http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/football/giants/blog/2008/08/one_less_draft_pick.html

This comes as a bit of a surprise to release him so early.

The Giants waived/injured rookie DE Robert Henderson, their sixth-round pick in April (ankle) and rookie S Nehemiah Warrick (knee) who was one of the players the coaches told us to keep an eye on early. Casualties of the 80-man roster. The Giants signed two vets to take their place: S Stuart Schweigert and DE Antonio Reynolds.

That was the one draft pick that ticked me off a little bit anyways. The Giants took Henderson in the 6th round when they could have just as easily signed him as an undrafted rookie free agent.

I think the front office liked their potential but being hurt they needed players who can contribute.

I think these cuts could come from the 80 man roster. Either could end up on the Practice Squad if they clear waivers



Schweigert is a decent signing, he adds decent veteran depth.

This will but alot of pressure on James Butler with Phillips playing well plus, Knight, Johnson, Schweigert and Dahl

interestingly Sammy Knight has spent some time at WLB in some of our passing packages.



wasn't Antonio Reynolds one of the guys we originally signed after camp?

wasn't Antonio Reynolds one of the guys we originally signed after camp?

Yep, and he's got good awareness on this play.

Damn, this one makes me sad.

I think Schweigert could be a darkhorse to play the strong safety position.
Knight's a big guy, so that's why he's played WLB a few times this preseason.
Phillips, I think, if he continues to do well, will have the free safety position locked up.
Michael Johnson's still a project from last season, he's more of a situational player at this point.
James Butler is the odd-man out here, if you ask me, he hasn't done much to improve.
He still can't cover, he half-ass hits, and he is caught out of position too much.
I hated the fact he took Will Demps's job last year, and I'm still against Butler starting this year.

Here is what bigblueinteractive had to say about Schweigart:

Stuart Schweigert was signed by the Giants in August. He was originally drafted in the 3rd round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders. In four seasons with the Raiders, Schweigert played in 63 games with 42 starts. The Raiders released him in May 2008. The Redskins signed him in June, but released him in August.

Schweigert combines good size and decent speed. He is not overly quick or agile however; on the stiff side, he is more of a straight-line player. Schweigert reads the quarterback well. Better in zone coverage than man.

I think it is a reasonable assessment

The player most endangered by this has to be James Butler, you would have to imagine that Phillips, Knight and Johnson are likely to get roster spots.

Dahl also adds stiff competition....

Love him or hate him, Butler isn't gonna get cut for a guy who will be in camp 3 weeks. The guys the QB of the secondary, the coaches love him and he has physical skills.

Schweigert, on the other hand, can't stick with the Raiders or Redskins.

David Merritt had some interesting points to say about Schweigert

from giants.com

Transcript: Secondary Coach David Merritt


AUGUST 12, 2008

Q. What are you thoughts about the new guy, Stuart Schweigert?

A. We’re just hoping he’s going to be able to contribute and be ready to go into the game on Monday, show up and put the pressure on a lot of guys.

Q. On special teams and on defense?

A. Yeah, I can’t speak for special teams, but I hope he does well there. It is another avenue he can take in order to make it here with the Giants.

Q. What in his workout was so impressive?

A. It was his change of direction, his quickness, and the fact that he was a smart kid. He asks questions like, “Coach, how do I do this again?” Right then and there I knew he was a detail oriented type young man.

Q. He says that he doesn’t go back to his room during the day, that he is too busy working. Has he been spending his time with you?

A. Yeah, we actually met for lunch the other day. He’s been pounding it, he’s been studying every night, he’s behind the eight ball right now, but hopefully, he’ll be able to pick it up and catch up with the defense as quickly as he can. I told him to just study the base situations that we have in the game and not to worry about the sub packages. He’s picking it up well though.

Q. He said the Giants defense was more complex than what he saw when he was with the Raiders.

A. Probably so. I can’t really speak for Oakland’s defense, but for a young man like that to come in here and say that, that’s pretty impressive for us.

Q. Were you kind of excited that he had spent time with the Redskins, a division rival?

A. I was at first, until he told me how long he actually was in Washington. I was hoping that he was going to be able to come in here and give us a little information on the Redskins, but we haven’t even touched that yet.


Q. With a guy like Schweigert, he’s not a guy who usually becomes available.

A. That’s going to be interesting. Hopefully, Monday night he’ll be able to get in there on special teams and show us something, that’s where he is going to have to excel. All of the guys who are not with the first unit, all have to be able to excel on special teams.