Giants select Alabama defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson in second round of NFL Draft
The New York Giants added brains and brawn when they selected Alabama defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
General manager Jerry Reese selected Tomlinson to compete the spot vacated by Johnathan Hankins. Hankins departed in free agency to sign with the Indianapolis Colts. The 6’3”, 310 pound Tomlinson’s Pro Football Focus pre-draft player comparison was Hankins himself.
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Tomlinson was a run stopper during his tenure with the Crimson Tide. He does have the ability to put pressure on the quarterback. Tomlinson has confidence in his ability to get after the quarterback at the NFL level. He joins one of the stingiest defenses in the National Football League and will be reunited with one of his Alabama teammates: safety Landon Collins.
Aside from his prowess on the football field, Tomlinson has brains to match. He earned a degree in finance at Alabama and could have gone on to Harvard.
“I was pretty much a nerd coming out of high school.” Tomlinson said. “And Harvard was a pretty serious consideration for me because academics is a big thing in my life.”
Tomlinson is working toward a second bachelor’s degree in financial planning. Reese jokingly said that’s not why they drafted Tomlinson.
“We want him to play football,” Reese said. “We don’t want him to do our taxes or anything like that.”
Tomlinson was also a three-time state wrestling champion in high school. He said used to wrestle his Alabama teammates in the locker room. Tomlinson also played soccer in high school.
Tomlinson’s father died when he was five years old and his mother died as he was heading into his senior year of high school.
“I pushed through it and it motivated me to become a better football player and person,” he said. “I used that at Alabama and try to continue to get better each and every day. It paid off for me.”
Tomlinson also tore both ACLs: one during his senior year and the other during his freshman season at Alabama. Giants vice president of player evaluation Marc Ross said the team wasn’t concerned because so much time has passed since those ACL tears.
The Giants were sold on Tomlinson after his interview at the NFL Scouting Combine. They wouldn’t elaborate on what he did—other than talking about his life and football—that left such an impression,
“Man, Dalvin was definitely one of the best this year,” Ross said. “But he will be a guy that you talk about for a long time. He was one of the more memorable (interviews) that we have had. He was just smart, mature, poised, confident…just a man.”
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