Giants' Recent Drafts Now Put To The Test

[RoanokeFan]

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/giants/post/_/id/22603/giants-recent-drafts-now-put-to-the-test

Excerpt: "New York Giants' General Manager Jerry Reese has a reputation as a shrewd handler of the NFL draft. We are about to find out whether he deserves it.

Reese himself would tell you that the Giants look at the draft in a very specific way. They do not view it as an annual opportunity to make big-splash, instant-impact additions to the following season's team. The Giants use the draft as a means of crafting and maintaining a deep roster that can regenerate itself with players who have spent time developing in their system.

The cuts this week of championship mainstays Ahmad Bradshaw (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/10693/ahmad-bradshaw), Michael Boley (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/8574/michael-boley) and Chris Canty (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/8546/chris-canty) signal a time of such regeneration. The Giants make these moves -- and likely more cuts to come -- with the hope that the replacements for these players are already in their locker room. The extent to which that turns out to be the case will help determine just how good Reese's past few drafts have been.

The likely replacements for Bradshaw are David Wilson (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/14887/david-wilson) (first round, 2012) and Andre Brown (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/12490/andre-brown) (fourth round, 2009). Assuming they re-sign Brown coming off his broken leg, they'll find out whether that tandem can effect a smooth transition from the Bradshaw/Brandon Jacobs (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/8524/brandon-jacobs) era at running back. Brown is a guy to whom they kept giving chances until he blossomed as a power runner in 2012. Wilson is the guy they said was at the top of their running-back board in last year's draft. Were they telling the truth? Or did Tampa Bay outfox them by trading up to steal Doug Martin (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/14885/doug-martin) one pick earlier? It appears as though Wilson will get a good chance in 2013 to show whether he was indeed the right man for the Giants' job.

Canty is a tough loss in the middle of the defensive line. And while Linval Joseph (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/13281/linval-joseph) (second round, 2010) has already proven himself a reliable starter at defensive tackle, the Giants will hope this is the year that Marvin Austin (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/14025/marvin-austin) (second round, 2011) blossoms into the interior pass-rusher they envisioned when they drafted him off his suspension season at North Carolina. That Austin pick has a chance to look really good if the young man rebounds from the two years in which he didn't see the field, but if he doesn't, the Giants will need to find more depth at that position.

Boley's most likely replacement at outside linebacker is Jacquian Williams (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/14199/jacquian-williams) (sixth round, 2011), who was a big help during the the most recent Super Bowl run and now likely gets a chance to show what he can do as an NFL starter. The Giants don't place a very high priority on the linebacker position, and if Williams blossoms as a starter out of the sixth round, he'll make that particular part of their strategy look pretty good." Read more...

[PennState1]

I totally understand the point of the article and know it is the Giant way. What I don't understand is the comment that the Giants don't see the LB position as that important. How is the LB not that important, especially when it comes to stuffing the run?

[PennState1]

Perhaps it's Just not a priority because they believe we already have the talent we need on the bench?

[primetime]

Perhaps it's Just not a priority because they believe we already have the talent we need on the bench?
Perhaps Williams and Paysinger will be our outside linebackers next season. That leaves the Mike position which they can draft or look for in free agency.

[jomo]

Canty is not a "tough loss in the middle". If he were the Giants would have retained him. Canty was a bad value in the middle and therefore I view his release as a positive step. If Canty were man=king $2M he'd still be here.

[PBTimmons]

It's reasonable to question whether Jerry Reese is responsible for the success in 2007 considering that team was largely built before he took over. But he is fully responsible for the team now, and we are still very successful. So there is no question JR knows what he is doing.

With that said, I completely agree with this article. He is given credit for being one of the best on draft day, and now we get to see if it is completely deserved.

My personal opinion is that he strongly believes in what we have on the roster(bird in the hand). Which includes the players behind Boley, Bradshaw and Canty. And that is good enough for me.

[PennState1]

Given all of the great things JR has done do far you can't really argue with his success

[Kruunch]

I totally understand the point of the article and know it is the Giant way. What I don't understand is the comment that the Giants don't see the LB position as that important. How is the LB not that important, especially when it comes to stuffing the run?

The current trend in the NFL is on the passing game. In 2011 there was exactly one power rush team (49ers). In that scenario, the LBer position had the least priority (hence all of the late round draft picks we threw at it).

This will change as trends in the NFL are cyclical and I wouldn't be amazed to see us spend a third round pick on a LBer this year.