Key Takeaways from NY Giants GM Jerry Reese's Draft Preview Press Conference
New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese broke into a big smile after hearing the first question of the day at his annual draft press conference.
“Who are we taking in the first round?” he said, repeating the question. “A good player at nine.”
Hey, it was worth taking a chance, right?
While Reese was his usual tight-lipped self regarding the team’s draft plans for next week, he did touch upon a few interesting topics that might—keyword "might"—provide the slightest hint as to how the team is planning to approach this year’s NFL draft.
Here’s a breakdown of those key points and what they may—or may not—mean for the Giants.
In the Early Rounds, Character Is More Closely Scrutinized
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Now that there's the possibility that defensive end Randy Gregory, who tested positive for marijuana at the combine, could fall down the draft board in the first round, some have wondered if perhaps the Giants might roll the dice on a player who has character issues.
The answer, according to Reese, is yes and no.
“We’re always mindful of a player’s character and background. That always goes into the equation; that’s not really anything new for us,” Reese said.
“Obviously like most guys, we have taken some guys. We try to take them on the back end of the roster with more risk/reward on the back end of the roster. Obviously we’re very conscious and have been a long time about character.”
With the Giants having a top-10 draft pick, Reese realizes that they have to get the pick right. There is no room for error and no excuse, no matter how talented a player might be.
That being said, it would not be surprising if Day 1 and Day 2 players who have shown a history of character issues are dropped down on the Giants draft board (or removed completely in some cases).
Depending on the player’s specific background, though, Reese said the team wouldn’t be averse to rolling the dice on a player who might have had brushes with the law.
“The thing you have to think about with these young players is they’re young,” he said. “They do young-kid stuff, a lot of them, so you can’t absolutely kill them; you wouldn’t have anyone to draft.
“If a guy has a long list of issues, that’s when you’re going to have to throw the red flag in there; is this guy going to stop? If he has a couple of things that college kids do, then you just can’t throw them away.”
When it comes to illegal substances, Reese and the Giants might be more willing to draw the line, especially after what they went through with former safety Will Hill.
Despite being a rare talent, Hill continued to have issues, drawing suspensions in each of his first three years in the NFL. It finally reached a boiling point to where the Giants felt they couldn’t count on Hill to be there, so they parted ways with him last spring.
If a player has a minor history with the law, such as speeding tickets for example, that’s probably not going to be enough to drop him off the Giants’ radar.
There’s No Such Thing as Having "Too Many" at One Position
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The 2015 draft class is once again loaded with receivers. However, the Giants currently have 11 receivers on their roster.
If everyone comes back and is ready to start the season, the receiver depth chart figures to be Odell Beckham Jr., Victor Cruz, Rueben Randle, Dwayne Harris and two from a group that includes Marcus Harris, Corey Washington, Kevin Ogletree and Preston Parker.
On paper, that seems like a nice, deep group of options at the position. Reese, however, disagrees.
“As soon as you say you have a lot of depth at a position, then you don’t have depth,” he said.
He’s not wrong. Last year the Giants were loaded at cornerback, but then injuries started to eat away at the depth as the season went on, claiming Prince Amukamara and Trumaine McBride with season-ending injuries and forcing Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to struggle through most of the season.
By about mid-year, the Giants were practically forced to pull in guys off the street, adding Chykie Brown and Mike Harris just to get through the rest of the year.
That’s why Reese is dead serious when he speaks about drafting the best player available, regardless of position.
That’s also why if one of the top receivers such as Amari Cooper, Kevin White or DeVante Parker should fall down to the Giants at No. 9 and have a higher grade, he will be picked.
Need Won’t Necessarily Dictate Who They Take at No. 9
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In the draft, not every team is going to find the next Tom Brady or Victor Cruz—that late Day 3 draft pick or undrafted free agent who suddenly emerges into one of the top competitors at his position.
That’s why certain positions, such as left tackle, quarterback, receiver, cornerback and edge-rusher, are usually among the most desired positions chosen by teams that are drafting in the first 10 slots of Round 1.
The logic makes sense. No team wants to make an annual appearance at the top of the draft, because it means that the team just isn’t competitive.
With the Giants hoping that this will be the last time they have to pick in the top 10 of the first round for a while, does Reese feel the need to potentially grab a player who can fill one of those premium positions when the No. 9 pick rolls around?
Reese had a different perspective.
“If you draft at No. 9, regardless of who he is, it’s a premium position,” he said. “If you draft him at No. 9, you expect him to come in and play quickly.”
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Iowa's Brandon Scherff Can Play at Tackle or Guard
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Before becoming the Giants’ general manager, Jerry Reese spent several years as a scout.
He was asked to put on his scouting cap for a moment regarding where he thought Iowa offensive lineman Brandon Scherff, whose name has been linked to the Giants in several mock drafts, including that of NFL.com’s Charles Davis and Charley Casserly and NFLDraftScout’s Dane Brugler, could play at this next level.
“I think he can play both,” Reese said. “I think he can play somewhere.”
If he were to be the Giants pick, where would Scherff play?
“The coaches would have to figure that out,” Reese said.
Reese Still Isn’t Sure About Victor Cruz
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Receiver Victor Cruz, who also spoke to reporters, said he’s begun running straight ahead but has not yet attempted to do any cutting, which he said is the next step in his rehab.
Despite the progress and Cruz's optimism, Reese is still not changing his tune regarding availability.
“I don’t think you can have certainty,” Reese said. “He’s looked good, he’s running right now. He’s scheduled to be back ready for the opener for us, but until you get out there and turn it loose, you never know what a guy is going to do.”
It’s understandable that Reese is concerned about Cruz—these are uncharted waters for the Giants, as no receiver is known to have had the type of injury (torn patellar tendon) Cruz suffered. Thus, there’s no benchmark for the Giants to measure Cruz’s progress against other than the eyeball test, at least right now.
That’s why Reese added receiver Dwayne Harris during free agency; Harris told reporters that he will have some kind of role in the offense this year. That’s also why Reese insists they’re not ruling out drafting a wide receiver early in the draft if one of value falls to them.
What happens, then, if Cruz does stay on schedule and doesn’t have any setbacks?
“I’m not counting it as a bonus,” Reese said, “but I want to be prepared in case he’s not here.”
Safety Is Still on the Radar
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The Giants lack numbers at the safety position, and Reese made no secret of the fact that the position is one they’re going to try to address.
His first attempt to do so, Devin McCourty, rejected the Giants and re-signed with the Patriots. After that, Reese said there was a drop-off in the free-agency pool at safety, so the team is going to let youngsters Nat Berhe and Cooper Taylor compete along with Josh Gordy, at least for now.
They will also try to convert either Chykie Brown or Bennett Jackson from corner to safety.
“We’re not going to make do, just like any position,” Reese said. “We’re going to try to upgrade that position, just like any other position. We have some young players we think have some talent, but we’re going to try to continue to upgrade that position as well.”
Reese said it’s not unusual for teams to convert cornerbacks to safety—former Giants safety Antrel Rolle, for instance, began his career as a cornerback, as did McCourty.
“It happens all the time, The corner from New England (McCourty), he played corner and converted to safety, so that happens all the time.”
However, not every cornerback makes a successful conversion. A few years ago, Aaron Ross tried to make that switch, but it didn’t go over as well, so the Giants abandoned the plan and moved him back to cornerback.
“You never know; you have to experiment in the spring,” Reese said. “Obviously you’d like to get a guy who’s played there and done the job, but you gotta be creative in this day and age with your personnel.”
The Pressure Is On to Top the Odell Beckham Jr. Pick
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Let’s face it: Players like Odell Beckham Jr.—who, by the way, told reporters that the biggest thing he wants to work on this year is controlling his emotions so that he doesn’t hurt his team with penalties, a point I argued earlier this offseason—are rare.
So what happens when a team is fortunate enough to grab such a high-powered star in the draft? Is there pressure to top that act the following year?
“You always want to get good players in the draft,” Reese said. “Sometimes you hit on a player like Odell, and he’s a terrific player, but the higher you pick, the better the player should be.”
Reese pointed out that sometimes there’s a break in the rows that the Giants set up as part of their draft board (New York uses a row system rather than a round system).
He also said that given the way the draft is set up, naturally, the further away from No. 1 a team moves with its pick, the more likely there will be a drop-off in talent and value.
“When you’re picking on the back end of the draft, obviously it’s not the same caliber of player,” Reese said.
The Team Is Close to Being Completely Healthy
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Other than those of a couple of unnamed players, Reese said that there aren’t many injury concerns moving forward right now.
That’s great news for the Giants, who according to Football Outsiders took the crown for being the league’s most injured team for a second straight year.
“There will be a couple of guys where there are some concerns, but we feel good about the vast majority of our players being ready to go for training camp,” Reese said.
Victor Cruz is obviously a concern, given the uncertainty involved in his rehab.
Others who might be limited during the spring include linebacker Jon Beason, who is still rehabbing from foot and toe surgery; Robert Ayers, who didn’t have surgery to heal a pectoral injury; and Geoff Schwartz, who is working his way back from ankle surgery.
Given the Giants' past mistakes with rushing players back onto the field—Hakeem Nicks, Odell Beckham Jr. and Beason all come to mind as players who rushed back and suffered setbacks—they're more likely to err on the side of caution this spring.
That would be the smart thing to do, given that training camp is still several months away.
Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced.
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