Loading ...As a whole, the 2012 NFL Draft is not considered a deep one, but the defensive line is one among two or three positions that are very deep. Dontari Poe, Devon Still, and Fletcher Cox are among some of the defensive tackles have first round grades. Along with them, one very intriguing prospect for the New York Giants is defensive tackle Jerel Worthy out of Michigan State.
In most other drafts, Worthy would be talked about as a top-15 selection, but the defensive tackle position is particularly deep this season.
Worthy is a very impressive player and nothing less than a disruptive force on a play to play basis during his time at Michigan State. Over his three seasons there, he had no less than 30 tackles and 3.5 sacks. Worthy lines up typically in 4-3 sets exclusively and is good lining up on both the inside and outside shoulder of offensive guards.
For his 308 pound frame, Worthy is phenomenal at both driving opposing offensive linemen into the backfield and swimming past opposing linemen. His agility can sneak up on opponents. And for the Giants, drafting in the front seven just makes too much sense.
Jerry Reese recently hinted that the team was worried about second year player Marvin Austin. The North Carolina defensive linemen tor a pectoral in preseason in 2010 after a season in which he sat out at North Caroline due to a suspension by the NCAA. With both Rocky Bernard and Jimmy Kennedy unrestricted free agents, Austin is one of only three incumbent defensive tackles on the roster. The Giants would obviously prefer to have more depth there.
Worthy might be the best player available in the defensive front seven come the end of the first round.
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f0xlin says:
March 29, 2012 at 11:02 AM
Wow, shows you how lucky we are to be New York Football Giant Fans!
With free agency slowing down a bit, who do you guys think will be this years Jonas Seawright?
Practice Squad (or were for a good part of last year)
Brandon Bing CB
Selvish Capers T
Jim Cordle C
Dan Depalma WR
Larry Donnell TE
Dwayne Hendrinks DT
Christian Hopkins TE
Chris Horton DB
Craig Marshall DE
Ryan Perrilloux QB
Ryan Purvis TE
Joel Reinders T
Isaiah Stanback WR
Chris White G
I think this years practice squad player to emerge will be Dan Depalma. Last month JR was quoted as saying they like to look within the orgainization before they look to sign any outside free agents. He didn’t name any names but Webster has been quoted saying DePalma was by far the toughest PS WR to cover.
I’ll put my money on DePalma being this years Jonas Seawright (but hopefully Depalma succeeds)
It won’t be Stanback or Perriloux. DePalma would seem to only be an option in the slot (meaning Cruz would slide outside).
My vote would be for Christian Hopkins to make a name for himself and pass Pascoe on the depth chart before Ballard comes back from injury.
Half of these guys will be replaced by UDFA’s in a month, though.
Now we are talking! Worthy and Barron are my two top targets at 32.
On Barron, local guys here in Dallas think there is no way he gets past Dallas at 14. They apparetnly love him. I guess a bad pro day could get him past them, though.
To me, they’d be foolish not to take DeCastro over Barron at 14 if he’s there.
Really like this guy. Wouldn’t disappoint me at all if we took him at #32. He’d give us added flexibility by allowing Canty to take some snaps at DE.
I don’t see Canty getting more than 3rd/4th down short yardage or goal line snaps at DE. Having JPP and Tuck starting changes the need for Canty to rotate in as a DE in early downs.
With Tolly moving on Canty will see more there.
No we will use the florida kid or a draft pick. Canty was used out of necessity not because we wanted to use him as a DE. Plus if everyone is healthy the 4th DE just doesn’t play much. and don’t forget Kiwi as a pass rushing specialist.
I like Worthy and think he one of the strongest possibilities if he’s on the board. There are several DTs that are highly thought of that could slip to us. Devon Still is another one.
But I think the Devin Thomas non re-signing means we are going to draft a WR in the first 3 rounds. If Wright or Hill is available I think we take them. Others players it will be a debate. WR and DT seem to be the deepest positions in this draft. RB is also a deep position.
I think it’s BPA but within certain boundaries. WR, DE (or acceptable DT), and CB. At least for the 1st 2 picks.
I expand that. I think our roster is more sound than it’s ever been under. I think the BPA is even expanded to RB, LB, and TE. And OT I believe is also in the boundries. I think this is player driven. JR could be really high on guys like Miller, Brown, Fleener and there’s no gapping hole that requires a top 2 round draft pick. I just think this is a year that BPA really does apply.
Which explains why JR has been slow to sign all those UFA’s that many around here want back. He’s keeping those spots open should a BPA pick provide an upgrade at that position. Upgrades could come in the middle rounds as well, particularly at OT and saftey.
I don’t know about Worthy. He looks great at times and is lost at others. Against Michigan he would follow a great play with a long period during which he did absolutely nothing. He looked to me like a kid with great initial burst and excellent strength that allowed him to make a number of tackles for losses, but he just looked really, really, inconsistent.
I could see grabbing him with a third round pick (or, definitely, a fourth) but there’s no way I’d take him at #32. And I’m still convinced that with two young tackles in the rotation (a rapidly improving Joseph who looks like a soon-to-be star and an unproven Austin who has great physical tools but is a risky guy right now), and no assurance that we will have a veteran at MLB, the Giants are more likely to want a veteran DT in their rotation to pair with Austin as Joseph pairs with Canty. I just cannot see a DT as an early draft pick unless he is so clearly BPA that passing on him is crazy. There is NO WAY that Worthy will be the BPA at #32.
I’m not saying you are wrong about the strategy because I have similar thoughts about MLB. I think we just might be very young at depth positions. Which may hurt us in 2012 but we could help us in 2013 and 2014.
A lot of people have Worthy rated as a first round even top 20 player. I see Worthy as a Austin type player who isn’t as raw and doesn’t have concerns about him being inexperienced.
The thing about drafting in our slot is that you just can’t predict who will fall. And certainly someone will.
I don’t look at draft sites (or much else on the web except Giants 101 and the NYT digital site and Slate, plus a bit of work-related stuff) so I don’t know about draft rankings, but I go by what I see. In Worthy I see a kid with a lot of upside potential but plenty of potential to be a JAG too. He has a lot of tools, but he sure looked to me like he either took plays off or can only get himself going at his best sporadically and cannot sustain the effort on a consistent basis. I understand that the Giants have a solid staff that could work with him and perhaps get him to the level where he could be a terrific player, but that always entails risk. I think he’s a bad bet at #32 and that there will be more talented players there (including at positions of need for the Giants) when that pick comes around. We’ll see next month.
I sorta agree with 55 here. I think hes way better then a 3rd round guy and if there was a scenario were we trade down I would love to have him eartly second. But not at #32. I dont think hes BPA here. Personally I think Fletcher Cox is someone we might have a shot at as a DT.
I would think Cox’s flexibility to be a 3-4 DE would almost assuredly put him out of our reach. Someone will grab him.
Probably right, but a guy like that, who everyone thought should go higher, is probably going to be avilable.
So Much for Barron having a poor workout 4.55 40
The early, unofficial numbers from the Alabama workout today include 40 times in the low 4.5 range for RB Trent Richardson, 4.55 for Mark Barron and something in the low 4.8 range for OLB Courtney Upshaw.
Barron’s official times 4.54 and 4.73
Chug-chuga. What was his excuse?
Dan the Rings you posted on facebook are in fact the real deal.