University of Albany FCS Football Alum Rashard Barksdale Stands Out At New York Giants' OTAs

It's tough to get a good read on OTAs because there's limited contact and no pads, so these practice reports aren't as telling as what you'd get during training camp. But there were still a few things that stood out on Monday morning, so I figured I'd toss 'em your way.

Here were the quick highlights:

WR Mario Manningham had a nice session and made a few catches down the field. He found some room deep near the left sideline on one play, making him a nice safety valve for QB Eli Manning. S Travonti Johnson tried to get over in time, but he couldn't quite get there to knock the ball away. I didn't notice what the coverage was, so I'm not sure if Johnson, who's making the transition from CB, was out of position or if someone else goofed.

One guy who was able to catch up and make a play was CB Rashard Barksdale, who had a very good practice. Barksdale was trailing WR Sinorice Moss on a deep pass from Manning, but he recovered in time to get a hand on the ball from Manning. Moss leaped, but couldn't box out Barksdale enough to make the catch. I know I say this all the time, but I have to mention it again: down the field, Moss needs to get enough separation because he's too small to outmuscle a defender, especially when he leaves the ground. (The ball was underthrown, though. If it was out in front of him, he was gone for a touchdown.)

Barksdale, who's now wearing the No. 25 jersey that used to belong to R.W. McQuarters, later came up to make a nice break-up of a ball on a quick out from QB Andre' Woodson to WR Shaun Bodiford. The ball actually rested on Barksdale's back for a split second, but he wasn't quite able to make an Antonio Freeman-like play for the INT.

Real nice play by CB Kevin Dockery to break up a go route down the right sideline from Manning to WR Domenik Hixon. For years now, Dockery has been playing bigger than his listed size (5-8, 188) and he did it again on this play. He got great position inside of Hixon and really got up to make a play on the ball. Dockery actually swatted it into S Kenny Phillips' face. Phillips didn't have enough time to react and catch the ball.

Don't forget about DE Robert Henderson. Last year's sixth-round pick, who was on IR for his entire rookie season, is still hanging around, so the team must see something they like. This morning, he beat OL Orrin Thompson for a sack.

LB Chase Blackburn hasn't stopped working hard since he arrived as a rookie free agent. It's like he knows he can't stop doing what earned him a job in the first place. You should have seen him this morning chasing down rookie RB Andre Brown on a screen pass to make the stop. Great hustle. And apparently, Blackburn isn't a bad golfer. He was on his way to the course Monday afternoon.

QB Rhett Bomar looked a bit rusty this morning. He had Bodiford wide open on a hook and threw way behind him. Later, he was long on a deep ball to an open Moss. But he did deliver a real nice ball over the middle to TE Michael Matthews past LB Zak DeOssie.

The ball is always live -- even when it's an incomplete pass. That's something former defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo taught his players and it continues under Bill Sheridan. And now, even the offense is getting into the act. So it was a nice little battle between LB Antonio Pierce and Brown after Pierce made a good play to knock away a dump-off over the middle. (Brown did win the battle for the dead ball, though.)

Nice play by DT Chris Canty to make a stop on an inside draw to RB Danny Ware.
Not so nice plays on several botched snaps between a few of the QBs and Cs. Tom Coughlin wasn't happy about that: "You start moving people around, you start changing the front on them and those kinds of things start to happen. We have to do a better job of that."

And finally, as Coughlin was addressing the media and a few players were walking off from the old practice field to the new facility, LT David Diehl was on his own across the field, working on his pass sets.

by Mike Garafolo/The Star-Ledger

Courtesy: slickwilly