"...Giants need Jerry Reese to rediscover draft day success."

[JMFP]

http://nypost.com/2014/05/04/reese-eyeing-giant-additions-in-draft/

 

 

 

The merciful and ignominious end of a terrible 7-9 season left for near-dead after an 0-6 start prompted a humbled, disgusted co-owner John Mara to proclaim “Nobody had a good year,’’ an indictment that certainly did not exclude general manager Jerry Reese from blame.

 

“Personnel-wise I think we obviously overvalued certain people,’’ Mara said at the time, “and we have not gotten the production that we wanted out of certain draft picks.’’

 

In the next breath, Mara expressed his support for Reese.

 

“I firmly believe that he is the right guy going forward,” he said. “I’ve spent enough time around him to know that he is the right guy.’’

 

This was hardly a shocking endorsement, considering with Reese at GM the past seven years, the Giants won two more Super Bowls. Mara learned the value of continuity from his father, team patriarch Wellington Mara, as the franchise has employed three general managers in 35 years following a distinct chain of succession (Ernie Accorsi was George Young’s assistant and Reese was Accorsi’s director of player personnel).

 

Stability is one thing, results are another. Thursday night’s start of the three-day NFL Draft is a huge proving ground for Reese, as the Giants, bystanders to the postseason four of the past five seasons, are viewed by many as a team in decline.

 

Reese hit big in 2007 in his first draft as general manager, but the hits haven’t kept coming. He says, “Nobody is batting a thousand in picking personnel,’’ but lately, his swings and misses have overshadowed any solid contact.

 

Reese has yet to find a legitimate starting linebacker in the draft, with flops such as Bryan Kehl, Jonathan Goff, Clint Sintim, Phillip Dillard and Adrian Tracy. He missed badly on defensive tackle Marvin Austin, a 2011 second-round pick. Reese missed twice in the third round in 2009 on receiver Ramses Barden and tight end Travis Beckum. Until a very late and very brief flurry last season, it also appears Reese missed on receiver Jerrel Jernigan (third round in 2011).

 

It looks as if Reese missed on tackle James Brewer, and the jury is very much out on tight end Adrien Robinson, a 2012 third-round pick, a player Reese likened to phenom Jason Pierre-Paul, calling him “the JPP of tight ends,’’ which at the moment sounds like a punch line.

 

Reese could not predict the serious neck injury that befell running back David Wilson, but Wilson hardly looked like a first-round pick when he was healthy. Reese in the fourth round last year actually traded up to grab Ryan Nassib, who was the No. 3 quarterback as a rookie and will have to battle several veterans to claim the backup job this season.

 

Has the system broken down? Mara after last season said: “I still think we have as good an evaluation system and group of people here as anybody,’’ but did wonder aloud if the Giants had become too risk-oriented when selecting players “thinking that if we hit on this guy, maybe we’ll knock it out of the park.’’

 

Risk in the draft can be viewed as taking a player based more on physical skills than on-the-field production. Pierre-Paul played only one year at South Florida and had only 6 ¹/₂ sacks, but Reese saw a diamond in the rough and took JPP with the 15th overall pick in 2010. A year later, Pierre-Paul was one of the most feared defensive ends in the league. It’s the sort of success story that of late has too rarely been told by the Giants.

 

“You try to limit what risk you take, but any time you pick a player, there’s a risk,’’ Reese said. “There have been can’t-miss players and people have missed drastically with players. We try to get more right than we get wrong.

 

“We always take it hard when guys don’t make it that we think are going to be good picks for us. We claim it, we move on and try to pick better players as we move forward.’’

 

Reese hit the “Change’’ button this offseason, revamping the offensive side of Tom Coughlin’s coaching staff and signing 16 free agents who played elsewhere in 2013. All successful NFL teams building something that lasts do it through the draft, though, and Reese’s haul this week needs to be a picker-upper and not a downer.

 

 

[Sephiroth]

Good article, but the numbers thing always strikes me. Its just so funny how they manipulate stats to make it sound like it means something.

 

"The Giants have been home four of the past five postseasons" is the line, but if we win the Super Bowl this year, watch it turn into "The Giants have won THREE of the past SEVEN Super Bowls!"

[BlueInCanada]

The only thing I don't like this article assume is that every other team out there, every single one of their draft picks turns out to be a starter.

 

It's rare for a draft to produce more then two or three players that end up staying on the team, let alone contributing. This article acts like other teams never have picks go wrong or flop and that it's easy to find pro bowl players in the later rounds when it's just become a crap shoot.

 

Sure JR has missed a lot of late round picks, honestly his 2007 draft is still holding his name together, but it's not like the other 31 teams are getting these mythical "every player works" drafts.

[Nas]

Fair... And I'm sure other teams have similar issues. What I took from this article is the dreadful 2nd and 3rd rounders like Travis Beckam and Barden... Maybe just maybe the JPP of tight ends is ready to play ....

[Tempest]

Eh lets see what happens. I think we'll be fine as long as the Giants keep drafting the best available over positional needs. All the shit that Reese has gotten over the past year about our misses in the draft ignore the successes. We have had some unfortunate luck when it comes to some players with injuries as well. You simply cannot predict the durability of a player with 100% certainty that he will have a ten year career which is why I laugh every time I hear a player called a 12 year starter when describing their potential prior to being drafted.