Author Archives: Rich Resch

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.

Counting down Jerry Reese’s eleven best draft picks/ undrafted free agents

Steve Smith: Second Round (Pick 51), 2007

The year before Steve Smith suffered a season-ending and career-threatening knee injury, the USC product put up one of the greatest receiving seasons in New York Giants history.  Although he has since moved on to an unsuccessful stint with the division rival Eagles, Smith was everything the Giants could have hoped for from the tenth receiver taken in the 2007 draft.

What made Smith so special was his uncanny ability to get open (a pretty important quality for a receiver to have), especially on third downs.  He’s not big and he’s not particularly fast, but he was quick, he ran great routes and he just had that extra sense that allowed him to find holes in opposing defenses.  He was such a unique weapon as a slot receiver, giving Eli Manning the kind short yardage safety valve that was rivaled only by Wes Welker.

For a two and a half year stretch, Smith was Manning’s security blanket, and the most important receiver on the team.  In 2009, he obliterated the Giants’ reception record with 107, and was named to the 2010 Pro Bowl (where he caught a touchdown).  He has since been replaced by Victor Cruz, whose magical 2011 season made fans forget about Smith’s departure.  Rumors on a possible return to the Giants have been floated around, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Even if Smith never returns to Big Blue, he has already left his mark on the franchise.  His oft-forgotten third down conversion right before Plaxico Burres’ Super Bowl 42-winning touchdown was the kind of drive-saving play Smith became known for during his Giants career.

Tagged best picks, Jerry Reese, nfl draft, Steve Smith |

Counting down Jerry Reese’s eleven best draft picks/ undrafted free agents

Jacquian Williams: 6th Round (Pick 202) , 2011

The general consensus on Williams is that he was a sixth or seventh round pick, so this is the first player that can’t be considered great value. He is another name to throw into the picture at linebacker, though, which I consider the greatest need.

–Rich Resch, April 2011

It seemed as if the majority of Giants fans, including the oaf I just quoted, didn’t know what to think of this pick. Many fans wanted to see Reese take Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich (although there were a small handful of commenters who, to their credit, loved the Williams pick). Reese made the pick that wasn’t sexy, but one that paid huge dividends, and he scooped up Herzlich as an undrafted free agent to boot. There’s a reason this guy is a two time Super Bowl champion GM, and the rest of us are not.

At the time of the pick, I couldn’t find many scouting reports on the young LB. What I did find said that he was a raw but athletic kid who would take time to develop into an NFL player. He was a “project,” and he shouldn’t be counted on to contribute to the defense for the first year or two of his career. You know, the same things people said about Jason Pierre-Paul.

Well JPP’s former USF teammate contributed much earlier than expected, not only on defense, but as a key figure on special teams. His speed and athleticism were as advertised, but his football intelligence was much better than expected for a relative newcomer to the game of football. Although fellow 6^th round pick Greg Jones was heralded as the more polished player, Williams became one of the Giants’ four main linebackers and saw a good deal of playing time for most of the season. He ended up sixth on the Giants with 78 tackles and led the team with three fumbles recovered. Not bad for a guy who had to watch 25 linebackers get drafted before him.

Most importantly, he forced a Kyle Williams fumble in overtime of the NFC Championship game, which directly led to the championship-clinching field goal, and single-handedly justified the use of a compensatory 6^th round pick. Anything else Williams does in his career will be icing on the cake. Don’t be surprised if Giants fans are eating a whole lot of delicious icing over the next few years.

Tagged best picks, jacquian Williams, Jerry Reese, nfl draft |

Counting down Jerry Reese’s eleven best draft picks/ undrafted free agents

Terrell Thomas: second round (pick 63), 2008

When it was announced that Terrell Thomas would miss the entire season with a torn ACL, I basically wrote the Giants off. About twenty four hours later, I talked myself back into believing that Big Blue had a chance (turns out I was right!), but the fact is that Thomas had become such an important player that his injury was arguably the biggest hurdle the Giants had to overcome this season.

A second round pick, even a late one, is usually expected to contribute early in his career and develop into a quality starter.  Thomas did exactly that, and if not for that torn ACL, I believe he would currently be considered one of the top defensive backs in the game.  While Corey Webster has developed into a legitimate #1 cornerback, Thomas was the team’s best defensive back over his last two healthy seasons.

Although he was the tenth cornerback taken in the 2008 draft, Thomas quickly made teams regret passing over him. He overcame injury issues to put forth a solid 12-game rookie campaign, but it wasn’t until his sophomore season that he really broke out.  The youngster out of USC was forced into the starting lineup due to an Aaron Ross injury, and he never relinquished the starting role.  Thomas quickly became one of the league’s best young corners, wracking up 85 tackles and five interceptions.  In his third season, Thomas was a pro bowl snub, again picking off five passes and totaling an impressive 101 tackles.  The Giants’ secondary had a healthy share of issues, but Thomas was certainly not one of them.

Unfortunately, Thomas’ knee injury was a serious one, and he now enters free agency with questions looming as to whether or not he will return to form.  Hopefully the Giants will bring him back, and his recovery will be quicker than that of former college and pro teammate Steve Smith. No matter what happens during the remainder of his career, Thomas was a steal as the final pick in the second round of the 2008 draft.

Tagged best picks, Jerry Reese, nfl draft, Terrell Thomas |

Counting down Jerry Reese’s eleven best draft picks/ undrafted free agents.

Jake Ballard: Undrafted, 2010

The big tight end caught 34 passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns during his career at Ohio State. In his one full season with the New York Giants, Ballard bettered these numbers with 38 receptions for 604 yards and four touchdowns. It’s hard to imagine that anyone saw this little used college tight end turning in starting caliber numbers. This includes Jerry Reese, considering how many times Ballard was waived and re-signed. To his credit, he was the only GM that took a chance on signing him after the draft, and any other team could have claimed Ballard the handful of times the Giants waived him.

Ballard was the team’s starting tight end for most of the 2011 season, and he had more receiving yards than Kevin Boss had in any of his seasons with the Giants. That’s not to say that Ballard is the better player; Boss is superior as a receiver and as a blocker at this point in their careers, and never had the benefit of playing in an offense as pass-oriented as this year’s Giants. Still, Ballard was a huge part of the Giants’ passing offense, when healthy, showing surprisingly soft hands and an ability to find soft spots in the defense.

One thing that Ballard and Boss have in common are injury issues. After series injuries to both knees, Ballard will struggle to ever top this season. Still, his heroics in the regular season, especially during their first meeting with the Patriots, will long be remembered.

Tagged draft picks, Jake Ballard, Jerry Reese, nfl draft |

They say you should wait three years before analyzing an NFL draft class.  Well, they don’t control me!

Over the next few days, I will count down Jerry Reese’s top eleven draft picks / undrafted free agents during his first five years as General Manager of the New York Giants.  My rankings are based on a combination of the talent levels and accomplishments of the player thus far, while also taking their draft position into consideration (if they were drafted at all).

But first, the honorable mentions:

Kenny Phillips

Round 1, Pick 31 – 2008

To get a top talent like Phillips at the team’s biggest need position with the last pick in the first round made for a fantastic pick.  Reese got lucky that Phillips somehow slipped that late, but that was the last bit of luck involved with this pick.  Phillips’ arthritic knees have cost him a lot of time, and kept him from reaching his full potential.  Still, he is a good young player who played a part in helping the team win Super Bowl 46, and we may not have seen the best from him yet.

Andre Brown

Round 4, Pick 129 – 2009

An honorable mention for this alone.

(more…)

Tagged best picks, Jerry Reese, nfl draft, recap |

- Tom Brady laughed when Plaxico Burress predicted a 21-17 Super Bowl win four years ago. Turns out he was right.

- All week, we heard that Vince Wilfork was going to dominate the Giants’ O-line. So much for that. Credit the Giants’ offensive line for shutting down this enormous man, and the Giants’ coaches for scheming to take away the Patriots’ biggest defensive weapon. Aside from the questionable holding call he drew on Boothe, Wilfork was invisible. For a guy who weighs 350 pounds, that’s pretty impressive.

- All three Giants wide receivers played equally important roles in this win. With the Patriots doing everything they could to take away Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks stepped up with 10 catches and over 100 yards, and Manningham made the catch of the game and topped 70 yards. But back to Cruz: what would you have said if I told you in the pre-season that Bill Belichick would scheme up a defense to stop Victor Cruz in the Super Bowl? It’s been an incredible journey for Cruz, and being feared by Belichick is a high honor. To his credit, he still chipped in 25 yards and a touchdown. And a salsa dance.

- Hows this for rationalizing: If DeSean Jackson had not returned that punt for a touchdown, it is possible that Matt Dodge would not have been cut. It’s certainly possible that he would have been let go either way, but the Eagles game was the final nail in the coffin for Dodge. But let’s say Jackson didn’t score a touchdown there, and the Giants ended up holding on to Dodge. Without Steve Weatherford, it’s hard to imagine the team even making the playoffs, let alone winning the Super Bowl. So…thank you DeSean Jackson? And thank you Mike Westhoff. Sincerely.

(more…)

Tagged giants, patriots, recap, super bowl 46 |

Khaled Elsayed of Pro Football Talk released his “All-Postseason Team,” and six Giants players made the cut. Elsayed and PFF do a great job, and I recommend reading the article and checking out his playoff grades for each player here. Hard to argue with any of his choices (he even gives a well-deserved honorable mention to Henry Hynoski).

Eli Manning: 

The Super Bowl MVP was arguably the best player in the league once the regular season ended. Completing 65% of his passes, Manning threw the one interception compared to nine touchdowns and was immense under pressure. People laughed when Eli said he saw himself in the same bracket as the top QBs in the league, and now they can only humbly admit they were wrong. You can’t spell elite without Eli.

Hakeem Nicks:

Nicks had 148 more receiving yards than any other receiver in the postseason to go with his league-leading four touchdowns. He was an obvious choice as he got hot at the right time.

Justin Tuck:

It was tough to leave out Jason Pierre-Paul who was phenomenal throughout, but it was the consistent work of Justin Tuck rushing the passer that really caught our eye from the Giants’ defensive end rotation.

(more…)

Tagged giants, grades, players, playoffs |

I recently came across a two-month-old article on ESPN in which Pat Yasinskas listed his choices for 2011 pro bowl snubs. In some ways, this article is no longer relevant. In other ways, it’s more relevant than ever. Either way, this ridiculous statement is something I can’t help but post:

Rodgers and Brees were the obvious choices as the first two quarterbacks. But I seriously thought Carolina rookie Cam Newton had a very real chance to be the third quarterback. He’s not. Eli Manning ended up on the roster. Manning is decent, but he’s not a special player. Newton is a special player.

- Pat Yasinskas, 12/27/11

Hmm?

I have nothing against Cam Newton (or Yasisnkas, for that matter), who looks to be a budding superstar. Given his 706 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns, you can argue that Newton’s regular season was more impressive than Manning’s, statistically speaking. You can argue the same thing for Tony Romo and Matthew Stafford, both of whom put up some huge numbers. But to say that Eli Manning is merely decent, while Cam Newton is special…well I don’t have to tell you how that statement looks now.

Yasinskas got his wish when Newton replaced Manning on the pro bowl roster; Manning had something more important to do. Newton threw three interceptions. Manning won his second Super Bowl MVP.

So, Mr. Yasinskas: is he a special player yet?

Tagged Cam Newton, Eli Manning, special player |

Lost in the excitement of huge nights from guys like Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham and Justin Tuck were some key performances by some less heralded guys, without which, the outcome may not have been so super.

Steve Weatherford

The punter is never going to get much publicity, but Weatherford was arguably one of the five most important Giants players in this game. His coffin-corner punting was Jeff Feagles-esque, and after nearly making the Super Bowl the past two seasons, he may have had his best career game last night, pinning the Patriots inside of the 20-yard line three times.

Henry Hynoski and Chris Snee

Recovering fumbles by Hakeem Nicks and Ahmad Bradshaw, respectively. They were in the right place at the right time, but we’ve all seen how hard it can be to just fall on the ball and hold on to it. If not for these two hustle plays, the outcome would have almost certainly been different. The Hynoceros also had a nice catch and run early in the game, breaking a tackle and picking up a first down.

Lawrence Tynes

His long kickoffs helped give the Giants an edge in field position, and he was perfect (barely, but perfect) on his two field goal attempts. From a guy who has missed some easy kicks in his career, that’s all you can ask for.

(more…)

Tagged giants, recap, super bowl 46, unsung heroes |

I spent the past week breaking down every single unit of both Super Bowl teams, and doled out a rating (out of ten) for each unit. The results, as well as the overall ratings, are as follows:

Total Offense - Giants 8.55, Patriots 8.775

Total Defense - Giants 8.4, Patriots 7.7

Special Teams - Giants 7.9, Patriots 8.3

Team Rating* – Giants 8.36, Patriots 8.25

*(40% Offense, 40% Defense, 20% Special Teams)

All any of this means is that I think the Giants have the better players, if only barely. They are more well-rounded and their flaws are less extreme, although I did give the Patriots the edge in more units than the Giants.

These grades pertain just to the players who will be on the field. I did not give each team’s coaching staff a rating, because I don’t really think coaching is something I can quantify, and none of us really know what goes on behind the scenes and in practice in regards to the head and assistant coaches. Both head coaches are excellent at what they do, but it is hard to imagine an argument that would give the edge to Tom Coughlin over Bill Belichick.

On that same note, I refuse to rate either team’s “intangibles” because I’m not some sort of omniscient God who can figure out how impalpable details will affect an athlete’s ability to play football. Will Chris Canty’s bulletin board material get inside Tom Brady’s head, or will the Patriots rally around being disrespected? Or will none of this have any affect on how a bunch of men play football? I won’t pretend to know.

Regardless, the overall talent level of these teams is so close that you could play this game 100 times and a different team will win each time. Wait, that doesn’t sound right…anyway, it should be a close game!

Below are the links to every individual unit breakdown.

Quarterback – Giants: 9.1, Patriots 9.7

Offensive Line – Giants 7.5, Patriots 8.7

Running Backs – Giants 8.4, Patriots 7.5

Receivers – Giants 9.2, Patriots 9.2

Defensive Line – Giants 9.4, Patriots 8.0

Linebackers – Giants 7.9, Patriots 8.2

Secondary – Giants 7.9, Patriots 6.9

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