Blue shows lots of Love for Julian
Dave Gettleman definitely is in full-bloom Love with this pick.
The Giants drafted Notre Dame corner Julian Love with the sixth pick in the fourth round at 108th overall to open their busy final day of the NFL Draft on Saturday.
Love (5-11, 193 pounds) is Notre Dame’s all-time leader in pass breakups (39), playing 38 games over three seasons with the Irish.
“I’m a pretty physical player. I don’t shy away from contact at all,” Love said in a Saturday conference call. “I show a lot of effort, I’m a smart player, and I make plays. That’s what I did kind of my whole life and that’s what I’ll continue to do: be a playmaker.”
Love had a regrettable end to his college career, so he has a chip on his shoulder, too.
Notre Dame was keeping it a game with Clemson early in the Cotton Bowl until Love left the game for unknown reasons. It was never revealed why. He kept his helmet on and even returned late in the second half.
When Love left, though, Clemson immediately struck for a long touchdown pass and broke the blowout open.
“I do (have a chip on my shoulder),” Love said. “There’s a lot of pride for my friends, for Notre Dame and the community, and I did want to end this perfect season the right way. So it was definitely unfortunate I couldn’t do that, and I’m carrying that with me. You can’t take anything for granted. You’ve got to finish the job no matter what. So that’s definitely always on my mind, in the back of my head.”
WALK-ON QB NOW BLUE LB
Ryan Connelly walked on at Wisconsin in 2014 as a high school quarterback with no Division I offers. Now he’s a Giants linebacker.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Connelly said on the phone Saturday after the Giants picked him 142nd overall in the fifth round of the NFL draft. “It’s pretty crazy. It doesn’t seem real to me yet.”
Connelly’s family is expecting even better news next week. His mother’s final treatment for lung cancer is next Friday.
“Friday will be the big day,” the Eden Prairie, Minn., product said. “Hopefully she’ll get the check for all clear.”
FILLS NEED FOR SPEED
The Giants ended a stretch of five straight defensive draft picks by selecting Auburn wide receiver Darius Slayton at No. 171 overall in the back of Saturday’s fifth round.
Slayton (6-1, 190 lbs) is a burner who ran a 4.39 40yard dash at the NFL Combine and is a former Georgia state sprint champion in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.
He caught 35 passes for 670 yards and five touchdowns as a junior in 2018 for the Tigers. And with the Giants, his primary role will be to stretch the field -- in other words, replace one huge element missing from the offense after the trade of Odell Beckham Jr.
BALLENTINE BLAST
When Corey Ballentine accepted one of his few college football offers, from the Division II Washburn Ichabods, he told his coaches, “I wanted to go to the NFL.”
“We were all kind of just giggling, ya know?” Ballentine said.
In Saturday’s sixth round, however, the Jamaica-born cornerback made it to the big time. He got the call from the Giants as their third corner selected in the 2019 NFL Draft, at No. 180 overall.