I must admit I am a capitalist pig, especially when it comes to things like my beloved baseball team, the New York Yankees. I always want them to spend spend spend and buy as many free agents as possible, as long as it give us a chance to win. Because of course if we don’t participate in this form of capitalism, Dan, the terrorists win, and we can’t have that. However, NFL football is completely different, though free agency is a cog in the wheel; it isn’t the major way to overhaul a team.
The NFL Draft is the most important day in franchise building. Men like Bill Walsh and Bill Parcells were among the many who saw the value of getting as many draft picks as possible and realizing that your 5th round pick could be as important as your 1st rounder. In recent year the Patriots obviously have been praised for their superb drafting efforts, as where the Cowboys under the Parcells regime. Ted Thompson had taken over in Green Bay for Ron Wolf just a few years ago and revamped a roster by adding 45 new players over the last 3 seasons, putting his team in position for a championship.
While all this was going on a transfer of power was happening in New York. Ernie Acorsi who had been the long time apprentice of the legendary George Young was beginning to transfer more and more power over to his director of college scouting, Jerry Reese. This move was done with the anticipation that Reese would soon be the General Manager.
Acorsi seeing that Reese had what it took to be a GM had him assist with the 2003-04 drafts and then Reese took over full time for the 2005 draft. Here are some of the players and rounds they were drafted in under the Reese/Acorsi drafts of 03-04
2003
2nd Round- Osi Umenyiora
5th Round- David Diehl
6th Round- David Tyree
2004
1st Round- Phillip Rivers (Eli Manning)
2nd Round- Chris Snee
4th Round- Reggie Torbor
5th Round- Gibril Wilson
Six out of seven of those guys started in Super Bowl XLII and the other made perhaps the most amazing play in Super Bowl history.
Reese took over by himself from 05-07 drafts and they got even better.
2005
2nd Round- Corey Webster
3rd Round- Justin Tuck
4th Round- Brandon Jacobs
2006
1st Round- Mathias Kiwanuka
3rd Round- Gerris Wilkinson
4th Round- Barry Cofield
2007 (Perhaps one of the most productive drafts of all time)
1st Round- Aaron Ross
2nd Round- Steve Smith
3rd Round- Jay Alford
4th Round- Zak Deossie
5th Round- Kevin Boss
7th Round- Michael Johnson
In the 2005 draft the Giants only had 4 picks and they got quality with three out of the four. While the 06 Draft doesn’t look that good think of the fact that Kiwanuka started at LB until he got hurt, was replaced by Wilkinson who was replaced by Torbor, now that is having depth. And what can be said about the ’07 draft. Think about the fact that all of those guys were rookies and three of them (Smith, Boss and Alford) each made singularly great plays in the game, while Ross started at corner and Deossie is the teams long snapper on kicks and Michael Johnson plays an integral roll in nickel and dime packages.
Now I do not know who won executive of the year this season in the NFL but if it wasn’t Jerry Reese then he was completely robbed and a recount should be in order.
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3 comments:
You are correct in that the 2007 draft was one of the most productive ones the Giants have ever had. Every single one of them contributed to the championship, but you missed probably the most important pick last season. The Giants had 2 7 round picks and with the last one selected RB from Marshall Ahmad Bradshaw... Good job Reese!!!
For you Giants lovers, here's my N Giants 2008 7 round Mock draft (we have no 7th rnd pick):
1st Aqib Talib CB Kansas - Giants have nice young promising corners in Webster and Ross but they are no guarentees and McQuaters and Madison are old. They need depth and solid cover corners. This kid is a play maker that can also be an asset in punt returns. (Dan Conner would be a great pick too, but it's easier to find solid OLB later in the draft then corners) Plus we found out that if we want to compete with the big dogs in the league: Cowboys, Packers, Pats, and Colts.... you need to stop the pass!
2nd Tom Zbikowski S Notre Dame - Might be a little early with this pick but he may not be around for our next pick and the Giants need a severe upgrade at S with Gibril a free agent and no other real candidate to take over. He's strong, tough, great instincts, great hands and tackles well. He will improve our secondary, especially if Wilson stays!
3rd Adarius Bowman WR Oklahoma St - Toomer won't be around much longer and neither will Plax, or remain healthy. This is kid is an under the radar freak. 6'4" 220, very athletic, great leaper, runs great routes and is an excellent blocker. He will provide much needed depth at the WR position and can be a solid #2 possession type receiver for a several years.
4th Ezra Butler OLB Nevada - Very underrated OLB with great skills. Has size and speed to play inside or outside. Can cover and would be an ideal OLB to match up against receiveing TE's. My Sleeper Stud Pick of the draft!!
5th Barry Richardson OT Clemson - Very large man, 6'7" 330, but very athletic for his size. Plays light on his feet and moves well side to side. He's an excellent pass blocker. We need depth on the O line and McKenzie isn't the best and as great as Diehl played, he was out of position. This monster can use a few years to learn better technique and get stronger and can be Eli's wall of the future.
5th Xavier Omon RB NW Missouri St - Most likely Ward and Droughns will be leaving via free agency, although Ward is a restriced FA I believe. With Jacobs and Bradshaw splitting time, we need a backup especially with the nature of how BJ runs, he is prone to big contact and injuries. This kid was a fenom in college and is a class act as well. Good size, 5'11 220 with 4.5 speed... plays a lot like Marion Barber. He was the first Division 2 football player to have rushed for over 1500 yards for 4 consecutive years of college football. Made it to the D2 championship for three consecutive years. 2 clips of him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xMiU8o-b6I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wacotO37wFc
6th Kerry Brown G Appalachian St - Not a very good class for G this year, but we still could use more depth on the O line. Another guy from a smaller school. At 6'6" 305 he can post a 4.8 40 and bench 500 lbs. He won his conference offensive line POY award and had 92 knockdowns without giving up a sack. He has the potential to jump up the draft quickly but would be a great selection here. This guy is a ridiculous athlete mixed with size, speed, strength and a great football IQ. Would fit in great with this team.
6th Matt Flynn QB LSU - We really have no quality back up QB. If Eli goes down we are putting all our eggs into the massive basket of J LOAD. I say we take a QB here and attempt to develope a back up. Not really sure what ht ebest QB available will be at this point... maybe Dennis Dixon, maybe Bernard Morris, maybe Anthony Morelli...who knows. Just might as well grab a backup QB here...
Danny,
I didnt mean to forget Bradshaw, I blew that one. As for the draft I like the pick of Talib he is a playmaker and realy in this era's NFL you can never have too many DB's. If they are able to get someone like Talib I would even think about making Webster a Safety. Zibikowski doesn't excite me much but I love Adarius Bowman and would be shocked if you could ge him mid 3rd round, that would be a huge steal. I do think we need to try and find some more depth along the O-Line and mayeb a young MLB who can soon replace Antonio Pierce
You should check out Aqib Talib's new album "Eardrum." It's good. But he did his best work with Mos Def.
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