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Giants Select Texas CB Aaron Ross with First Pick in 2007 Draft
Highly-rated corner addresses value and need in first round for Big Blue.
By Michael Eisen, Giants.com

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April 28, 2007

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Last season, Sam Madison and R.W. McQuarters - who total 63 years of age and 19 years of NFL experience - started a combined 22 games for the Giants at cornerback. Seeking an infusion of young talent at the position, the Giants believe they forged the perfect merger of value and need when they selected University of Texas cornerback Aaron Ross in the first round of today's NFL Draft.

Ross, a 6-0, 193-pounder, is a rugged and productive cornerback who doubles as a terrific punt returner. Just as important, he fits perfectly into new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's scheme.

"In Aaron Ross, we certainly found a guy who is an outstanding physical corner," head coach Tom Coughlin said. "He can play in the press position. He is a physical guy who has been a good tackler. At Texas, he's obviously played in an awful lot of big games. He likes to press. He is physical with his hands. He's a guy that has had tremendous numbers - his production is outstanding.

"The other thing about him is his punt return ability. That's a big plus for us now."

As a senior in 2006, the Tyler, Texas native received the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation's top defensive back. He was a unanimous All-Big 12 selection and was named the conference's Player of the Year by the Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and San Antonio Express-News. Ross was also named to several All-America teams after starting all 13 games and finishing the season with 80 tackles (59 solo), six interceptions and 19 pass breakups. Ross also averaged 10.4 yards on 23 punt returns and scored a touchdown.

"It is wonderful," Ross said of his selection by the Giants. "I was outside playing catch with my little nephew and my mom called me because I guess they had my name at the bottom of the screen as a projection. I went in and got the call and immediately my hands started shaking, my heart started pounding, but I am full of excitement right now. I really don't know how to explain it." 

General manager Jerry Reese said Ross was the third cornerback on the Giants' draft board, after Pittsburgh's Darrelle Revis (taken 14th by the Jets, who traded up) and Michigan's Leon Hall (chosen 18th by Cincinnati). Though the Giants considered addressing other needs, the overwhelming consensus was that Ross was the best player for the Giants.

"There were several other defensive positions that we were interested in," Reese said. "But this guy was sitting there with all of the production so it was the right time and the right place for us to pick him. So we picked him. It was a need and a value pick for us.  So we didn't reach for this guy. With the players on the board, we did not reach for this player. That is a good place to be in when you can get a need and a value pick. Seldom do you get it like that.

"We had the other two guys that went before us. We had those guys ranked ahead of him and he was the third corner. So if those two guys went - like we thought they would - he would probably be in the conversation at some point if the right people were still not on the board for us. And they were not on the board, so he was a value pick and a need pick for us."

Reese recited a long list of Ross' virtues. The Giants can use them, because their pass defense was ranked 28th in the NFL last season, allowing 191.1 yards a game.

"He has played at a high level of competition," Reese said. "He has size, he has speed.  He fits our scheme as a big guy with long arms who can battle big receivers. He can play that press coverage that our coordinator thinks that we are probably are going to play more of this year. So he fits what we want to do.  He was productive - six interceptions, 19 pass breakups.  He has returned three punts for touchdowns in his career. So he had a lot of value.

"Will he cover Terrell Owens better than he will cover Santana Moss? Absolutely he will, because he is a big guy, he is long-armed. Is he going to get some balls caught on him from little guys in front of him? He probably will, but he is going to battle those big guys that we play with in the National Football League, which is a big-receiver league. So we felt good about him in that aspect."

In four seasons with the Longhorns, Ross played in 51 games with 15 starts. He was credited with 205 tackles (145 solo) and had 10 interceptions and 33 pass breakups. Ross returned 76 punts for 893 yards, an 11.8-yard average, and scored three touchdowns.

Ross had an interesting answer when asked what his biggest adjustment to the NFL will be.

"I think being star struck," he said. "Facing T.O. Facing Chad Johnson. Making myself realize that they are not on a video game anymore, or on Sunday Night Football. I am up against them on the other side. Once I get over that I feel like I will be straight." 

The Giants believe Ross will get over it fast enough to contribute immediately.

"We expect him to come right in and compete and to be in a position where he can help us," Coughlin said. "He has played on the nickel teams, he has played inside, and he has played outside. He is a good tackler and punt returner. He will help us. He has special teams value as well, even if it is not as a punt returner."

Ross also anticipates making an immediate impact with his new team.

"I have to say that I am a competitor, so I am not coming there to sit on the bench," Ross said. "I am coming there to battle for a position - but, of course, respect the veteran players and get under some of the veteran's wings to learn the plays and to learn the systems. It is a job; you have to compete for a starting position. I am going to get under the players, let them teach me, learn from them, and see what happens."

This is the third year in a row the Giants selected a defensive player with their first draft choice and the second time in that span they chose a cornerback. In 2005 - when they did not have a first-round selection after relinquishing it the previous year in the Eli Manning trade - they took Corey Webster, a corner from LSU, in the second round. Webster started 12 games in his first two seasons, but missed four games last year with hip and toe injuries. In 2006, the Giants took Boston College defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka with the final pick of the first round after trading down.

Ross is the first Giants' draft choice from Texas since another cornerback, Rod Babers, was taken on the fourth round in 2003. Babers never played a regular season game for the team.

This is the first time the Giants made the 20th overall pick since 1950, when they chose Tulane running back Eddie Price. That turned out to be a smart move; Price is the franchise's eighth-leading rusher, with 3,292 yards.

Ross was the eighth of what became nine consecutive defensive players chosen in the first round. He was also the second Texas player taken in a row. Safety Michael Griffin went to Tennessee with the 19th pick.

Reese said the Giants talked to teams about trading both up and down, but never found a deal they liked.

"We tried to move up a couple of times and they wanted too much for us to move up," Reese said. "We just decided that we will stay the plan. We actually thought this is where we would be at this point in the draft. A couple of guys kept falling.  Let's get up and try to get a couple of them, a couple of corners that we liked. They fell farther than we thought they would. We tried to get up a couple of times but the price was too high. So we moved on.

"There were some offers to move down, but for us to move down seven or eight spots - (Ross) had too much value for us to move down seven or eight spots. We talked about these scenarios. We talked about it and really we thought this guy may be a guy that could be there. And he was one of the guys that we talked about that could be there at the right time. We would sit and wait and see if somebody wanted to move up to our spot.  We did get a couple of calls but they were nickel and diming us and we picked."

Ross will turn 25 on Sept. 15, which makes him older than the average NFL rookie. He said "transfer issues" cost him two years in high school. But Ross said being a little older will be an advantage when the games begin.

"It has made me mature a lot faster," he said. "I had to sit out for two years. Those two years were really good for me. I had a chance to be with my mom, to be with my pastor, and everyone. It kept my mind right."

Now the Giants want Ross to put his mind and body into making their secondary better.