ZERO People Had The New York Giants Picking Eli Apple, So Why Did Jerry Reese Bite?

I don’t think any New York Giants fans saw this coming. With the 10th overall pick, Big Blue had franchise tackle Laremy Tunsil on the board AND top-rated cornerback Vernon Hargreaves and went with Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple.

NO ONE projected this. Let’s try to remain calm and resort to reasons why (and why not) Jerry Reese made the pick.

After months of speculation, after we all thought the New York Giants would go with Ezekiel Elliott or Ronnie Stanley or Jack Conklin or Leonard Floyd or Sheldon Rankins or Corey Coleman or Laquon Treadwell or Vernon Hargreaves or Myles Jack or Darron Lee or DeForest Buckner or Shaq Lawson, Jerry Reese calls on shutdown cornerback Eli Apple, who will most likely be the #3 corner behind Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie aka DRC and newly acquired free agent Janoris Jenkins aka the JackRabbit.

This is probably the most accurate reaction for more restrained Giants fans…

Sure, it’s not a horrendous pick, but couldn’t the Giants have traded down and got him?

Some are calling Apple “Prince 2.0” …

Even Apple thought he was getting pranked when he got the call…

On the positive side… if you’re into serendipity and destiny and don’t believe in consequences…

Eli received a grade of 6.00, which means experts think he’ll have a chance to become good NFL starter. NFL Draft Analyst Lance Zierlein compared Apple to Los Angeles Rams corner Trumaine Johnson, adding:

"“Highly recruited two­-year starter who is entering the draft as a draft eligible redshirt sophomore. Apple’s size and strength allows him to compete against physical receivers, but he also has the talent to mirror and match as a man defender. Covering for longer could be challenging early on after playing with talented defensive fronts who ravaged quarterbacks. Apple will have to learn to trust his feet rather than grabbing so often or he’ll find that quarterbacks and refs will find him often.”"

Pro Football Focus gave the New York Giants a C- for their Apple pickin’:

"“In a major surprise, the Giants take Eli Apple and bypass better options at cornerback. Apple is an excellent man coverage corner, capable of locking onto his man as well as any player in the draft, but he doesn’t have the same versatility to play zone and make plays in space (nine missed tackles last season). Even when he’s locked into man coverage, Apple struggles to find the football and make plays, something he has to improve at the next level. If the Giants play more man coverage – they only played pure man coverage 30.4 percent of the time last year, 21st in the league – Apple is a good fit, but if they continue playing more zone-heavy concepts, his issues closing on the ball will be accentuated.”"

Pete Prisco of CBS Sports gave the Giants a C for their selection. Among the five CBS Sports NFL Draft experts, no one had Eli Apple going before #13 to the Miami Dolphins. Most had him going in the #14 – #28 range.

Dane Brugler had this to say about Apple:

"“Apple isn’t afraid to be physical and contest at the top of routes, but he’s still learning what he can get away with and what will draw flags – desired length for the position, but NFL teams will be forced to live and die with his hands-on contact while he figures it out.He is also an aggressive run defender, but needs to be more measured with his break down mechanics as a tackler. Apple is still very young and with that comes discipline issues, but he consistently stays in phase in press or off-man coverage and has upside.”"

At least Giants fan can look forward to a series of fantastic Campbell’s Soup commercials featuring Apple’s mom as she’s already been dubbed “the best mom in the game“.

REASONS FOR PICKING AN APPLE:

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1. Most offenses operate with three wide receiver sets. The Giants had Trevin Wade as their #3 cornerback. Trumaine McBride and Jayron Hosley are free agents. Tramain Jacobs and Leon McFadden remain. Trevin Wade had a True Value Rating of 94.12, which was 5th among all cornerbacks in the NFL playing at least 25% of defensive snaps. That means he played well above his contract. Wade had 0 interceptions, six passes defended, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, and 48 combined tackles. Pro Football Reference gave him an approximate value of 2.
2. DRC will be 30 next season and will be a free agent in 2019?
3. Apple doesn’t have “character issues” like, I guess, Laremy Tunsil (whose gas mask bong smoking video will be such a minor footnote in his playing career and NFL history) and Vernon Hargreaves?
4. The Florida Gators have more NFL busts than other college football programs.

REASONS AGAINST PICKING AN APPLE:

1. CORNERBACK WASN’T A NEED! A third corner? At #10??!?!?!
2. Offensive line is a bigger need than corner. I don’t care if Laremy Tunsil was dancing through a field of marijuana, wearing a crown made of cannabis and making out with Tommy Chong. The guy was, FOR MONTHS, the #1 pick in all mock drafts. Can you imagine an offensive line with Ereck Flowers on one end and Laremy Tunsil on the other? Eli Manning would never have to wash his uniform. The dude had a 7.6 grade! That’s “future All-Pro”!!!! Kudos and congrats to the Miami Dolphins. You’re gonna retire Tunsil’s number someday.
3. Safety is a bigger need than corner. The combo of Karl Joseph and Landon Collins gets me all tingly in my jinglies.
4. A second wide receiver is a bigger need than corner. Laquon Treadwell, Josh Doctson, Will Fuller, Corey Coleman would all be excellent additions and low-risk insurance for Victor Cruz. Odell Beckham, Jr. has two years left on his rookie contract.
5. Dude will turn 21 three days before the first preseason game. The last 20-year-old the Giants picked that I can remember was Damontre Moore. Not trying to be an ageist but my man can’t even legally drink to celebrate his NFL contract.

Next: Top 10 Giants Draft Classes In Franchise History

Hot damn, Jerry Reese. You really know how to rile up a fanbase.