Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2019 18:32:17 GMT -5
Jerry Reese's drafts were good in round 1 and 2 until he started shifting his focus away from DL, DB and WR. When he tried to find quality OL's he ranged from mediocre to bust.
For the majority of JR's tenure, the Giants were cap strapped...thanks to JR. He spent how much again on Cris Canty and Rocky Bernard...one of whom was a pretty decent starter but still carried a heavy price tag and while the other did nothing?
So the patterns seems to be this.
Draft a WR, DL, or DB in rounds 1 and 2. Spend a lot on Free Agency bringing in a small handful of very expensive players who aren't always impact player types anyways but just the best that are available. The rest of the roster has to hobble along with guys who should not be starters until the next draft which yields another DL, DB or WR to replace the one you just lost to FA. Oh and this time there is no supplementing the roster thru free agency because you spent all your money last year.
Now somewhere in there is the implication that the draft after round 2 would on occasion turn up a future starter somewhere....nope. Well maybe there is a good special teams contributor there. Nope. How about a guy who will never start but is young, energetic, willing to run thru walls for the coach and at least has a niche skill to incorporate into the playbook. Nope. Beyond round2 its a decade long barren landscape of complete non-contributors. Guys who never did thing for the Giants.
The Giants won in 2007 on the strength of EAs drafts. The Giants won in 2011 on the strength of Eli and TC. But aside from those short runs, the Giants have been a very average team and their roster reflected that even on Defense where they pumped so much money and draft picks. Mistake after mistake with loads of complacency and disinterest littered their rosters.
To be fair, Reese’s first draft was outstanding. Ahmad Bradshaw in the 7th. DeOssie was a valuable player for a long time, picked in the 4th. Kevin Boss was a major factor as a 5th rounder. Jay Alford was a solid player his first two years, and had a big sack in the SB if I recall. Career was wrecked by a major injury.
And Ross and Smith were good/great picks in the first 2 rounds. We don’t win that 2007 Super Bowl without major contributions from our rookies.