<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. ?He won?t start from the pole position, but Barry Cofield might beat everyone to the finish line in the race to see which 2006 Giants draft choice is the first to enter the starting lineup. DT Barry Cofield could be the first Giants rookie to start this season. A 6-4, 306-pound defensive lineman from Northwestern, Cofield was the first of the Giants? two fourth-round selections, the 124th player chosen overall. Those kinds of numbers don?t usually translate into an immediate starting job. But Cofield has a chance to fill a void in the Giants? defense. Kendrick Clancy, last year?s nose tackle in the 4-3 defense, signed as a free agent with the Arizona Cardinals this offseason. Cofield will compete with young holdovers Damane Duckett and Jonas Seawright and rookie free agents Sir Henry Anderson and Marcus Green ? and anyone else the Giants might import ? for the job.The Giants have a talent-laden defensive line. Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora were Pro Bowlers last season, Justin Tuck is an impressive second-year player and their top choice last month, Mathias Kiwanuka of Boston College, is another outstanding pass-rushing end. William Joseph and Fred Robbins are both solid at the other tackle. But the Giants need a disruptive force on the nose.That point was driven home to Cofield in a late-afternoon phone call with defensive line coach Mike Waufle on April 30, the day he was drafted.?After everything died down, he called me back and we started talking football,? Cofield said today, as the Giants concluded a mini-camp for rookies and first-year players. ?He mentioned that his nose tackle last year played well and got a big deal in free agency and there was an opportunity for me to come in and play. Of course, I?ll have competition from some of the guys that are here and some of the other rookies that they brought in. But it?s definitely a better shot than most.?It?s a unique and special opportunity to come into a team that?s already a proven winner ? a division champion ? and has Pro Bowlers on the edges, a Hall of Famer at that. It?s going to be a great experience for me to learn. At the same time, I feel like I have a great opportunity to contribute right away.?It?s difficult for linemen to show much in the mini-camp format, but Cofield has made a good early impression.?There are no pads,? coach Tom Coughlin said. ?But you can see him react and move. And you can watch them in individual drills and listen to the comments made from the coaches about how they reacted and what they seemed to be able to do very well. Some of those things are encouraging.?Cofield was a vital member of his Northwestern teams. In 49 games with the Wildcats, he started 36 times, splitting them between left end, right tackle and, last year, left tackle. He finished his career with 197 tackles (88 solo), 6.5 sacks for minus-22 yards and 15.5 stops for losses of 38 yards. The Wildcats coaches credited him with 18 quarterback pressures and eight pass deflections, and he had a 16-yard interception return. He also recovered three fumbles and forced four others.?I think I?m more suited to play inside in this defense,? he said. ?I feel at nose tackle I?m an exceptional athlete at that position. At defensive end, I?d be more of a run-stopper. This gives me more of a chance to show my ability.?Cofield admits that a player has to be part masochist to play the nose, where frequent double teams and constant pounding are part of the job description. But Cofield is confident he can play effectively from the opening game.?I?ve already grown a lot from Saturday until today just playing the nose,? Cofield said. ?I feel like I?ve gotten better already. With some great coaching and the chance to focus in on one position, I have a chance to be an effective nose in our system.?The primary duty for many nose tackles is to occupy blockers, which then frees up the linebackers to make plays. Cofield, however, expects to do more than sacrifice himself so others can benefit.?They want their nose to be an athlete who?s going to run around and make plays ? not just a guy who?s going to be content to be blocked by a guy or two,? Cofield said. ?A lot of times you?re going to get beat up. You?re going to get hit by two players ? especially in pass rush, where you?re going to get double-teamed most of the time. But after you take that initial hit, they expect you to run and make plays. I?m excited about that.?To succeed, Cofield will likely have to improve his upper-body strength so he doesn?t wear down against the NFL?s huge offensive linemen. ?I think I definitely can get stronger,? Cofield said. ?But I?m confident that playing with great leverage, which is what coach Waufle has been preaching, that I can play in there right now. I?ve seen Umenyiora and Strahan go up against guys a hundred pounds heavier than them and hold the point. I know if I play with some leverage, I can do the same.?I definitely wasn?t the biggest defensive tackle out there (in college), but I was able to hold up. And it wasn?t with the kind of leverage and pad level that coach Waufle preaches. If I master what he teaches me, which is playing low ? which is the same thing Clancy did last year ? I feel I can really hold up.?If Cofield has one immediate disadvantage, it?s that he is returning to Northwestern tonight to finish his degree requirements. A communications major with a sociology concentration, he has two exams and a group project to complete. He expects to be back at Giants Stadium in early June, but will return on the 16th for gradutation.Most of the rookies in camp who have signed contracts will stay in town to work in the offseason program, beginning tomorrow. But players from colleges that have not had their final exams can?t re-join their teams until those exams are completed. Cofield, Anderson and Green all fall into that category, as does running back James Sims.Cofield, however, has no regrets. He chose to attend Northwestern because he wanted to be challenged academically as well as on the football field.?I wanted to find a balance,? he said. ?That?s why it came down to schools like Notre Dame and Georgia Tech, which are also great academic schools. I told myself I would try to get a great degree while playing big-time football. An Ivy League education combined with Big Ten football is hard to beat.?Cofield said he will feel a tremendous sense of pride when he accepts his degree.?Especially at a university like that,? he said. ?It?s not easy. There were plenty of times when I had a 10-page paper due and wished I was at a little less rigorous school. When I actually get that degree it will be a great accomplishment.?NOTES: Coughlin was asked for a general assessment of the Giants? offseason moves. ?We have done some things in the offseason that I think have helped us and the draft class certainly has us encouraged,? the coach said. ?But let?s put that together and see how some of the pieces fit and then utilize the talent that we have to put ourselves in the best possible position -- for example, on third-down ? to be the most effective. So, we?ll see. We really haven?t had any of these veteran guys, particularly our secondary, on the field. And we need to put them on the field and see how we work together.?Linebacker LaVar Arrington hasn?t been on the field since he was signed last month, but Coughlin has a very favorable early impression of the three-time Pro Bowler.?I think he has been a really good, enthusiastic, energetic, shot in the arm for the whole team, to be honest with you.? Coughlin said. ?He is a guy who has great enthusiasm. He enjoys what he is doing. He shares with others his enjoyment. He can be verbal, he can be challenging down there. He has come in - he has run well, he has done a good job in the strength program. I think, as I said, that you definitely notice that he is in the building. He has energized some of the guys in the offseason. It has become very competitive and I look forward to that carrying over to the field.?Coughlin said the young players performed better today than they did when the camp opened on Saturday.?I think they were better this morning,? he said. ?They knew a little bit more about what they were doing. Too bad we had to come inside (into the bubble), but that is the way it is. They were a little bit more aware of what they were doing and what we were asking them to do. They seemed to have a little bit better control of their assignment. They did a better job that way.?</div>http://giants.com/news/eisen/story.asp?story_id=15607
Nice article, but by what I've read Coughlin seems to be in love with the Jonas Seawright player to take Clancy's role. Should be interesting if the rookie can pick it up, cause the Giants need someone who can handle playing the nose.
he liked Seawright a lot last year. I'm sure releasing Kenderick Allen was directly related to making room for Seawright ont he roster
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GoGiants98 @ May 17 2006, 02:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>he liked Seawright a lot last year. I'm sure releasing Kenderick Allen was directly related to making room for Seawright ont he roster</div>First of all, it was Kendrick Clancy they lost.Second of all, it was by UDFA.Unless they cut Allen too...im not so sure on that one.
