Giants rookies Kehl, Goff are athletic, and smart

BY TOM ROCK | tom.rock@newsday.com
10:41 PM EDT, May 8, 2008

Article tools

The most intimidating aspect of any rookie minicamp, players will often say, is the mental work that crushes the prospective NFLers. Playbooks are studied, classrooms bustle with new concepts and schemes, and all of it is applied on the practice field.

As the Giants get their first look at the seven players they drafted along with about a dozen rookie free agents and a handful of tryout hopefuls Friday, at least two of them should have little trouble grasping the thinking side of the sport. Linebackers Bryan Kehl and Jonathan Goff, drafted last month in the fourth and fifth rounds, respectively, .arrive with academic records as impressive as their football resumes.

Both of the brainbackers majored in engineering at prestigious schools. Kehl, who had a 4.0 GPA in high school, was .recruited to play at Harvard, Yale and Penn before choosing BYU. His pro potential skyrocketed after he started applying his classroom discipline to football film study. And Goff, who will .officially graduate from Vanderbilt Friday, the same day he starts his new job, has been called one of the smartest players ever to emerge from that school's program.

"You can see Jon, when you are teaching him football, he .absorbs it," Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson said. "It was .remarkable, you'd go over something one time and he'd know it. Learning the system for the .Giants won't be a problem."

The Giants were so impressed with Kehl that they traded up in the fourth round to get him. He's projected to compete at outside linebacker. Goff, who played middle linebacker for the Commodores, could be the heir to .Antonio Pierce at the center of the defense. The Giants were .enthralled enough by the two players -- and the potential that their two heads together could be better than any 11 other teams show on offense -- that they .selected two linebackers in the same draft for the first time in six years even though it was not necessarily a need position.

The Giants also get their first up-close look this weekend at first-round selection Kenny Phillips, a safety from Miami, second-round cornerback Terrell Thomas, and talented but troubled third-round receiver Mario Manningham from Michigan.

As much as academic aptitude may help in the real world, sometimes it's a liability in football. It is a sport more fueled by aggression that contemplation. But both players seem able to squeeze their thinking caps comfortably underneath their helmets.

"Don't sell their athleticism short," Johnson said. "Jon is the physical specimen that you want in there. He just happens to be a smart, well-rounded kid. Don't think you got a kid with a slide rule trying to figure out the .angles. He can play."

More articles

Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.

Would you recommend this?

Rate it:
No Somewhat Neutral Yes Highly

Giants Fan Zone


Read, research and react.
• Blog: Giants Beat • Talk Back
• Team Roster • Schedule
• Statistics • Results/Box Scores

Search Classifieds

JOBS   SHOP   CARS   HOMES

Listings, directories and deals

• Apartments
• Items for Sale
 • Dating
• Pets
• Travel Deals
 • Grocery Coupons
• Events

Classifieds get results! - Place an Ad

Latest scores

Latest scores

Special Packages

View the latest multimedia offerings from amNY.com.

Tips from Personal trainers

Feel the fitness burn with top trainers from all over NYC.
Blog

Milestone Tracker

Track the progress of MLB players as they shoot for career milestones.

Blog

Five on Five

Five sports fan rant on five topics of the day.

Blog

Jim Baumbach

Your sports news first in these web only columns.
Blog

Buy Tickets

The NY Yankees

GIVE US YOUR BEST SHOT

Submit your New York Giants photos Your Giants Photos

Submit your photos and view pics taken by other fans.