Coach Tom Coughlin said, “We are in a high-risk business,” a fact the Giants proved with the selection of defensive tackle Marvin Austin in the second round of the NFL draft.
Austin is a dream player with a blot on his personal record. He did not play at all last season for North Carolina after he was booted off the squad by coach Butch Davis for violating team rules and later declared ineligible by the NCAA for accepting improper gifts from his agent. He is under NCAA investigation for academic cheating and has citations for a misdemeanor noise ordinance violation, for driving without a registration and improper window tinting. Early in his career at UNC, he was benched twice for not attending class.
Bad guy?
“Sometimes some of the things that are said and the way that they say them, I feel like some people feel I’m a bad person,” Austin said. “That’s not the case at all. I’m just a good guy who made a bad decision and I’m ready to move on and become a Giant.”
In the third round, the Giants took Jerrel Jernigan, a speed receiver from Troy who can also return punts and kickoffs.
Giants GM Jerry Reese said Austin was “very highly rated on our board” and “we couldn’t pass him up.” And he said Austin had “no other problems” other than the illegal doings with his agent.
As for Austin the player, Reese could not have been more colorful in describing the attraction. He used the word “nasty” three times and likened Austin to former Giants defensive lineman Keith Hamilton, a real tough guy on the field with a history of some illegal activity off it.
“Not the body type but that nasty demeanor that Keith Hamilton used to play with when we had him here,” Reese said.
Asked if he liked Austin’s mean streak, Coughlin said, “We will encourage that.”
This pick likely paves the way for the departure of Barry Cofield, a starter at defensive tackle since 2006. Depending on the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Cofield might become an unrestricted free agent and he wants a big payday, something the Giants probably aren’t inclined to give him.
“All of that will take care of itself,” Reese said. “I am not going to make any comments on Barry Cofield’s future.”
In 2007, after the Giants drafted running back Ahmad Bradshaw — a player with an arrest record — Reese admitted he sat Bradshaw down and basically informed him he was going to have to stay in line, or else. A similar discussion has already taken place between Coughlin and Austin.
“[It was] a good conversation, a very healthy conversation,” Austin said. “He told me what’s going to be expected of me, I told him I’m ready to be a professional.”
Before he ran afoul, Austin was quite a player. He has brute strength — he benched-pressed 225 pounds 38 times at the combine — and scouts say he “runs like an oversized linebacker.” He had nine sacks in his three years, and spent last year working out in Tampa. His did participate in individual drills at the East-West Shrine game, dominating most of them.
“I’m extremely motivated,” said Austin, who patterns his game after Warren Sapp and John Randle. “I feel like I’m one of the best athletes in the draft. It was extremely tough [last year] to sit back and watch, I learned every decision you make is an important decision that you have to think everything out.”
In Austin and first-round pick Prince Amukamara, Marc Ross, the Giants director of college scouting, said he feels the Giants got two of the top 15 players in the entire draft.
“If you didn’t do your homework on [Austin,]” Ross said, “you could easily dismiss him.”