Jerry Reese Is at the Root of the Problems Plaguing the New York Giants

The New York Giants are an old-school organization. And being old school goes hand in hand with being loyal, which is why it isn't surprising that the G-Men have a head coach and quarterback who have served for 11 consecutive years and a general manager who has been with the team since 1994. 

But as the Giants stumble out of the gate to kick off what's shaping up to be another lousy season, it's become fair to wonder whether the franchise is being too loyal to its key cogs.

There's no doubt general manager Jerry Reese has given a ton of rope to head coach Tom Coughlin, who in turn has done the same with quarterback Eli Manning. But have co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch been too forgiving when it comes to handling Reese himself?

Reese is still employed for one obvious reason: The Giants have won two Super Bowls since he took over for Ernie Accorsi in 2007. But without those two Super Bowl runs—which, let's face it, had a lot more to do with Coughlin and Manning than anyone he brought to town—the Giants would have a mediocre-at-best track record during Reese's reign. 

So, what's wrong with the Giants? Why are they likely to miss the playoffs in 2014 for the fifth time in six years? It can't be Coughlin, who is likely on his way to the Hall of Fame based on his ability to make something out of nothing. And it can't all be on Manning, who possesses that "clutch gene" and has the ability to make throws that almost nobody else in football can. 

Frankly, the problem is that Reese has spent nearly his entire tenure as general manager building a shoddy, second-rate roster. 

Big Blue isn't struggling because of that new scheme introduced by offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo or because of the coaching staff. This team is sinking deeper into quicksand because it simply does not possess enough talent. 

Look at the current roster.

The offensive line has to be considered one of the worst in football, despite the fact Reese used a first-round pick on right tackle Justin Pugh last year, mere weeks after giving $37.5 million to injury-prone, ineffective left tackle Will Beatty. The interior of that line has been gutted, with Reese now relying on curbside pickups like Dallas Reynolds, J.D. Walton, John Jerry, Charles Brown and Adam Snyder—a band-aid solution that is clearly backfiring. 

With Hakeem Nicks gone and top pick Odell Beckham Jr. dealing with the world's worst hamstring injury, the receiving corps is just as much of a mess. Recent Reese draft picks Rueben Randle and Jerrel Jernigan have done nothing to prove that they can be relied on to play major roles, and the team is now using its fifth different starting tight end in as many years. 

In true football-dinosaur fashion, Reese and the Giants have refused to keep up with league trends by investing in that tight end position, which has only caused more instability for Manning in terms of both pass protection and his targets in the passing game. 

The offensive backfield hasn't been any more stable. Newbie Rashad Jennings christened his $10 million contract with a 46-yard performance on 16 carries in the season opener, while rookie Andre Williams—who has become the latest great running back hope only two years after injury flameout David Wilson was selected in the first round—is clearly a work in progress. 

For several years running, Reese has completely disregarded a laughingstock of a linebacking corps while paying little attention to the quickly deteriorating defensive line that was once this team's bread and butter. Justin Tuck and Linval Joseph were the latest escapees from that unit, replaced by...who exactly? 

Suddenly this past offseason, Reese and the front office went on a shortsighted shopping spree, basically addressing the secondary and nothing else. They brought in Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Walter Thurmond and Zack Bowman, which won't hurt but also seemed aimless and inequitable based on how many needs the team had elsewhere on both sides of the ball. 

I know, I know. This team has always rebuilt itself primarily through the draft, which is absolutely the most appropriate method for doing so. The problem is that Reese has never fared well in that area, either. 

Since he took over as general manager in 2007, only three of Reese's 53 draft picks have gone on to become Pro Bowlers. Only two (Steve Smith and Jason Pierre-Paul) are position players (two-time Pro Bowl long snapper Zak DeOssie was a fourth-round pick in '07), and JPP is the only Pro Bowler he's drafted in the last six years. 

Only five NFL teams have fewer drafted Pro Bowlers on their current roster, according to an offseason study conducted by Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, and a Forbes study of drafts between 2007 and 2012 found that Reese's draft picks fared worse than the league average in almost every measurable way. 

I mean, how is this acceptable? 

Player	Pick	Present-day status
Justin Pugh	19, 2013	Starting right tackle
Johnathan Hankins	49, 2013	Starter but jury's still out
Damontre Moore	81, 2013	Can't crack starting lineup
David Wilson	32, 2012	Out of football (injury)
Rueben Randle	63, 2012	Flirting with bust label
Jayron Hosley	94, 2012	Third-stringer
Prince Amukamara	19, 2011	Decent starter
Marvin Austin	52, 2011	Long gone
Jerrel Jernigan	83, 2011	Career backup
Jason Pierre-Paul	15, 2010	Pro Bowl ability when healthy
Linval Joseph	46, 2010	Solid starter on Vikings
Chad Jones	76, 2010	Never saw the field
Hakeem Nicks	29, 2009	Brittle starter in Indy
Clint Sintim	45, 2009	One sack in three years, gone
Will Beatty	60, 2009	Struggling starter at left tackle
Ramses Barden	85, 2009	29 catches in five years
Travis Beckum	100, 2009	26 catches in four years
Kenny Phillips	31, 2008	Couple good years, out of league
Terrell Thomas	63, 2008	Up-and-down career
Mario Manningham	95, 2008	Somewhat of a disappointment
Aaron Ross	20, 2007	Now a journeyman
Steve Smith	51, 2007	One good season, out of league
Jay Alford	81, 2007	Long gone

Fourteen of those 23 picks are off the roster, and only three "reliable" present-day starters—Pierre-Paul, Beatty and cornerback Prince Amukamara—can be found on that list. Sadly, Pierre-Paul's shine has come off since a huge 2011 season, the overpaid Beatty has become a major liability and Amukamara isn't living up to predraft expectations. 

And aside from Ahmad Bradshaw (seventh-round pick in 2007), Victor Cruz (undrafted free agent in 2010) and maybe Jacquian Williams (sixth-round pick in 2011), it's hard to identify any diamonds Reese has been able to find in the rough. 

Considering all of the problems on this roster, how can Reese get away with drafting three backup quarterbacks in a six-year span, with 2013 fourth-rounder Ryan Nassib serving as the icing on that mystifying cake. 

Perspective on that Nassib selection from B/R's Patricia Traina: 

"Why, with the Giants having concerns about the offensive line, did they spend a draft pick to develop a quarterback who, in a press conference following the pick, Reese told reporters that he hopes “'doesn’t ever play?'"

This isn't all on Reese. Coughlin has a say, as do the owners. And technically, vice president of player evaluation Marc Ross has been running the draft since 2008. But this has always been a collaborative effort, and it's Reese who has the final say. 

"We have missed on guys, no question about it," said Mara in February, per Giants.com. "There are a few cases where we took a chance, knowing that we were taking a chance, thinking that if we hit on this guy, maybe we’ll knock it out of the park. If we miss, we miss, and we missed a few times, but that’s going to happen."

Sure, but when it happens so often that your roster begins to take on a carcass-like form, it might be time to consider giving the bat to someone else. 

Reese played a major draft role in 2004, 2005 and 2006. And so yes, he deserves some credit for fruitful picks like Manning and Chris Snee in 2004, Corey Webster, Justin Tuck and Brandon Jacobs in 2005 and Barry Cofield in '06. Without those guys and a solid 2007 draft class, this team doesn't win Super Bowl XLII. 

But if we give him some credit for those guys, he'll also have to take some heat for Sinorice Moss and Gerris Wilkinson in '06. And the reality is Accorsi spearheaded that '04 draft-day trade for Manning, and there's no indication Reese had any say in the decision to hire Coughlin that same year. 

He inherited those guys, and all he's done since then is swing and miss at an unacceptable rate while somehow digging a deep cap hole that caused the team to lose respected veterans Bradshaw, Osi Umenyiora and Martellus Bennett as the fecal matter really began to hit the fan one year after that second Super Bowl.

That 2013 trade for Jon Beason has panned out well, and the jury's still out on this year's free-agent haul, but it's quite possible that punter Steve Weatherford is the best free agent this team has acquired in the last three years. 

Seriously, Cullen Jenkins has been OK, but David Baas, Shaun Rogers, Brandon Myers and Dan Connor were all clear strikes. Beyond that, nada. 

Reese continues to get credit for a team assembled primarily by his predecessor, even as he pushes this franchise closer to rock bottom with poorly calculated decisions. And yet it doesn't seem as though his job is in any sort of jeopardy. 

If only loyalty points existed in the NFL.

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFC East for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon