One of the most enjoyable parts of the pre-draft process is knowing which professional comparisons are given to the best prospects. It’s a measure that helps casual fans recognize potential and understand what kind of style certain players will bring to the NFL.
Professional comparisons also help break up the monotony of dummy drafts.
late last week, Doug Farrar from Touchdown Wire View his comparisons to the 50 best prospects in the 2023 NFL Class. Seven of them have been compared to players who, at one time or another, were a good fit for the New York Giants.
Here’s a look at all seven prospects who were compared to current or former members of Big Blue.
Sam Madison, who joined the Giants as a veteran in 2006, was a formidable leader who helped anchor the secondary. He was a key part of the team that knocked out Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in 2007.
Here’s Farrar’s take on the comparison:
Selected by the Dolphins in the second round of the 1997 draft from Louisville, Madison transcended any concerns about his size (5-foot-11, 180 pounds) with great mobility and the toughness to take any receiver to the woodshed. Madison capitalized on it all with four Pro Bowl appearances and two All-Pro nominations. It looks like Witherspoon has the tools to put up an equivalent NFL career, given the right home.
Dominic Rodgers-Cromartie joined the Giants in 2014 and spent four seasons with the team as a No. 1 cornerback. He earned one Pro Bowl nod while at East Rutherford and was selected to Second-Team All-Pro in 2016.
Who escaped:
There’s a little Richard Sherman in Gonzalez’s game as he defends every deep fade with the curiosity that any quarterback would attempt such a thing, but Gonzalez also has a fluidity to his game that’s unusual for his size, and he doesn’t have a sherm. A clear desire to physically embarrass his opponent. This brings me to mind of Rodgers Cromartie, who at his best was impossible for receivers to shake.
The Giants selected Jason Pierre Paul in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft and his impact was immediate. Over his eight seasons with the Giants, JPP recorded over 430 tackles to go along with 58.5 sacks and a Super Bowl title. Most will remember his fireworks incident, but before and after that incident, JPP was dominant.
Who escaped:
The Giants selected Pierre Boulle from USF with the 15th pick in the 2010 draft despite the fact that Pierre Boulle was completely raw, because his tools were off the charts. Sound familiar? Well, it took Pierre Paul exactly one season to explode in the face of the NFL, with a 17-sack, 72-compression season in 2011 where he was irrevocably out of nowhere in the Big Blue fronts. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Wilson could make the same leap.
The Giants signed Kareem McKenzie, a native of New Jersey, in 2005 after he spent four seasons with the New York Jets. McKenzie would go on to become a dominant right tackle for what some would argue is the best offensive line combination in Giants history. This unit helped lead the Giants to two Super Bowl titles.
Who escaped:
Selected in the third round of the 2001 draft from Penn State by the Jets, the 6-foot-6, 330-pound McKenzie brought a serious run-blocking attitude and ultimate technique to the right tackle position for the Jets and Giants through the 2011 season. The Wright is your best choice if you are athletic and agile, but if you want a true dog who can announce his presence with authority, he is the best offensive lineman in this category.
Darren Waller was, of course, the Giants’ most important off-season addition. He was acquired through a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders and is expected to be the #1 target for quarterback Daniel Jones this season.
Who escaped:
Selected in the sixth round of the 2015 draft by the Ravens out of Georgia Tech, Waller overcame personal issues to become one of the NFL’s hottest tight ends. Musgrave doesn’t have the speed of Waller’s longer run (Waller ran a 4.46-second 40-yard dash in his scouting combo), but the 1.58-second 10-yard splits are identical, and from deep playability to blocking issues to sometimes insane drops, Musgrave looks Much like Waller to me.
Geno Smith only spent one season with the Giants in 2017, primarily serving as a backup to Eli Manning. However, he got off to a very controversial start in a loss to the Raiders which eventually led to the firing of then-head coach Ben McAdoo.
Who escaped:
It took Smith a long time to succeed at the NFL level for multiple reasons, but when he finally caught up with the Seahawks, he combined athleticism, accuracy, speed to the second and third levels, and leadership characteristics to make himself a franchise quarterback. Smith also had to adjust to the NFL from his college offense, and while that was also the case for Hooker’s exit from Josh Heupel’s Air Raid/veer system, Hooker has already shown enough to make his NFL graduation relatively smooth.
Conor Barwin spent the final season of his NFL career (2018) with the Giants appearing in 15 games with three starts. He recorded 12 tackles and 1 sack that year. He is best known for his time with the Houston Texans and Philadelphia Eagles.
Who escaped:
Texas took Barwin in the second round of the 2009 draft out of Cincinnati, and while Barwin always had a good number of picks in the box throughout his career with Houston, the Eagles, Rams, and Giants, he was primarily a man feature—and very good at his peak, with Three seasons of double-digit sacks. Sanders profiles well the same way.