New York Giants decided to address their cornerback issue in the 2018 NFL Supplemental Draft. Giants gave up their 2019 third round draft pick and took Western Michigan’s Sam Beal on Wednesday.
“We feel like we’re getting our third-round pick now,” – said Giants’ general manager Dave Gettleman. “We discussed it at length yesterday and had a great conversation. We basically had a draft meeting in the office, with people on the speaker phone who had seen him. It was a very thorough conversation.”
Welcome to Big Blue, Sam Beal!#NYGiants select @BigBeal_ in the third round of the 2018 NFL Supplemental Draft.
➡️ https://t.co/wZbZKYaieV pic.twitter.com/ktCSEtKN9O
— New York Giants (@Giants) July 11, 2018
Sam Beal is the highest-drafted player in the supplemental draft since Cleveland Browns took wide receiver Josh Gordon in 2012 by giving up a second-round draft pick.
“We’re very, very excited about getting Sam in the draft,” – Gettleman added. “He’s long, he’s very athletic for a corner, he has all the physical skills, he can carry the vertical, he has very good play speed, he shows instincts out there, he has ball awareness, he doesn’t panic when the ball is thrown at his guy, and he is a very willing tackler. We just feel it gives us a really talented young kid with the ability to ascend.”
Sam Beal had 55 tackles in the last season while playing for Western Michigan, and was named Second Team All-Mid-American Conference. He was projected as a possible first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. According to ESPN, Beal decided to declare for 2018 NFL Supplemental Draft because his “academic eligibility was up in the air.”
This year’s supplemental draft saw just one more player being selected besides Beal. Washington Redskins also took a cornerback, Virginia Tech’s Adonis Alexander in the sixth round.
