The New York Giants selected UConn offensive tackle Matt Peart with the 99th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. The selection was a compensatory pick awarded to the Giants for losing safety Landon Collins in free agency in 2019.
Giants fans had to wait out a total of 62 selections in between their last pick (No. 36, Xavier McKinney) and the selection of the 6-foot-7, 320-pound Peart.
Here are five things to know about Peart:
Hails from Jamaica
Peart’s last name is pronounced PAYRT. His family moved from Kingston, Jamaica to The Bronx when he was four years old. Originally a basketball player, Peart earned a scholarship to The Governor’s Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts.
Can play both sides
Peart started every game of the 2016 season for the Huskies at left tackle and then again in 2017. He was moved to the right side for his junior year starting all 12 games. Peart was a first-team All-American Athletic Conference selection as a senior in 2019 playing at right tackle.
Kiper Jr. thinks he’s gifted
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. had this to say about Peart:
“Peart is a guy who is still developing. A developing talent, still a little inexperienced in terms of football, but 6-6 ½ , almost 320 pounds, he’s got phenomenally long arms. He’s a gifted athlete and the arm-length that he has, the way he moves, the potential he has, if he’s coached up, with the computer numbers he had, Peart could be a good, really good third-round pick for somebody.”
A rare UConn guy
Peart is only the fifth UConn player drafted by the Giants since the NFL Draft began in 1936. The others are: Bill Moll (1947), Dave Bishop (1962), Will Beatty (2009) and Geremy Davis (2015).
Combine and PFF numbers
Peart ran a 5.06 40 yard dash, had 26 reps on the bench press and has 36 5/8 inch arms. He ran the three-cone shuttle in 4.92 seconds. Pro Football Focus gave Peart the “11th best pass blocking grade in 2019 among the draft class with an 86 grade allowing just 7 total pressures in 415 pass blocking snaps.”
