With the NFL draft still more than an excruciating three weeks away, we are taking a look this week at the New York Giants' last five drafts. Today we look back at the 2010 draft, which saw the Giants swing for the fences in the first round and hit a home run.
The Picks
1st round (15th overall): Jason Pierre-Paul, DE, South Florida
2nd round (46th): Linval Joseph, DT, East Carolina
3rd round (76th): Chad Jones, S, LSU
4th round (115th): Phillip Dillard, LB, Nebraska
5th round (147th): Mitch Petrus, G, Arkansas
6th round (184th): Adrian Tracy, LB, William & Mary
7th round (221st): Matt Dodge, P, East Carolina
Still with Giants: Pierre-Paul
Still in NFL: Joseph (Vikings), Dillard (Chargers), Tracy (Cardinals)
Games played with Giants
Pierre-Paul: 63
Joseph: 57
Jones: 0
Dillard: 7
Petrus: 27
Tracy: 16
Dodge: 16
Review: Pierre-Paul and Joseph became standout players, and Joseph is gone only because the Giants decided not to pay him what the market was dictating for top defensive tackle talent this offseason. The two of them were critical components in the Giants' defensive line that helped deliver the franchise's fourth Super Bowl title following the 2011 season, and Pierre-Paul was one of the most dominant defensive players in the league that season and postseason. But after the first two rounds, this was a mess. Jones was promising, but unfortunately never got to have an NFL career as a result of a car accident that nearly killed him during that 2010 offseason. Dodge was their punter for his entire rookie season, but he'll always be remembered for failing to punt the ball out of bounds and allowing DeSean Jackson to run it back for a winning touchdown in the game that crushed their 2010 season. Dillard and Tracy add to the list of mid-round and late-round picks that haven't panned out for them over the past half-decade. If you hit on a couple of those, you're thought of as a good drafting team and you're able to build roster depth. If you hit on none of them, your roster hollows out over time, as the Giants' roster has. This draft will be thought of well if Pierre-Paul can overcome his physical issues and get himself back on the path to stardom. But with Joseph already playing elsewhere at the age of 25, the sad fact is that they didn't get much out of their seven picks in 2010.
Grade: D+