeah, we picked him, I hope so.
Was there someone who really liked him?
A few guys, yeah. It was a lively discussion, a lot of looks at him. It was a lively discussion.
How much talk did you have about moving up or down from those spots?
I let Jerry handle that kind of stuff. When he tells me that we are going to pick, I pick, but you would have to ask him that stuff.
Did you do most of the picking at the end?
We pick as a group.
Who had the final call?
I will let Jerry answer that as well.
A lively discussion on Thomas?
No, I don’t want to say lively like it was negative or anything. I just think we get in the draft room and guys have done a lot of work, so they want to be heard and the way we structure it, everybody has their say. That brings about good discussion. I don’t want to say it was back and forth, I meant lively and very positive discussion.
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