T-Rock's Take on the Giants

Today's workouts moved inside the Giants Stadium practice bubble -- not Tom Coughlin's favorite spot, given the small space, but the rain didn't let up.

The star of the offense in the camp today was not a rookie -- it was second-year WR Michael Jennings, who made plenty of good catches in traffic in both 7-on-7 and full offense-defense drills. He had one deep ball from QB Gino Guidugli that he could have run under, but speedy 7th-round pick CB Gerrick McPhearson grabbed a handful of Jennings' jersey to prevent the catch.

Jennings should be better than everyone out here -- he'll be 27 in September and has been on a handful of NFL practice squads. But he knows this is his make-or-break training camp coming up and, playing at 182 pounds (13 more than last year), he wants to seize the moment.

Guidugli and former Rutgers QB Ryan Hart were capable, though Hart threw a few too many fluttering balls today. With Josh Harris already with the team, neither will likely get a chance to make training camp.

And I was asked about DT Jonas Seawright following Saturday's blog entry. He was the main attraction today, with a legitimate chance to make the tackle rotation. He also had the best line of the two-day camp. He was asked if, with a year on the practice squad under his belt, he has a leg up on the tackle competition.

"I don't know if I have a leg up," he said, "but I have two legs and I better use 'em."

The fateful day has finally arrived... The Giants blog is here. I can only hope to get half the attention and half the headshot that my man Berger has on the Jets blog -- for a little guy, that is a huge headshot, ain't it? -- so we'll start off in very humble fashion with a rookie mini-camp update.

It's not the most glamorous debut, I understand, but we'll do what we can -- after all, to quote Tom Coughlin from earlier today, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." I think maybe he cribbed that from somewhere else, but it definitely applies to the blog and all that the blog brings.

The Giants had 46 rookies and first-year players on the practice field this morning, the first of two workouts today.  I've got some quick observations on each draft pick, followed by a complete list of attendees with a few more comments:

-- DE Mathias Kiwanuka is long and lean, but boy, he is lean. He said he's 265 pounds, which is around what he played at in college, but he needs to put on at least 10-15 pounds before training camp to have a chance at physically competing with NFL offensive linemen. Kiwanuka was at right defensive end today.

-- WR Sinorice Moss is hard to find on a crowded field -- maybe that's a good thing. He's a legit 5'8" but he's built tough and he caught most everything thrown his way this morning. Coughlin pulled him aside a couple times to talk, a sign of the attention and expectations the team has for Moss.

-- LB Gerris Wilkinson worked at weak-side linebacker and will continue to do so. With Carlos Emmons and Brandon Short on the WLB depth chart, Wilkinson could have an impact there.

-- NT Barry Cofield noted that Giants defensive line coach Mike Waufle favorably compared Cofield to Kendrick Clancy, who had a standout year at the nose and then split for big bucks to the Cardinals. "He proved you don't just have to be a space-eater there, you can wreak some havoc and make plays," said Cofield, who communicated well -- no surprise, since he has to return to Northwestern after Monday's workout to take two communications finals.

-- OT Guy Whimper is 6-5, 305 -- yet he still looked small for an NFL lineman. S Charles Peprah didn't catch too many balls in drills. And CB Gerrick McPhearson used his speed to break up a few pass plays to draw notice.

Among the undrafted lot, OL Jai Lewis (George Mason) got more attention for his long-snapping skills than anything else -- he's the longest of longshots to learn enough in time to make the team. And WR Anthony Mix out of Auburn has good size (6-4, 235) and decent hands.

Here's the rest of the undrafted rookie and first-year group:

DT Sir Henry Anderson (Oregon State), G Stephen Bell (Temple), RB Decori Birmingham (Arkansas), CB Charles Byrd (Morehead State), DE Thomas Carroll (Miami, FL), LB Kevis Coley (So. Miss), S Trevis Coley (So. Miss), LB Michael Craven (Stanford), CB Kevin Dockery (Miss. State), DE Willie Evans (Miss. State), OL Na'Shan Goddard (So. Carolina), DT Marcus Green (Ohio State), QB Gino Guidugli (Cincinnati), S Kyler Hall (Florida State), FB Greg Hanoian (Syracuse), QB Ryan Hart (Rutgers), FB Tony Jackson (Iowa), TE Darcy Johnson (C. Florida), G Matthew Lentz (Michigan), OL Todd Londot (Miami, OH), T Sameeh McDonald (Rutgers), LB Nick McNeil (W. Carolina), S Anthony Morris (Averett), LB Barry Robertson (La. Tech), DT Demetrius Shambley (James Madison), LB Jon Simmons (S. Florida), RB James Sims (Washington), G Tony Tella (Miami, FL), RB David Underwood (Michigan), CB E.J. Underwood (Pikeville), RB Jerod Void (Purdue), WR Curtis Williams (Maryland), WR Harry Williams (Tuskegee).

Add in practice squadders TE Wade Fletcher, WR Michael Jennings  and DT Jonas Seawright and you've got the whole group.

And a very, very long first blog entry. I'll have this thing down a little better by Monday for the second installment. All comments (except yours, Glauber) are welcome.

Arthur Staple has been at Newsday since 1997 and has covered the Giants since 2005.

He is a native New Yorker and attended Boston University.

His favorite pastime is making fun of Bob Glauber, Newsday's esteemed NFL columnist.