Giants’ Kanell Moves Up to No. 2

New York Giant rookie Danny Kanell, a fourth-round draft pick from Florida State, was moved up from No. 3 quarterback to No. 2 behind starter Dave Brown by Coach Dan Reeves.

The decision would appear to pave the way for Reeves to use Kanell at some point in a game should the Giant offense continue to stumble under Brown. But Reeves insisted the move was not made to put pressure on Brown.

“That’s the reason I talked to Dave about it last week, before we played the game,” Reeves said. “I wanted him to realize regardless of the outcome I was making the move.”

The Giants are last in the league in points scored (68), with two of the six touchdowns coming on punt returns by Amani Toomer. The Giants are also ranked last in sacks allowed (26), passing yardage, first downs per game, third-down efficiency and next-to-last in total yardage.

“I think the coaches still have a lot of confidence in Dave and they want to see what he can do,” said Kanell, who passed for 6,372 yards and 57 touchdowns for the Seminoles. “I don’t think they put me in as some competition for Dave. They want to get all of us ready to go.”

Reeves also named Lance Smith as starting left guard. Smith, who took a huge pay cut and lost his starting job at right guard in the off-season, is getting a chance at left guard because second-year pro Rob Zatechka has struggled the first six games. Smith will go up against the Washington Redskins’ Sean Gilbert on Sunday.