Debunking The Myth Of Jerry's Genius

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And all the sheep chanted in unison, "In Jerry we trust!!!"

Well, count me among the flock BUT....

Some of Jerry Reese's draft picks have been far from stellar, especially when it comes to the wide receiver position. Thus, this year's picks of Hakeem Nicks, Ramses Barden, and Travis Beckum as a solution to replace Amani Toomer and Plaxico Burress shouldn't simply be analyzed with the popular refrain, "Jerry's a genius at general manager. He must know what he's doing."

Reese has been essentially in charge of the Giants' draft since 2002 as director of pro personnel, and officially in charge as GM since 2007. So now in 2009, it is a perfect time to go back and evaluate this wunderkind of NFL talent evaluation. 

First, one preliminary myth needs to be debunked; mainly that the Giants are a good drafting team. Historically, with the exception of the Parcel’s era, the Giants have been abysmal in the draft. The height of the Giants' ineptitude is probably indicative of why the Giants were the dregs of the NFL until the 1980s, was the 1965 NFL Draft.

That year the Giants had the No. 1 pick, and drafted RB Tucker Fredrickson (who???) out of Auburn. Two picks later, Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers went off the board. Ouch! Later in that round, Joe Namath was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals. How would Broadway Joe have been for the real New York football franchise?

The misses and busts just kept coming until fairly recently when Jerry Reese took over with his miraculous draft class of 2007, where almost every pick including two seventh rounders, Ahmad Bradshaw and Michael Johnson, contributed to a Super Bowl Championship.

Giants' fans rightfully give Reese a lot of credit for getting value with each and every pick, but it's those first day picks that need to be hits because those players are getting the big bucks and are expected to make the team. Hitting on a sixth or seventh rounder is frosting on the cake because many are not even expected to make the team.

Also, hitting on some late round picks or on some undrafted free agents takes a little bit of the sting out of missing on a first day pick. I think this has been the saving grace for Reese's reputation as an expert drafter.

Let's look at some significant misses on the first day since 2002, when Reese was director of pro personnel. (Granted these drafts belong to Ernie Accorsi, but Reese as head of scouting had to be responsible for a significant part of setting up the Giants' draft board)

2002

Jeremy Shockey sounds like a good pick at No. 14 right? I mean he was a Giants' fan favorite and arguably one of the most dynamic TEs in the league along with Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, Antonio Gate, and Todd Heap. However, when compared with the other "great" TEs of his era, Shockey is certainly last on the list.

He also was always injured, and had a terrible attitude that stunted the growth of the future franchise player, Eli Manning. Were the Giants so desperate for a TE that year? So desperate to pass on DT Albert Haynesworth, who got drafted by the Titans the very next pick. Was a TE with the 14th pick a better bet than a safety picked 10 picks later by the Ravens? Yeah, that would be Ed Reed.

If we needed a TE so bad that year, what about taking Haynesworth or Reed, and then in the third or fourth round taking Chris Baker or Randy McMichael (both pretty solid TEs) instead of who we actually took; Jeff Hatch. Haynesworth and McMichael would have been a better haul than Shockey and Hatch.

How would Haynesworth and Reed, both positions where we presently need depth, look today at the height of their careers in Giants blue? I'm sure they would look better than Shockey does today in a Saints

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