It sounds as if Jayron Hosley is going to fit right in with his new teammates on the Giants defense.
"He's a very competitive and feisty guy," coach Tom Coughlin said. "He does throw the body around."
"He's not a big man, but this guy has athletic arrogance," general manager Jerry Reese said. "He plays like a big guy. His skill set, years ago, kind of reminds me of Adam 'Pacman' Jones – he plays kind of like that. He runs in there kind of like a little linebacker. He throws himself in there."
Hosley, a 5-10, 178-pound cornerback, was selected by the Giants with the 31st pick in the third round of the NFL Draft, the 94th overall selection. He left college after his junior season, as did the team's first two draft choices – running back David Wilson, who was Hosley's teammate with the Hokies, and LSU wide receiver Rueben Randle.
This is the first time the Giants chose two players from one school in the same draft since 2002, when they selected two players from the University of Miami – tight end Jeremy Shockey in the first round and wide receiver Daryl Jones in the seventh.
Hosley played in 39 games in his three years at Virginia Tech, starting all 26 in which he played the last two seasons. He was credited with 109 tackles (73 solo) and had 12 interceptions – nine of them in 2010. Hosley also returned 68 punts for an 11.9-yard average.
"He has outstanding cover skills," Reese said. "He's productive. He's an interceptor, he can intercept the ball, so we expect him to be in our nickel packages. And a bonus is that he's a punt returner. He can return punts and kicks, but he's probably a better punt returner than kick returner. He has a lot of good qualities that we like. We think if he was a couple of inches taller, he would be in the first (round) (in the conversation) with the first two guys - those two top corners."
Hosley joins a strong group of corners that includes Corey Webster, Terrell Thomas and Prince Amukamara.
"He's a physical tackler," Coughlin said. "He is a competitive guy who many times is matched up on the opponent's best receiver. Whether it's the physical aspect of the game, the coming up in run support, the competitiveness in the press position, whether he's playing from off and just playing the ball in the air. This guy does have outstanding hands and has been able to convert that concept into many interceptions."
The Giants expect Hosley to be a big contributor on special teams.
"He also has the potential to be a punt returner," Coughlin said. "We like him for our special teams aspect also. He's played the gunner. He can play various kickoff coverages, etc., etc. We feel like we can accomplish a lot with this kind of an athlete. He's not the biggest guy in the world. That was discussed. However, we do think he is a competitive feisty guy and he's one of those people that has not backed down from anybody. Played against some outstanding receivers in his career and did an outstanding job."
Hosley failed a drug test at the scouting combine in Indianapolis.
"We're very much aware of that and we've addressed that with him and we're prepared to address that professionally as well when we do get him here," Coughlin said.
When a reporter said to Coughlin that the Giants have taken chances on such players in the past, the coach said, "Provided we have enough information about the player to believe that we can work with him and he's willing to overcome whatever issues he's had."
"He's not the first one to have a situation like that," Reese said. "He's a young kid. He's 20 years old. He's an early-out junior. He knows that's a bad decision that he made and we expect better from him."
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