Giants excited, but draft is one piece to puzzle

A look at the four players the Giants selected on the third day of the NFL Draft:

Eric Gray, Running Back, Oklahoma, 5-10, 210, fifth round, No. 172 overall (compensatory selection).

Gray played two years for Tennessee before transferring to Oklahoma. In 4 seasons, he played in 47 games with 24 starts and had 549 carries for 3,089 yards (5.6-yard avg.) and 21 touchdowns, plus 99 receptions for 827 yards and five scores. Last season, he started all 12 regular-season games for the Sooners before opting out of the Cheez-It Bowl. Gray was selected second-team All-Big 12. He had career-high totals of 213 carries for 1,336 yards – the ninth-highest total in Oklahoma history – and his 6.4-yard average led the conference. Gray added 30 receptions for 229 yards.

“Eric Gray is a guy we liked,” Schoen said. “Super productive. Really good hands out of the backfield. Also has some elusiveness to him inside. Like what he brings. He also has done some returns in his past; he did some at Tennessee, comfortable catching punts at Senior Bowl. So he’ll come in and compete with our group.”

A native of Memphis, Gray was the Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year in 2017 and 2018. He set the Tennessee state record with 138 career touchdowns.

“I’m just going to bring a lot to the offense and be able to run in between the tackles, run outside zone, inside zone, being able to catch the ball out of the backfield,” Gray said. “I think I just bring another threat to the offense.”

Daboll said of Gray, “he’s a very mature young player that’s had some production. Does have good hands. How that sorts out, that will be up to him. The cool thing about it is after the rookie weekend, they come back, and we’ll finally have an auditorium full of seats. So, coaches will be standing on the side and finally have a full auditorium to start working with.”

Tre Hawkins III, CB, Old Dominion, 6-3, 195, sixth round, No. 209 overall (choice obtained in a trade with Kansas City).

Hawkins played two years at Trinity Valley Community College in his native Texas before transferring to Old Dominion in 2020. After the Monarchs canceled their season due to the pandemic, Hawkins started all 25 games the last two years. He totaled 133 tackles (98 solo), including five stops for loss, two interceptions, 13 passes defensed, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. His 76 tackles in 2021 were a school record for a cornerback. Last year, he was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week…