Giants take Las Vegan Will Hernandez in 2nd round of NFL draft

That wait quickly came to an end on Friday.

Hernandez, a two-time All-America guard at Texas-El Paso who also went to Chaparral High School, was taken with the second pick of the second round (No. 34 overall) by the New York Giants.

“I’m beyond excited,” he said on a conference call. “The fact that I get to work with guys like that, it’s like, wow. The Giants all around is just a great, great team. The fan base is amazing. The coaching staff, when I met them on my private visit, was amazing.”

Hernandez was the only Las Vegan drafted on the second day. Oregon offensive tackle Tyrell Crosby, a Green Valley High graduate, was projected to go as early as the second round, but will have to wait until Saturday’s final four rounds.

It has been quite a journey for Hernandez to arrive at this point. He was lightly recruited at Chaparral and was even passed over by his hometown university, UNLV.

He went to UTEP, and after redshirting his first season, started all 49 games the following four years. He went on to make second-team All-American by The Associated Press each of his final two seasons.

“I take football very seriously,” Hernandez said. “It’s more than a game to me, it’s who I am.”

He said waiting an extra day didn’t bother him much.

“I knew my range was one or two (rounds),” Hernandez said. “Honestly, one through seven, I would’ve been fine. As long as I get the opportunity at the end to get picked up by a team, that’s really all that mattered to me.”

Giants officials said they hoped to get Hernandez after he wasn’t selected in the first round. But they had to wait for the Cleveland Browns, who had the first pick of the second round, to make their selection.

The Browns indeed went for a guard, but it was UNR’s Austin Corbett. The Giants then jumped on Hernandez.

“One of the great gifts you can get in the draft is when value meets need, and we had a solid first-round grade on Willie,” Giants general manager Dave Gettleman said. “So we’re thrilled to get him. He’s exactly what we’re looking for.”

Hernandez (6 feet 2 inches, 327 pounds) said he could play either left or right guard. He will block for 37-year-old quarterback Eli Manning, who was sacked 31 times last season.

But Hernandez also will try to open holes for this year’s No. 2 overall pick, running back Saquon Barkley of Penn State.

“Will is going to give us strength in the middle,” Giants coach Pat Shurmur said. “He’s good in the run game as well as the pass game. I think it’s very important to anchor the inside of the pocket and the passing game, which he can certainly do. He can do all the things that you need to see from a guard, and he’s been very productive.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.