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No Evidence That Reese Drafts Best Player Available

by Rich Resch on March 12th, 2010 at 11:11 am

But there is, however, pretty strong evidence suggesting that he will use his top pick to fill the team’s biggest needs.

Over the past few weeks, I have read a number of comments suggesting that Jerry Reese is too “smart” to draft based on need and that the good GMs draft the best player available instead of reaching for the best player at their position of need.  Using this logic, judging by Jerry Reese’s three drafts as Giants GM, he does not fit the profile of a good general manager.

In 2007, the team’s biggest need was a cornerback, and Reese drafted Aaron Ross.  In 2008, the team’s biggest need was a safety to replace Gibril Wilson, and Reese drafted Kenny Phillips.  In 2009, the team’s biggest need was a wide receiver (or so everyone though), and Reese drafted Hakeem Nicks.

To say that Jerry Reese will not draft for need in the first round is a statement that is not based on fact.

Is it possible that Reese selected the best player available according to the Giants’ draft board, and that they just happened to coincidentally play the positions of biggest need.  I guess so.  But the more likely scenario is that the Giants selected the best player available at the position they deemed the greatest area of need.  That they all turned out to be good players and that they filled these needs relatively quickly is a testament to Reese’s ability to evaluate talent.

There’s no way of knowing what goes on behind the scenes in the Giants’ war room.  Jerry Reese was quoted as saying that Aaron Ross was both a need and value pick, but sports fans should expect to be given lip service when higher ups are discussing the inner workings of the game.  The only thing I have to go by are the results of Reese’s three drafts, and so far, he has used his first round pick to fill a pressing need 100% of the time.

I’m not saying that the Giants will certainly not draft based on value.  I believe that throughout the draft, there are certain opportunities for a GM to make their team better by making value-picks: players that do not fit immediate needs but have fallen far beyond where the team has them ranked on their draft board.  When the Giants drafted Steve Smith, they had Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer and Jeremy Shockey as weapons for Eli Manning in the passing game.  Smith did not fill an immediate hole, but the Giants drafted him because they had him rated as the best player available with their second round pick.  Smith turned out to be an important player down the stretch and one of the best draft picks the Giants have made this century.

Often, picks such as this are what make or break a draft.  Other examples of Reese’s value picks are Kevin Boss, Ahmad Bradshaw, Michael Johnson and Mario Manningham, all of which turned out to be valuable players despite not filling immediate needs.

But in the first round, when the premium players are still available, Reese has shown that he is not afraid to draft based on need.

So, can someone please explain to me where this idea that Reese doesn’t draft based on need comes from?

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About Rich Resch

Rich is a graduate of University of Maryland and is currently the senior editor of Giants Football Blog and a panelist on Pro Football New York's internet radio show. He is a former contributor to Hot Foot Blog, and a former featured columnist on Bleacher Report. View all posts by Rich Resch →
  • igs

    Rich,

    This is a good article. I have to disagree with you on a couple of asides when it comes to the Reese’s and the Giants’ overall draft strategy. And I think this speaks to how you would draft Reese and what overall grade you would give him for the past 3 years as GM:

    1. We’ve already talked about the impact of Reese passing on Demeco Ryans to draft yet another DE in 2006 – feeding into our current predicament.

    2. You also have to question the wisdom of Reese letting G. Wilson go to free agency when he was thriving as a Giants draft pick.

    3. I would also argue that in 2009 the Giants biggest need was not a WR but even back then it was MLB. It was quite obvious, even in the 2008 season that AP was fat, slow, old, and overall out of shape. And you have to wonder why Reese didn’t have the forsight to pick up Mauluga or another MLB.

    I say WR was not the biggest need because the Giants had a strong pool of possession receivers (Smith, Toomer, Moss, Hagan, etc) and just needed to add to their field of Xs (Hixon and Manningham). So how did Reese answer the call? He added yet another possession receiver in Hakeem Nicks.

    Don’t get me wrong. I’m neither a Kiwanuka hater, a Nicks hater, or a Reese hater. In fact I like them all very much. But if we take the time to anylize Reese’s acomplishments, we must also take the time to anylize how his mistakes have affected the team. Namely that he had 2 chances to draft a franchise MLB and passed on it to pad the team in an area that they were already wealthy in.

    • touchdownmaker

      Reese didn’t draft Kiwi it was Acorsi. He was on his staff, but that’s about it.

      • touchdownmaker

        I think Nicks was a big need. There were two names you mentioned while citing WR depth, Toomer and Moss. I love Amani, but look no further than his 2009 stats. You can do the same for Moss. Why stop there? Look at Nicks rookie numbers as well.

        I am sure the Giants would have drafted Mauluga if he dropped to them in the second. I won’t say that passing up Mauluga was the wrong thing to do.

        • igs

          Okay, that’s my bad on the Kiwi. That was accorsi.

          Toomer was actually phased out as opposed to watching his skills decline. As you could see in 2007 he had a lot in the tank. It’s funny because if the Giants were that aggressive with AP, this MLB situation wouldn’t exist. If anything, in Smith you had a very Solid possession receiver and a good backup in Hagan. I also don’t think it’s a matter of right and wrong. It’s a fact that you don’t have a starting at MLB and last draft the Giants passed on 2 starting MLBs (Laurinitis & Mauluga) that are currently thriving in the NFL, one albeit had a season ending injury.
          That’s an issue of foresight.

        • touchdownmaker

          Toomer got cut last year. No team wanted him, so you can’t say it was a bias on Killdrive’s part.

        • touchdownmaker

          To be clear he ws cut by the Chiefs.

        • igs

          I know he was cut by the chiefs. But the Giants had been actively trying to replace him since like 2005. But none of their possession receivers could surplant him on the depth chart. I’m not surprised he didn’t take with KC. He was too much of a Giant to be trying to play elsewhere. maybe 3 years ago.

          All I’m saying is if the Giants were that forceful about AP, this situation wouldn’t exist. Like John says below, they may end up trying to force McClain or Weatherspoon into starting or give up a 3 for Morrison? Foresight.

  • touchdownmaker

    Rich I completely agree with you. The you can’t agrue with the record. Reese has never gone BPA with his first round pick.

    I think the Giant FO sand bags a bit and claims they go BPA.

    As you noted though, I lean toward BPA in the second round. They also do go BPA in a position of need, regardless of scheme fit. I think Sintim is a good example of this.

  • http://www.blognyg.com John Fennelly

    I think this comes from what I’ve been saying the past few weeks.

    Yes, Jerry Reese has been drafting for need in the first round during his tenure.

    No, he has not been very successful with those picks – yet….none of them has made a Pro Bowl or have even been considered…..

    Ross has played 34 of a possible 48 games since being drafted in 2007. He is an average cover corner with some ball hawking ability. His hamstring seems to be a chronic problem that keeps him out of practices and drills – and most recently – games – rendering him unreliable.

    Phillips’ knee issues could end his career sooner than we think, unfortunately. Right now, he cannot help the team and there is no definitive date on his return.

    Nicks has shown explosiveness and good hands. He needs to continue to build on his 2009 performance.

    All three of these players were drafted out of need, but at the time they were all close to being the best player on the board as well as players in position of need.

    If Reese truly was to draft BPA, in 2007, he would have bypassed Ross and took either Jon Beason, Brandon Merriweather,, Sidney Rice or Lamarr Woodley.

    In 2008, he could have had Desean Jackson or Ray Rice.

    Last year, Reese passed on James Laurinaitis, Rey Maualuga and Jarius Byrd.

    My contention this year is that the Giants will take a MLB as a knee jerk reaction to their needs and stuff a kid that is not ready into a tough situation. That would kill this season…

    • touchdownmaker

      It seems that Mclain would be able to slot in day. That is at least what reporters qoute scouts as saying.

      Wheatherspoon is another issue, but I think he could slot in at the middle to the end of the season.

      I am not going to touch the whole Demeco Ryans things, because you already know how I feel. I would like to keep a 1st and rd in this deep draft.

    • Rich Resch

      You can’t judge a successful pick on whether or not they made the pro bowl or got pro bowl consideration. Nicks had a great rookie season and I wouldn’t trade him for any other rookie WR, including Harvin and Crabtree. Phillips was a great pick and is one of the top safety talents in the league…you can’t blame Reese for his unforeseen knee problems. Ross has also had injuries, and he struggled in his 2nd year…but he was a big part of a Super Bowl winning team, so he was an immediate help.

      I don’t know how you can say that these have not been successful picks.

      • touchdownmaker

        I agree with you. Except for maybe having Nicks over Crabtree or Harvin. But I agree with everything else.

        The aim in not to get a ProBowler with every pick. You want NFL ready guys that will be good players, and contribute positively. It like using the 70′s Steelers as a standard of measurement for grading drafts.

        • Rich Resch

          As for Nicks over Crabtree and Harvin…I don’t mean that he’s definitely a better player than either of them. I think the Giants, 49ers and Vikings are all thrilled with who they got and would not want to trade one for another.

          But I think Nicks fits perfectly with this team, and he doesn’t have the personality concerns of Crabtree or the injury concerns of Harvin (although he did miss a couple games this year, so I supposed injuries could be a problem). There’s some obvious chemistry developing between Eli and Nicks and although Crabtree and Harvin would likely be great in our offense, we already know that Nicks is a fit.

          All 3 are great, and an argument could be made for any one of them, but time will tell. You can also throw Maclin and Britt into a future argument.

        • igs

          personality-wise he fits, but let’s be real, position-wise, as much as I like the player, he’s a possession receiver. And if you were looking, in 2009, at what the Giants actually NEEDED, it wasn’t another possession receiver. But if an every day Joe such as myself knew that the MLB situation was dire in 2008, why didn;t Jerry Reese know in 2009? I’m just saying…

        • Rich Resch

          I don’t really see it that way. He really impressed me with his big play ability. He’s not lightning fast, but he’s fast enough that he wasn’t caught from behind on his long TD catches. He had receptions of 68, 62, 58, 54 and 48 yards.

          I really like the way our WR core is set up with Nicks, Smith, Manningham, and if he ever develops…Ramses Barden in the red zone…

        • igs

          “He really impressed me with his big play ability. He’s not lightning fast, but he’s fast enough that he wasn’t caught from behind on his long TD catches”

          Good hands. Good yac. descent speed. Sounds like a really good possession receiver to me. The Giants needed Larry Fitzgerald but instead they drafted Anquan Boldin.

          Technically, thats not drafting for need.

        • touchdownmaker

          Exactly, Nicks had a lot of long TD receptions. It was universal knowledge that the number one priority was WR. Look no further than 90% of the mock draft leading up to the draft. ILB was an issue too, but they felt they could survive another year with Pierce, and Goff was waiting in the wings as well. The LB depth wasn’t as critical as it was in the wr spot.

          Again the Giants were looking at a wr corps of Smith, Manningham, Hixon and Moss. I am sorry but that is weak. WR was a bigger need. Yes, you are right the Giants needed an exlosive down field threat. They looked at Harvin, but he he did not make it to them. Nicks I think fared rather well, and ended up being better than Hagan, a guy who the Giants picked up from the Dolphins last year. He is only going to improve.

        • touchdownmaker

          Also Manningham did do a solid job of getting seperation. He is on track to develop in to that deep threat.

        • igs

          TD,

          At that point did you really believe for sure that Manningham was all that he now projects to become?

          Nicks had a lot of YAC touchdowns, which is what the very best of possession receivers do. Also I’m not disputing the fact that WR was a need. I just think ILB was a bigger need, even then, and that the WR you needed was an X to stretch the field.

    • touchdownmaker

      You know what John? I am starting to warm to the idea of bringing Morrison in provided that Mclain is off the board and the Giants trade down in the first.

  • eighteenandno

    igs…

    You call Nicks a possession WR. I call him a play maker. Dude had one of the highest YPC in football last year. I dont know how you can say Reese’s 1st round picks havent worked out. Ross was a key member of the Super Bowl run. Phillips was on track to being an elite safety until his injury. Nicks had a great rookie season for a WR. That’s an impressive list of 1st round picks.

    And you compare Nicks to Anquan Boldin. Boldin is NOT a possession WR. When healthy (a big if obvious) he’s one of the top WRs in the league. I dont know what your definition of possession WR is, but it’s incorrect. Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks are NOTHING alike.

  • igs

    18,

    You have to read the conversation before you start laying down opposing views.

    I wasn’t the one who said Reese’s 1st round picks didn’t work out. I do think, in the case of Nicks vs mauluga/Laurinitis, it was a short-sighted pick that resulted in the current MLB situation that the Giants are facing. But, in general, I was referring to a couple of bad decisions that I feel Reese made. Doesn’t mean he’s a bad GM. It just means we have to be able to see the good as well as the bad.

    Also, I don’t think calling someone a possession receiver is a diminutive term. It just refers to the way a reciever is more suited to be used. Some guys are better at the deep game and some guys are better at the working the middle and intermediate routes. And the best of those middle route guys, such as Anquan Boldin and Hakeem Nicks, are good at breaking those intermediate routes for big gains. Being a possession receiver is not antithetical to being a good wide receiver, a playmaker, and any other good term you may have to describe Hakeem Nicks.

    • http://twitter.com/nirvank Koko

      Earlier you said

      “I say WR was not the biggest need because the Giants had a strong pool of possession receivers (Smith, Toomer, Moss, Hagan, etc) and just needed to add to their field of Xs (Hixon and Manningham).”

      1. Smith was the only possession receiver. Toomer was clearly on his last legs. Moss had proven he wasn’t in possession on anything but being injured and vastly under performing the few times he did play. And Hagan didn’t show receiving skills at the NFL level till training camp 2009. Even after that his receiving skills are great.

      2. One could have even argued that Smith was the only receiver worthy of starting on the roster. Manningham hadn’t shown any indications he would thrive. Hixon had a few glimpses of brilliance with too many glimpses of inconsistency. WR was a huge need going into the draft.

      3. You called Hicks a possession receiver, which I disagree with, but regardless there were reports that the Giants were trying to trade up to get Jeremy McClain after he dropped so far based on his pre-draft rankings. He is anything but a possession reciever. Obviously the Giants were unsuccessful. And in hindsight I’m glad they were.

      Reese must have figured that the Giants could get another year out of AP. And they might have if not for injury. AP probably had been playing at the same level in 2009 as he did in 2008 before he got hurt.

      As for the original post.

      Looking back it’s great the Giants didn’t tryto match the Raider’s offer to Gibril Wilson. He wasn’t worth it. And when Phillips dropped in the draft that gear I was ecstatic. I’d have traded up a few spots to get him if I had to. Can’t fault Reese for either the Wilson or subsequent Phillips moves.

      And to say that if Reese was a true BPA GM he would have drafted Ray Rice or DeSean Jackson is easy to say now, but there is a reason they lasted till the 55th and 49th pick, respectively. No other team thought they were the BPA in the first 1.5 rounds either. Now most are probably thinking otherwise.

      Same with the year before when Sidney Rice was mentioned now.

      Hindsight is easy to use.

      • igs

        Koko,

        Thanks for responding to my post. You make some good points. Let me attempt to refute them all:

        1, First, lets continue to define what a possession receiver is, noting again that possession reciever denotes a different set of skills vs. a lesser set of skills. This definition from wikipedia:

        “# Flanker (Z or FL): A receiver lining up behind the line of scrimmage. Frequently the team’s featured receiver, the flanker uses the initial buffer between himself and a defender to avoid jamming, legal contact within five yards of the line of scrimmage. The flanker is generally on the same side of the formation as a tight end. As with the split end, this receiver is the farthest player from the center on his side of the field. The flanker is probably lined up just like a split end except that he is just behind the line of scrimmage, being in the backfield and not on the line.[6]”

        Al it means is that he does more work over the middle, short, and intermediate routes. This receiver is usually not as fast but tougher and accustomed to running a different set of routes.

        2, So considering his set of skills and the way he has been used, Hakeem Nicks is a possession re4ciever, AKA a Z, AKA a flanker.

        3, Smith was the only starting caliber possession receiver, yes. But Toomer was at least a viable backup in the Giants system. And I am not denying the fact that receiver was position of great need in 2009 draft, I just think there was one that was in a more dire situation, MLB. Also, the WR they did need was a split end, an X, which means ultimately Kenny Britt made more sense if it was a WR.

        4, “Reese must have figured that the Giants could get another year out of AP. And they might have if not for injury. AP probably had been playing at the same level in 2009 as he did in 2008 before he got hurt.”

        This exactly my thesis in pointing out one of the more negative things about Reese’s GM work so far:
        I don’t work in football. I just watch a whole lot of games. But it was obvious to me in 2008 that AP was horridly out of shape for a LB. The guy wobbles. Don’t get me wrong, I like his intangibles but the was fat. F.A.T. All those passes that he missed deflecting by an inch? That inch was fat. All those times he read a screen perfectly but couldn’t get there? That was fat. The guys was in clubs drinking 5ths and eating turkey legs when he should have been in the gym. And it showed. There isn’t a single successful LB in the NFL that’s as fat as AP was even in 2008.
        Now my speculation on this has come to fruition since he was unsuccessful in 2008, hurt in 2009, the nouted in the off season. If I could see it then, why couldn’t’ Reese and Coughlin see it and start grooming that MLB of the future (Mauluga or Laurinitis)?

        5, As for Gibril Wilson. I say if you have one of your guys, who flourish in your system, and come up for free agency, pay him. YOu want proof, Here’s my proof: The Giants 2009 season. Case closed.

        6, It’s also a copout to justify a bad pick or passing on a good player because the rest of the league did. The Jets stay talking about how the whole league thought Gholston would be a marquee player. YOu know what that gets the Jets? Nothing. A bad pick is a bad pick. And a bad pass is a bad pass, not matter how many teams do it. Eventually one team will wise up marques Colston.

  • http://twitter.com/nirvank Koko

    Edit… “skills at the NFL level till training camp 2009. Even after that his receiving skills areN’T great.”

    and there were probably other grammatical mistakes as I typed the reply on my phone – sorry.