Chris Snee's Scouting Report of Ereck Flowers

[Mr. P]

 

 

First things first. Chris Snee wants you to know he played no part in the Giants taking Ereck Flowers in the first round of last week’s NFL draft.

“Other people are doing all the work, and I’m coming in and watching tape on my own and they’re thanking me for making this pick,’’ Snee told The Post. “I had nothing to do with it.’’

How far removed was Snee from the actual selection process last Thursday night? He was clear on the whole other side of the country.

“I was in Napa Valley tasting wine when they picked this guy,’’ Snee said. “That shows you how relevant I was to all this.’’

Fine, how Flowers blooms with the Giants is attached to the legacy of general manager Jerry Reese and Marc Ross, the Giants’ vice president of player evaluation, and does not represent Snee’s farewell gift to his former team after nine years in the trenches at right guard. Snee, though, certainly spent time studying Flowers and several other offensive line prospects and he came to the same conclusion as the Giants’ brain trust: Flowers was the second-best lineman in the draft, after Brandon Scherff of Iowa.

“I think he’s a big, obviously a large man,” Snee said. “Just from watching the tape early on I was impressed.”

Impressed, but not blown away. Snee sees some real technical flaws that Flowers must clean up if he is to excel at the next level.

Snee tried to stay on the field for a 10th season with the Giants, but last summer a lingering issue with his right elbow forced him to make a tearful retirement announcement. In his first year out of the NFL since he came to the Giants in 2004, Snee is transitioning to the next phase of his life.

“I am in the process of finding out what interests me,’’ he said.

Pat Flaherty, the Giants’ offensive line coach, suggested Snee might enjoy studying tape of players in this year’s NFL draft. Snee was intrigued. Flaherty gave him a list of a dozen offensive-line prospects, ranging from surefire first-round picks all the way down to possible undrafted free agents. Snee quietly hunkered down in a room at the team facility, evaluated the tapes and wrote a report according to the Giants’ guidelines. Flaherty graded the reports.

Flaherty did not instruct Snee to look at Flowers, but Snee did it anyway, breaking down the tape of two Miami games, at Nebraska on Sept. 20 (a 41-31 Miami loss) and Dec. 27 against South Carolina in the Independence Bowl (a 24-21 Miami loss). Flowers started at left tackle in both games.

Snee’s findings:

“Technically, he’s got work to do, which a lot of these college kids do,’’ Snee said. “With hand placement, his hands are often outside. I remember distinctly writing I was impressed with how he could anchor and hold his own with his hand placement being so poor. Physically, he’s strong up top because he was able to get away with the technical errors. I read an article where he said he knows he has work to do, too. That’s half the battle, he knows he’s got to clean that up because you’re not going to be able to get away with technique errors at this level, the defensive line will eat you apart.

“This is one thing I definitely noticed, he was a different player at the end of the year than he was in the beginning, in a good way. The Nebraska game, he didn’t have a good game, to be honest with you. At the end of the year, the false steps that I saw early on were eliminated, which was good. Hand placement had improved.

“There were a couple of times where one of the South Carolina guys tried to cheap-shot his teammate and he ran over. As a lineman, you want to know your teammates have your back. I’m not asking a guy to get in a fight, but there are times when your buddy’s in need, you want to see the guy run over there, as opposed to him just standing there, watching. That part was nice to see.’’

The Giants envision Flowers as a right tackle. Snee concurs.

“In my opinion, yes, especially when I speak of the technique things,’’ Snee said. “Left tackle is a position where you play, you can’t have these rocker steps or false steps, you have to be very quick and fluid out of your set.’’

The Giants open up a two-day rookie mini-camp on Friday. On Thursday, they released receiver Kevin Ogletree and waived linebacker Terrell Manning.

The Giants signed two of their six draft picks: fifth-round safety Mykkele Thompson (Texas) and seventh-round guard Bobby Hart. Six undrafted free agents were also signed: safety Justin Currie (Western Michigan), tight end Sean Donnelly (Tulane), linebacker Cole Farrand (Maryland), defensive end Brad Harrah (Cincinnati), running back Akeem Hunt (Purdue) and tight end Matt LaCosse (Illinois).

 

http://nypost.com/2015/05/07/the-ereck-flowers-scouting-report-courtesy-chris-snee/