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Grading Jerry Reese – 2009

by J. Williams on July 22nd, 2010 at 12:17 pm

J. Williams is a long-time GFB reader and commentator.  His column appears every Thursday.

1) Hakeem Nicks, WR, NC – Steve Smith has been performing at the top his game since he came into the league yet Jerry Reese decides to pass on a blue chip college MLB (Rey Maualuga) and a blue chip college split end (Kenny Britt) to draft yet another possession receiver. If there were any question marks at the receiver position it was in the X and the slot. Having two possession receivers starting has hindered the Giants’ ability to open up the field, which contributed to the lack of success in the run game this season past. Nicks wasn’t even BPA. He will be a very successful receiver in the NFL, but the pick could have went to an actual need: C-

2) Clint Sintim, DE/OLB, Virginia – A 3-4 outside linebacker? Why? Are the Giants switching to a 3-4 defense? Not in 2009. If they do in the future, the grade on this pick goes up but right now it hasn’t panned out. I still have some faith in Sintim and he’s only going into his second season, but in terms of wisdom, you have to wonder: B

2) Will Beatty, OT, Connecticut – Money in the bank. This guy should be a 10-year starter at tackle. I love it when the Giants catch value at need: A+

3) Travis Beckum, TE, Wisconsin –A good pick that hasn’t shown up. But remember the great thing about Shockey was that he could block, and got better at it as his career progressed. I guess Reese feels Beckum can learn too: B

3) Ramses Barden, WR, Cal-Poly – It’s hard to call this one. You have to understand that 98% of these huge WRs, who refuse to play TE because the position is not glamorous enough, end up being spot players and backups. The Vincent Jacksons and Plaxico Burresses of the world are a very rare. I also dislike the idea of players that only come in during certain situations because it tells the defense exactly where the ball is going. The fact that Barden was MIA for the 2009 season makes his emergence even more daunting. I like Barden’s potential but was there a more surefire prospect, perhaps at MLB or safety, that would have made more sense in this spot? An if Barden does emerge, which one of the starting three sits to make room for him? Perhaps that’s a good dilemna to have but it is a question that has to be asked: B

4) Andre Brown, RB, NC State – This was a great strategic pick, good value, especially after losing Derrick Ward. If Brown can stay healthy the Giants he should be starting by next season and Brandon Jacobs should be on the trading block. That is, if the Giants continue to nurse a Peyton Manning-lite offense: A

5) Rhett Bhomar, QB, Sam Houston State – You like this guy as a backup? Let’s just stop drafting QBs in the late rounds and bring in a veteran or maybe a mid-rounder with some potential. This pick could’ve been a safety: C

6) DeAndre Wright, DB, New Mexico – We all know how this turned out. But how was it supposed to turn out? Small school, late round corners don’t make it in the NFL. There are some positions that are fairly safe to draft in the late rounds. Reese needs to figure this out: Safety, RB, K, Returner, ST specialists. Maybe Reese though he would be a good special teamer: D

7) Stoney Woodson, DB, SC – Bigger conference same results: D+

Off-season: Reese was very active this off-season, bringing in WLB Micheal Boley and DTs Chris Canty and Rocky Bernard. It looked good on paper but injuries depleted the defensive line. Still I like that Reese was a bit more pro-active this off-season and the signings filled a need. Boley panned out and the DTs still could pan out: B

2009 Season GPA: 2.6

2008 Season GPA: 2.6

2007 Season GPA: 2.6

Keep an eye out: The rumors are swirling about Chris Paul coming to the Knicks. If they pull this off, I won’t forgive them for this era of ineptitude but I will be a happy New York Knicks fan, which is something I haven’t said in a looooooooooooooong time.

I’m just saying… No Champ Bailey? No Tatum Bell? Nooooooooo Brian Westbrook? No Champ Bailey? No Nick Ferguson? No Champ Bailey? I guess Reese is waiting for the next round of cuts to add some depth at some key positions. We’ll see.
  • Rich Resch

    I can’t say I agree with your assessment of the NIcks pick; I think Nicks’ play has spoken for itself. C- is absurd for one of the NFL’s best offensive rookies last year. Who was your BPA?

    I agree that the Sintim pick seems odd.

    Also, the GPA should be weighted so that a seventh round pick does not count as much as a first round pick.

  • sigmablu1

    Rec Yds Avg Yds/G Lng TD 20+ 40+ 1st 1st% FUM
    Hakeem Nicks NYG WR 47 790 16.8 56.4 68T 6 13 5 32 68.1 2
    Kenny Britt TEN WR 42 701 16.7 43.8 57 3 10 4 34 81.0 1

  • sigmablu1

    Rec Yds Avg Yds/G Lng TD 20+ 40+ 1st 1st%FUM
    Hakeem Nicks NYG WR 47 790 16.8 56.4 68T 6 13 5 32 68.1 2
    Kenny Britt TEN WR 42 701 16.7 43.8 57 3 10 4 34 81.0 1

    Did you attend Rutgers? How can you give Nicks a C- and call Kenny Britt a blue chip spilt end. Nicks played in 2 less games and has better stats then Britt.

  • jcarpanezi

    Dude, Champ Bailey is not a free agent this season… So unless you’re willing to throw some draft picks to Denver, he is not comming

  • Drobstad

    J. have you completely lost your mind? How could you possibly grade Hakeem Nicks a C- and give Andre Brown an A? Nicks played through injuries to put together a rather impressive rookie season while showing flashes of brilliance. The guy has the makings of a super star wide receiver. All Andre Brown did was rupture his achilles. Don’t get me wrong, I think Brown has a ton of ability and we got him at a bargain, but rating him an A and Nicks a C-?
    Is there anyone who doesn’t think Nicks is going to be our best WR by 2012?

  • J. Williams

    Rich,

    Thanks for your response. My grade was based more on the wisdom of the pick and the effect of having 2 possession receivers on the team. I’ve watched this happen for years with the Jets, until Manningham really emerges it is an issue with the Giants. You need an X-reciever to open up the field. That’s how the TE and RBs get more room to work. As I said, Nicks will be a successful WR in the NFL. Doesn’t mean it was a smart pick.

    As far as weight, I think the effect of the right 7th round pick matters as much as much a 1st rounder. Who has had a greater effect on this team so far? Amhad Bradshaw or Mathias Kiwinuka? Kevin Boss or Keny Phillips? It’s debatable isn’t it? Drafts smart and your 7th rounder means a whole lot.

  • J. Williams

    Sigmablu1,

    Thanks for your response,

    It’s not about numbers. It’s about how a defense reacts to a split end who stretches the field before the catch and after, and what that reaction does for the offense.

    We all knew that Nicks was the more complete receiver, perhaps the most complete in the entire 2009 draft. But did he fit? I contend that he still does not.

    Eventually, I think it’s Smith who will end up moving to the slot because Manningham isn’t strong enough to work there and Nicks has the better YAC potential. That’s how the dilemma will get settled.

  • J. Williams

    jcarpanezi,

    I now Bailey is not a FA. He’s in the final year of his contract and Denver is refusing to extend him. I want Reese to make Denver an offer. Just my own personal suggestion. If he doesn’t, not a big deal. But it would be good for the team.

  • gmanbb44

    one thing that is being over looked while grading each player is the whole picture. lets not forget that most of the picks since 07 are 1. still on the team 2. slated to contribute to a sb contender. oh ya didn’t we WIN A SUPER BOWL HIS FIRST YEAR! where does the overall sucess of the team get weighed in?

  • J. Williams

    Drobstad,

    For Nicks, you can read my reasoning right there in the article or see my response to Ric Resch. Andre Brown was a smart pick that got hurt in his first season. It happens. You can maybe question that he has had an injury history in college, but at 4th round he was a high potential RB. I liked it.

    i think also, like other guys that posted, you seem to want defend Nicks as a player. It’s not about Nicks as a player. I’m grading Jerry Reese. It’s about the wisdom of having two college possession receivers on the field and how that frees up defensive players to hang around in the box and make plays on your QB, TE, and RBs. It’s the lack of foot-speed and field stretching ability that does that. You need an X-receiver.

    As I said this offense is Peyton Manning-lite. Well as many receiving options as Peyton Manning has, there’s always an X on the field. This is precedent. Precedent is everything in the NFL. In fact, almost every super bowl winning offense in the the past – off the top of my head – 20 years that I can think of has featured a fairly prominent X receiver. Maybe you can argue that some of those Patriot teams lacked an emergent one and arguably the 2000 Ravens – arguably – but the precedent leans towards having an X.

    Oh yeah, let’s not forget 2007, Plaxico “Spiderman” Burress.

  • J. Williams

    gmanbb44,

    Yeah, the overall success of the team does. But where you might celebrate winning a super bowl in 2007 with Ernie Acorsi’s team, I’m the guy that’s sitting around wondering why the Giants haven’t been able to make a dynasty out of this. Same coach, same core players, but some holes have been allowed to fester.

    If the Giants were a team that never won a SB, than I’d rest on those laurels. But the Giants aren’t a stranger to making the super bowl. They have had a tendency to not maintain those championship teams enough to make multiple runs.

  • J. Williams

    I want to give an example so folks can understand the way I’m assessing the Hakeem Nicks pick. Let’s imagine if the Giants had drafted Joe Flacco in 2008. Well Joe Flacco is a pretty great QB so far right? But you’d grade that pick pretty low, because obviously you have Eli “Baby Brother” Manning on the roster. Great player. Bad pick.

  • gmanbb44

    well take a look at things he couln’t controll 1. loose strahan 2. loose plax (i think giants go sb again minus the shot heard round the world). then last year everyone got hurt. the gm is there to gather talent… it would be tough to say the giants don’t have talent. i think its the coaches job to take that talent to dynasty level.

  • gmanbb44

    i bet raider fans would swap the last 3yrs of acquistions any day of the week!

  • gmanbb44

    i will say i had my fingers crossed for britt too. and as far as the stats they don’t show the fact that our running game was sad and they cj.

  • J. Williams

    gmanbb44,

    Right, but there are a number of key holes that Reese has continued to ignore or underplay throughout his time with the G-men. These holes are a big part of the reason they don’t make the playoffs in 2009 season. He couldn’t control Plax shooting himself, but he could have brought in a legitimate X-receiver. He could have drafted the proper MLB, whcih did become an issue last season right? And remember that terrible safety play in 2009 season? Well remember the Giants let Gibril WIlson, a homegrown safety walk away in 2008.

    He couldn’t control Big Mike Strahan from retiring but Tuck replaced Strahan and Reese addressed defensive line depth in 2009 so he gets props for that. I don’t think it was his fault that Canty and Bernard busted.

    There are plenty of things that a GM can’t control. Guys get hurt. Athletes do stupid things. It’s the things that he could control that really eat at me.

  • J. Williams

    gmanbb44,

    Really dude? The Raiders? Undead Al? don’t put the Giants in the same realm. I’ll take Reese over Undead Al any day of the week (unless I have to fight a squadron of monkey-bats in hell.) We’re talking about championship caliber GMs here.

  • Drobstad

    J.
    I understand your Joe Flacco argument. But you said the Giants need a possession receiver (not sure what u think Steve Smith is). Using a QB vs the highest available talent at the needed position is not a very good example. Nicks was the best WR available and the Giants needed a WR. Posession WR or big play WR… QB has nothing to do with that haha.
    Lastly, Kenny Britt isn’t good. If Reese would have drafted Kenny Britt over Hakeem Nicks he would have deserved an F instead your C-. I think that every Giants fan you ask will agree that Hakeem Nicks was a much better choice at 1 than Kenny Britt.

  • J. Williams

    Drobstad,

    Steve Smith is a possession receiver. What I said is that the Giants did not need another possession receiver. Smith has made a living extending possessions on 3rd down. At the time that Nicks was drafted Smith had already flourished. Nicks is simply a bigger stronger version of the same receiver with better YAC potential.

    Additionally, I find it funny that you consider Nicks to be good beyond criticism (which he is at this point) and you say that Britt, who put up very similar numbers “isn’t good”. Explain that.

    Also I think we established in earlier post that Nicks was just about the most NFL ready WR in that draft, Nobody’s arguing that. The question is did you need the most NFL ready WR or did you need a split end?

  • jcarpanezi

    The best WR is the one that produces the most, no matter how he plays…. and between Britt and Nicks, it’s still too early to know the answer

    Your split end/possesion receiver argument would be interesting during the last year’s draft, when everything we had was assumptions. Now, we can compare their numbers on the field, and as i said, no matter how they play, the guy that helps the team to put more points on the board is the better one

  • J. Williams

    jcarpanezi,

    If that were the case than Terell Owens would have a team right now. But we know there is more than one way that a player effects a team. There is the direct contribution and there is the way they work within the team. That’s why no matter how good a receiver, you want your TE to be able to block. No matter how good a runner, you want your RB to be able to block and catch out of the backfield. And in terms of your receiving corp you want a possession receiver to start along side a split end that stretches the field. Take a run down of the last 20 super bowl winners and I’m sure you’ll see what I’m talking about.

    If I’m wrong than show me the precedent for championship caliber receiving corps that lack that exact combination. This way we can distinguish the conjecture from the fact.