Tag: Chris Pettit

Giants will go without a director of college scouting in 2022

Despite conducting interviews, the New York Giants have opted to go without a director of college scouting in 2022.

In the NFL, the director of college scouting plays a vital role for each team. The position is responsible for organizing the team’s draft board by combining knowledge of players at all levels of college football and giving each payer a grade.

The New York Giants let Chris Pettit go during their front office overhaul. Pettit previously held the director of college scouting position with the team. Rather than fill the position with a new hire, the Giants have opted to go without this position.

In the interim, Dennis Hickey will assume some of the responsibility.

Hickey previously worked with Schoen in Miami and Buffalo, and he’s been around the NFL for nearly 30 years. Schoen brought Hickey to New York in May as the director of player personnel.

Although interviews were conducted for the position, the Giants have ultimately opted not to replace Pettit. For now.

With Hickey’s previous experience in scouting and player personnel with other teams, it’s a logical move to have him handle the responsibilities of scouting college players. Schoen’s relationship with Hickey ensures that Hickey knows the type(s) of players to look for who will fit with Schoen’s scheme.

Consistency is everything in team sports, and the NFL is no different. When you have consistency, the entire organization functions better and runs smoothly.

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Giants moving on from Chris Pettit, Kyle O’Brien

The New York Giants will not retain director of college scouting Chris Pettit or senior personnel executive Kyle O’Brien.

The 2022 NFL draft has officially come and gone, which means it’s personnel shuffling time for New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen.

Chris Pettit, the team’s director of college scouting, and Kyle O’Brien, a senior personnel executive, are not being retained. Pettit had been with the team since 2004 and O’Brien since 2021.

Pettit initially joined the Giants as a scouting intern before being promoted to area scout. In 2018, under general manager Dave Gettleman, he was bumped up to director of college scouting. He remained one of Gettleman’s closest confidants until the end.

O’Brien was also hired by Gettleman last year after a long career as an NFL scout. His title — “senior personnel executive” — was newly created.

Prior to his time with the Giants, O’Brien spent five seasons with the Detroit Lions. Before that, he was a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Additional scouting changes are expected, but they are likely to be limited. Most area scouts will reportedly remain.

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2022 NFL draft: Giants attend Alabama pro day

The New York Giants, led by Chris Pettit, were among those on hand at Alabama’s pro day on Wednesday.

It should come as no surprise that the New York Giants sent personnel to the University of Alabama’s 2022 pro day. Nick Saban is one of the winningest head coaches in NCAA history and is known to turn out solid NFL stock each year.

Given the Giants’ need to fill so many gaps, it’s not hard to see why they were there.

The Alabama players on display Wednesday were as follows: EDGE Christopher Allen, CB Jaylen Armour-Davis, WR Slade Bolden, LB Christian Harris, CB Josh Jobe, DL Phidarian Mathis, OT Evan Neal, OL Chris Owens, DT LaBryan Ray, RB Brian Robinson and DB Daniel Wright.

In addition to the Giants, the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets and at least 15 other teams were in attendance. The Giants were represented by director of college scouting, Chris Pettit.

Saban’s success in developing young players is obvious throughout his career, but certainly during his tenure at Alabama, where he has won six of his seven national titles.

The Giants are undergoing some serious changes this year, and having players who are properly developed and ready to play is important, especially on the defensive side of the ball. And, of course, at right tackle where Evan Neal would be a gem of a pick.

In less than a month, the 2022 NFL draft will commence. There are a handful of pro days left and a lot of boxes left to check before teams can make solid decisions on draft picks.

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Aaron Robinson won Giants over with ‘instincts, toughness and competitiveness’

Chris Pettit says third-round pick Aaron Robinson won the New York Giants over with his “instincts, toughness and competitiveness.”

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Before the 2021 NFL draft, pundits were mocking cornerbacks to the New York Giants in the first round, much to the dismay of fans, who wanted an offensive playmaker.

As it turned out, the fans got their wish. The top two corners in the draft, South Carolina’s Jaycee Horn and Alabama’s Patrick Surtain II, were both off the board when it was the Giants’ turn to select at No. 11. And they were looking at wide receivers anyway.

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Alabama wideout Jaylen Waddle was off the board and his teammate, DeVonta Smith, got snatched one pick before the Giants could pounce by the Eagles, who had swapped picks with Dallas.

The Giants traded back to No. 20 and got their offensive playmaker in Florida wide receiver Kadarius Toney. They were still in the market for a top corner but wanted to add a pass rusher first. In Round 2, they traded back from No. 42 to No. 50 and snagged Georgia’s Azeez Ojulari.

In Round 3, the Giants had Pick No. 76 and were eyeing Central Florida corner Aaron Robinson, a quick, physical, athletic player who fits their system. Not to get outmaneuvered again, general manager Dave Gettleman moved up five spots with Denver to grab Robinson.

“Where Aaron fits in is he gives us more perimeter muscle, so to speak, and he’s also got that flexibility to play the nickel and play the star,” Gettleman told reporters after Day 2 of the draft. “We think he’s a great fit, obviously, because we traded up, hello, stating the obvious. Captain Obvious.

“We think he’s a great fit for our defense and our back end and we feel like you can never have too many assets back there because players come and go. You have injuries. People will say it’s a passing league and it is to a degree. And the other thing that we really liked about Aaron is you do the studies, you do the analytics — I do do it, people — and the best defenses have the best tackling secondaries, and Aaron Robinson is a really good tackling corner.”

Director of college scouting Chris Pettit recalled the first time he saw Robinson on tape.

“A-Rob jumped off, I remember I was sitting here through the pandemic in the office, threw on the UCF tape and his instincts, his toughness and his tackling jumped out to me immediately as I was watching the tape,” said Pettit. “A little unknown about him, didn’t know much, threw the tape on one day and really caught my eye with his competitiveness and instincts. Then we’ve kind of followed him throughout the process.

“We had two interviews with him down in Mobile which got to help us know him as a person, most importantly, and then I went down and saw him at his pro day as well to really spend a lot of time with him. I think what immediately jumped off was his instincts, toughness, competitiveness.”

Robinson will be thrown into a crowded secondary room, along with sixth-rounder Rodarius Williams, that has several established corners already such as Pro Bowler James Bradberry, Adoree’ Jackson, Darnay Holmes, Isaac Yiadom and others.

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Giants head coach Joe Judge ‘very involved’ in draft process

New York Giants GM Dave Gettleman admits that head coach Joe Judge has been “very involved” in the 2021 NFL draft process.

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Joe Judge of the New York Giants is a very hands-on kind of guy and although he’s entering just his second season as head coach, that has manifested itself during the team’s draft process.

Similar to Pat Shurmur, Ben McAdoo and the other coaches who have come before him, Judge has been heavily involved with general manager Dave Gettleman, director of college scouting Chris Pettit and others while evaluating prospects and potential draftees.

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“He’s very involved, he was very involved last year. I have this crazy idea that we should collaborate and this crazy idea that we should bring in players that fit coaches’ schemes,” Gettleman told reporters on Thursday. “The best part is the direction and him and his staff explaining the type of player they’re looking for.”

Judge is no more or less involved than Shurmur and McAdoo were, but the one glaring difference is the type of player and personality the second-year head coach seems to be keen on. Early returns suggest that Judge’s input has led to better roster building than those who recently preceded him.

But there’s also an emphasis on scheme fit more than overall talent, especially on the defensive side of the ball where the Giants are in need of a quality edge rusher for Patrick Graham.

“It’s a good group,” Pettit said of the edge prospects. “There’s a bunch of them, there’s different ones, different types, which we like, there’s ones that fit our system, so I think it’s a good group. I think it’s obviously an important position that we look to fill every year, not this year over any other year. We’re going through it and hopefully if we decide to address that and one’s there at a certain time and he fits what we do, we take him.”

Who the Giants ultimately end up with in the 2021 NFL draft remains to be seen, but it’s clear the team is working diligently to find and add players that align with Judge’s overall philosophy and who also specifically fit the offense of Jason Garrett and defensive of Patrick Graham.

Giants’ Chris Pettit: ‘Edge rushers are how you win’

New York Giants’ Chris Pettit not only believes edge rushers win football games, he feels some are worthy of the No. 11 overall pick.

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With a week left until the 2021 NFL draft officially gets underway, the New York Giants remain in need of edge rushers and offensive linemen, as well as depth at cornerback, wide receiver and running back.

But are the edge rushers truly three-down players? Are any of them worthy of the No. 11 overall pick?

Giants director of college scouting, Chris Pettit, certainly thinks so.

“Edge rushers [are] how you win,” Pettit told reporters during a Thursday Zoom conference. “You win with guys that rush the passer. I wouldn’t say there aren’t guys [worthy at that pick].”

Unless the Giants view any of the available edge rushers as three-down players, Pettit’s pants are on fire. But perhaps they see more in the prospect pool than fans, media and draft experts do.

Pettit doesn’t believe the 11th pick is “too rich” for an edge rusher so long as they fit what the Giants are doing on defense under coordinator Patrick Graham.

Who fits that mold? Take a guess because Pettit and general manager Dave Gettleman aren’t tipping their hand.

There are several players — such as Michigan’s Kwity Pate, Penn State’s Jayson Oweh, Miami’s Jaelan Phillips and Gregory Rousseau, and Georgia’s Azeez Ojulari — who could be available to the Giants at No. 11, but there’s no telling who they view as the “right guy.”

Although Pettit and Gettleman are both open to trading down and drafting another position, they also appear ready to select an edge rusher despite public opinion. So if one of the above names are called next Thursday, don’t be surprised…

Giants’ Chris Pettit got firsthand look at Azeez Ojulari at Georgia Pro Day

The New York Giants aren’t attending many pro days, but they sent some personnel to scout Azeez Ojulari down in Georgia this week.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on things such as travel and face-to-face communication, the New York Giants have chosen to be very selective about which college pro days they attend.

“Because of the travel around the country right now and then also some of the restrictions at the campus, we’re going to be selective about where we send coaches as far as being out to work guys out because, again, you’re more going there as an observer than you are to actually work out the players. It’s definitely different than in the past,” head coach Joe Judge said earlier this month.

“Will there be people out there? There will. Is it going to be as much traveling as in the past or as much interaction? No, it won’t.”

That ultimately means the Giants will be extremely selective when it comes to attending pro days in person, which is why Chris Pettit, the Giants’ director of college scouting, and secondary coach Jerome Henderson showing up in Georgia is so significant.

The Giants remain in need of an edge rusher and it’s beginning to look more and more like they’ll take one in the draft. Azeez Ojulari is an obvious target and the Giants wanted to put eyes on him in person.

This is what our friends at Draft Wire had to say about Ojulari:

One of the most exciting pass rushers in this year’s class, Ojulari’s impressive 2020 campaign turned him into a potential top-20 pick. He has the explosion, speed and bend to become one of the most feared quarterback hunters at the next level.

In addition to Ojulari, Henderson also spent some time working with Georgia cornerbacks Tyson Campbell and Eric Stokes, each of whom are projected second round picks.

New York also got an up close and personal look at 6-foot-6, 335-pound guard Ben Cleveland, who could be a mid-round target.

The Giants — and general manager Dave Gettleman in particular — are no strangers to drafting players out of Georgia. In recent years, New York has taken cornerback DeAndre Baker, linebacker Tae Crowder, edge rusher Lorenzo Carter and, of course, left tackle Andrew Thomas.

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Giants’ Chris Pettit praises Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley as evolving leaders

New York Giants director of college scouting Chris Pettit has seen QB Daniel Jones and RB Saquon Barkley evolve into team leaders.

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Chris Pettit took over as the New York Giants’ director of college scouting in 2018 and in his first draft, landed running back Saquon Barkley out of Penn State. A year later, Pettit signed off on quarterback Daniel Jones out of Duke. Together, those two are now the face of the organization.

As Barkley enters Year 3 and Jones enters Year 2, Pettit sees both evolving as leaders of the team.

“Daniel is so competitive and so tough, we know he’s always going to work and to be his best. Physically, he’s growing up and he’s maturing. He’s maturing as a leader as well,” Pettit said during an NBC special. “I’m expecting good things because of who he is as a person — the competitive and tough person that he is.

“[Saquon] is another guy who worked his butt of in the offseason and came back in excellent shape. We all know Saquon has a [unique] athletic and physical skill set. But the leadership that he’s providing and the competitive spirit that he brings day in and day out, it has developed even more this year. That’s what I love about Saquon is his leadership and competitiveness for our football team.”

Here in 2020, Pettit also landed a potential stud in offensive tackle Andrew Thomas out of Georgia — a man who will be tasked with protecting Jones and helping to open holes for Barkley.

Like Barkley and Jones, Pettit is excited by what Thomas will bring to the table.

“Andrew is all about facing challenges head-on. He’s a competitive guy and played at the highest level in college in the SEC, and went up against the best week after week,” Pettit said. “And now coming into [New York], he starts right off this season going against some of the best rush ends in the league.

“He’s done a great job. He’s come in and competed every day, arrived in shape and he’s ready to rock.”

The Giants will go as Barkley, Jones and Thomas go. There are no three more important players on the roster.

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Giants’ Chris Pettit: Darnay Holmes one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen

New York Giants director of college scouting Chris Pettit had high praise for CB Darnay Holmes, as did NFL legend Deion Sanders.

After the first few rounds of the NFL Draft, things become a bit of a crapshoot. It’s difficult enough to score big on first-round picks, let alone finding a diamond in the rough on Day 3.

However, that’s exactly what the New York Giants feel they have in their fourth-round pick, UCLA cornerback Darnay Holmes.

In a post-draft interview with Giants.com, director of college scouting Chris Pettit called Holmes one of the hardest working players he’s seen in nearly two decades of scouting and being involved in pro personnel.

“Darnay Holmes is someone, we interviewed him down at the Senior Bowl. He’s really at the top of it, just the way he came in and took over the room. He’s one of the hardest working players that I’ve evaluated in my career. All of the stuff that I’ve gotten back and all of the positive qualities about him. I’m really excited about what he’s going to bring to our team,” Pettit said.

Pettit wasn’t the only person who came away impressed with Holmes during the draft process. NFL legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer, Deion Sanders, also offered some high praise for the 21-year-old at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

The selection of Holmes in Round 4 has drawn heavy praise for the Giants, with several experts and anonymous AFC scouts proclaiming the UCLA grad to be the best nickel cornerback in the entire draft.

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Giants had eyes on Andrew Thomas dating back to 2018

With the fourth pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the New York Giants selected Georgia OT Andrew Thomas, whom they had been watching since 2018.

When the New York Giants were put on the clock at No. 4 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, they already knew exactly whose name they were going to call.

It was Georgia’s Andrew Thomas, and it was always going to be Georgia’s Andrew Thomas.

In a post-draft interview, Giants’ direct of college scouting, Chris Pettit, acknowledged that the team had kept eyes on Thomas dating all the way back to 2018.

“Going back, I was at the SEC championship game in 2018 and our southeast area scout pointed out that Andrew was going to be a good player,” Pettit said, via Giants.com. “I noticed him there. We’ve known him for a long time. As far as him with the other class, this was a deep, deep class in tackles. I think everyone knows that. We were lucky we had the first chance of who we thought was the best tackle in the draft and we took him.”

Thomas was the first of 17 offensive tackles and 45 offensive linemen who were taken in the NFL Draft — a group that includes Giants’ third-round pick Matt Peart.

“I think Matt Peart is going to develop into a really good player. I’m excited to see how he’s going to develop down the line,” Pettit added.

Although the Giants had been carefully watching Thomas since 2018, Peart was a bit newer to their radar. However, both Pettit and the Giants now hope to keep eyes on the offensive tackle bookends for years to come as they dominate in East Rutherford.

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