For the first time in its history, the NFL Draft took itself to prime-time television on a weeknight. That means fewer worries about sitting inside on a beautiful April Saturday to see which college players would go to what teams. After one round on Thursday night, the festivities continue with Rounds 2 and 3 on Friday night before finishing up Saturday.
The Giants, whose 8-8 record landed them the 15th pick, went for defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul from South Florida. The consensus: Pierre-Paul is an athletic but raw talent who will take some time to develop in a Giants system that has produced more than its share of dominant pass-rushers. If they had wanted, the Giants could have traded up to get a crack at Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain, who went at No. 8 to the Raiders, or Clemson tailback C.J. Spiller, who went one pick later to Buffalo.
At No. 29, the Jets, despite having Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie, went for Boise State cornerback Kyle Wilson, who will add depth and special teams help for the Jets. It's a strange but not necessarily a bad pick for the Jets, who have been known for first-round busts. (See Gholston, Vernon and keep working back.)
Elsewhere, Denver traded up to No. 25 to get Florida's Tim Tebow, the most polarizing player in the draft. Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen is still available. At the top, there were few surprises, with Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) going No. 1 to the quarterback-starved St. Louis Rams and Ndamukong Suh (Nebraska) going to Detroit.
As for Day 2, look for the Giants to try to add a linebacker and the Jets to try for a pash-rushing lineman. Their weakness on defense last season was getting to the quarterback without blitzing. That said, after Thursday's show, nothing is for sure.
