FanHouse TravisBeckum

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The most exciting thing that happened at New York Giants minicamp Wednesday was a press conference to announce Timex as the naming-rights sponsor for the team's new training facility here -- the "Timex Performance Center." It's a beautiful complex, but unless you're the ones pocketing $35 million from the deal over the next 15 years, this wasn't exactly the stuff of big headlines.

That's fine with the Giants, who got their fill of headlines at last year's minicamp.

Coming off a Super Bowl championship, the Giants convened last year amid loud, obnoxious Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Burress contract controversies. Neither of those players was on the team by year's end, but they were here a year ago, and they were making it noisy. This year ... not so much. And Tom Coughlin couldn't be happier about it.

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

With the departure of Plaxico Burress, and the failure (unwillingness?) to make an expensive trade for a veteran star, there was little secret how the Giants would attack the NFL Draft. They needed at least one receiver to help out Eli Manning and the unheralded returnees he has to throw to. Instead of settling for one, the Giants picked up a pair.

1. James Laurinaitis, LB, THE Ohio State University: I hope Laurinaitis is ready for the backlash, because after we all decide we're sick of being sick of hearing about T** T***w, Laurinaitis is probably next on our scorn list. Pity. In a league that always has a sampler platter of great linebackers, Laurinaitis is a standout among the standouts, and there isn't much left for him to accomplish. He already has a Nagurski Award and a Butkus Award to go along with more conference-based awards than just about any defensive player ever. So, yeah, he's pretty good, even if we're all going to be sick of hearing Brent Musberger talk about him by, say, late September. Or at least we would be, if not for all the time Musberger is sure to spend talking about ...

2. Beanie Wells, RB, THE Ohio State University: This guy must be part cyborg. At 6'1" and somewhere in the 230s, he's just another prototypical Buckeye running back. You know the type. Big, not overly flashy, and about as easy to tackle as a 40-foot oak tree. Wells, however, has that magical 6th gear, the one that changes the sound of his motor from "vroooooom" to "Oh no you don't!" Wells is on every Heisman watch list out there; if anybody can knock off T** T***w, here he is.

The Wisconsin Badgers didn't just lose a game on Saturday in Champaign, it turns out they've lost wide receiver Luke Swan as well.

Swan was injured after making a catch late in the game. After jumping into the air to make the grab, Swan came down and landed awkwardly, doing a split that made every man at home cringe simultaneously. It turns out Swan tore his hamstring thanks to the landing, and is done for the year.

Wisconsin wide receiver Luke Swan will miss the rest of the season because of a torn hamstring and is scheduled for surgery Wednesday.

"Luke is a great kid," coach Bret Bielema said Monday. "It was a hard day yesterday. It is tough for everybody."

Swan is a fifth year senior that currently leads all of the Badgers receivers with 25 catches and 451 yards, so the former walk on will be missed. Yes, the Badgers still have Travis Beckum at tight end who currently leads all Badgers with 485 receiving yards, but the loss of Swan will hurt him as well.

Now opponents can focus their coverage schemes to stop Beckum and not have to worry about covering Swan as well. Swan's injury will also effect P.J. Hill, who himself was banged up in the loss to the Illini. Don't be surprised when you see a lot more eight man fronts from opposing defenses as teams dare Tyler Donovan to beat them.

Granted, that's been the case for most opponents already, but without Swan it's going to be even tougher for the Badgers to move the ball consistently.