New York Giants Greatest Under-the-Radar Rookie Acquisitions Since 2000

Fans were initially asking "who?" when these players were announced as either Giants draft picks or undrafted rookie free-agent signings. It didn't take long before these once obscure athletes answered that question.

When a team has a high draft choice, there’s plenty of publicity to come with it. Reporters and analysts spend months predicting who will go where.

The names are high-profile, too: think Eli Manning, Saquon Barkley, Odell Beckham Jr, etc. This article is not about them. Instead, we’re looking at the most significant under-the-radar rookies (both draft picks and undrafted free agents) the Giants have acquired over the past 20 years.

(This week’s focus will be on offense, while next week will evaluate the top defensive decisions.)

WR Darius Slayton, 2019

The Giants selected this Auburn receiver in the fifth round of the 2019 draft. Slayton was coming off of his best season in college, where he tallied 670 receiving yards and five touchdowns.

To the surprise of everyone, he blew past those totals in his rookie year, catching eight touchdowns on 740 yards, including three games with two TDs. Slayton is already the Giants’ best receiver and is an important part of New York’s future.

TE Kevin Boss, 2007

In 2007, tight end Kevin Boss became the first player ever drafted from Western Oregon University. The fifth-round selection never lit up the box scores like other tight ends of his era, but he was always there when the Giants needed him most. 

This was particularly evident in Super Bowl XLII against New England. His only catch of the game went for 45 yards and set up an Eli Manning touchdown pass to David Tyree.

WR David Tyree, 2003

Speaking of which, he was a low draft pick as well. This sixth-round selection from Syracuse only caught five touchdowns in six seasons, but his “Helmet Catch” in Super Bowl XLII was bigger than all five of those scores combined.

WR Mario Manningham, 2008

A third-round choice from Michigan in 2008, Manningham caught 14 touchdowns over his first three seasons. Like Tyree, he had a miraculous catch of his own in Super Bowl XLVI that set up the winning touchdown.

OG Rich Seubert, 2001

Seubert, the scrappy guard who became a part of perhaps the best Giants offensive line combination since the 1986 Suburbanites, went undrafted out of Western Illinois. 

A classic lunch pail type of guy, it didn't take Seubert long to make an impression when he landed in East Rutherford. The coaches were so impressed with his grit that Jim McNally, then the offensive line coach, personally introduced Seubert to the late Wellington Mara, a rare honor for an undrafted free agent, during Seubert's first minicamp.

Seubert not only went on to become a staple on the team's offensive line, but he also overcame a gruesome lower leg injury suffered in October 2003 that required multiple surgeries. If there was a "Heart of a Giant" award to be given, Seubert would undoubtedly be among the recipients' inaugural class.

RB Ahmad Bradshaw, 2007

This seventh-round selection from Marshall scored that game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLII. Anyway, that Super Bowl season was right in the middle of Bradshaw’s prime.

He is one of only nine running backs in NFL history to be drafted in the seventh round or later and tally multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons, a list that includes Hall of Famer Leroy Kelly and former league MVP Larry Brown.

RB Brandon Jacobs, 2005

Bradshaw ended up taking the place of this fourth-round pick from Southern Illinois. Jacobs ran for 1,000 yards in the Super Bowl-winning season of 2007 and did so again in 2008 while tacking on 15 touchdowns. He ended his career with 60 rushing touchdowns, five more than Tiki Barber for the most in Giants history.

WR Victor Cruz, 2010

The only undrafted free agent of this group, the UMass receiver was claimed by the Giants in 2010. He only played three games in his rookie year and didn’t catch a single pass.

That all changed in Week 3 of his sophomore season when two of his three catches went for touchdowns in the Giants’ win at Philadelphia. Furthermore, he set the Giants’ single-season receiving yards record (1,536), caught ten passes for 142 yards in that year’s NFC Championship Game at San Francisco, and caught a touchdown pass in Super Bowl XLVI.

Stories like these are the reasons why pre-draft speculation doesn’t always come to fruition. Who would have ever guessed that an undrafted receiver from UMass would become one of the greatest wideouts in Giants history?

This is also what Super Bowl-winning franchises do best. It’s easy to take the biggest names in the draft or free agency, but looking for hidden talent is how championships are often won.

---

What's next for the Giants this off-season? Sign up for our FREE newsletter for all the latest, and be sure to follow and like us on Facebook. Submit your questions for our mailbag. And don't forget to check out the daily LockedOn Giants podcast, also available for subscription wherever you find podcasts.