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Giants select CB Terrell Thomas
In the second round, the Giants selected USC CB Terrell Thomas
By Michael Eisen, Giants.com

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APRIL 26, 2008

EAST RUTHERFORD - Both of the Giants' first-day draft choices were defensive backs, but the team's decision-makers said that had more to do with the quality of the players than a perceived need to shore up the secondary.

With their second round selection in today's NFL Draft, the 63rd overall pick, the Giants chose cornerback Terrell Thomas of USC. He joins Miami safety Kenny Phillips, the first-round choice, as new members of the defensive backfield.

"We don't draft like that, by need," said Marc Ross, who is running his first draft as the Giants' Director of College Scouting. "I think that is when you get hurt, when you say, 'We need this, we need to take a corner, we need to take this.' How the board falls and how we have them stacked, that is how we take them. I wouldn't classify them as need picks.

"We are happy we got two good football players. We didn't go in saying we have to take two defensive guys or two offensive guys. We went in and stuck with our board and took two football players we really like. We didn't have a game plan in mind of what positions or what side of the ball. We just wanted to get good football players."

Asked about safety, where Phillips looms as the potential replacement for the departed Gibril Wilson, Ross said, "Kenny Phillips was the highest rated guy on our board and we took Kenny Phillips."

This is the first time the Giants took players in the same unit with their initial two draft choices since 2003, when defensive tackle William Joseph and defensive end Osi Umenyiora went 1-2. They last chose defensive backs with their first two selections in 2001, when the players were Will Allen and Will Peterson.

Thomas is a 6-1, 202-pounder who played in 39 games with 28 starts at USC. He started all 26 games in his junior and senior seasons. Thomas finished his career with 109 tackles (78 solo) with four sacks for minus-47 yards and 7.5 stops for losses totaling 61 yards. He forced three fumbles and recovered three others, converting one recovery into a touchdown. He had 22 pass deflections and eight interceptions for 80 yards in returns.

In 2007, he was named to the All-Pac 10 second team by the league's coaches and media. He played the strongside (right) corner and had 45 tackles (31 solo), a 15-yard sack, 4.5 stops for losses of 29 yards and four interceptions.

"Terrell has excellent size for a corner," Ross said. "He's really a top-notch athlete - a big, fast corner who has played at a high level and has been productive. He's really a smooth, fluid athlete and has played in big games. He won't be intimidated when he gets on this stage because at SC they obviously have played a lot of big games and this guy performed well in those."

Thomas is a California native who attended Rancho Cucamonga High School, where he earned numerous accolades as a tailback and cornerback. As a senior, Thomas rushed for 1,250 yards on 134 carries (a 9.3-yard average) with 14 touchdowns and caught 30 passes with five scores. On defense, he had 115 tackles, seven interceptions and forced four fumbles while averaging 44.5 yards on kickoff returns.

Thomas was granted a medical hardship after hurting his shoulder as a freshman in 2003. He played in 11 games in 2004 and was a starting corner the following year when he suffered torn ligaments in his right knee, which sidelined him for the remainder of the season. But he bounced back to have two outstanding seasons in 2006-07.

"His speed is good," Ross said. "He is a big man who runs well and smooth.

"As a player he will be fine. The kid is a very smart guy. They used him a bunch of different roles there at SC, on the slot, outside, and that is one of his strengths, his mental and his savvy and his football instincts. I don't think he will be intimidated by this setting at all and I think he will be ready to compete from day one."