Jerry Reese’s drafts complicate New York Giants rebuild

The New York Giants are facing a massive rebuild. Abysmal drafting by the previous front office has resulted in a clear lack of foundation on the roster.

Throughout former general manager Jerry Reese’s time with the New York Giants, he continually failed to draft effectively in the mid-rounds. These rounds are where successful executives prove how good they are. Now, almost a year removed from Reese’s tenure, the G-Men are still paying the price.

Success in the mid-rounds of the draft is often the difference between the NFL’s royalty and those stuck in the cellar. The NFL Draft can be the foundation for the sustained health of a good team. For nearly a decade, the New York Giants have been unable to effectively replenish their roster.

From 2008 to 2017, Reese and VP of Player Development Marc Ross selected bust after bust in rounds three, four and five. In that time, Big Blue selected 30 players in those rounds. Out of those 30, only one was a significant contributor for the New York Giants: Mario Manningham.

Reese’s struggles in round No. 3 of the draft, a round that often lands building blocks for franchises, is particularly alarming. Manningham is the lone success out of 11 selections made by Reese in the third.

Those third-round selections are as follows:

• 2008: Mario Manningham
• 2009: Ramses Barden, Travis Beckum
• 2010: Chad Jones
• 2011: Jerrell Jernigan
• 2012: Jayron Hosley
• 2013: Damontre Moore
• 2014: Jay Bromley
• 2015: Owamagbe Odighizuwa
• 2016: Darian Thompson
• 2017: Davis Webb

Only two of these selections started more than six games in a season for the New York Giants, and no pick in the last four years played more than two seasons with the team.

Top Selection Blues

Adding to his mid-round struggles, Reese wasted back to back top ten picks on Ereck Flowers (9th overall) and Eli Apple (10th overall) in 2015 and 2016. Flowers was among the worst tackles in the league in his first three seasons and was later benched and waived in favor of Chad Wheeler. Apple was dealt to New Orleans for a 2019 fourth-round pick and a 2020 seventh-round pick after being a source of locker room turmoil in his first two seasons in New York.

Odell Beckham Jr. (2014) and Evan Engram (2017) are the only first-round picks made by Reese who remain on the team.

A team cannot sustain success with so many years of bad draft picks. Reese’s lack of draft success drove him to overspend on defense in free agency. He signed Janoris Jenkins, Olivier Vernon and Damon Harrison each to five-year deals worth a combined $194 million during the 2016 offseason.

New York Giants

These signings improved a defense that was the worst in the league in 2015, but draft struggles still left too many holes in the roster. The Giants lost to Green Bay in the 2016 Wild Card game behind a struggling offensive line. The unit’s struggles were amplified in 2017, as the G-Men won just three games, and Reese was fired after the team slipped to 2-10.

Turning the Page

Team co-owner John Mara hired Dave Gettleman as general manager and Pat Shurmur as head coach following the disastrous 2017 season. With the second overall pick in their hands, Gettleman and Shurmur had the option to take the team in two directions: tear it down and rebuild behind a top quarterback prospect or try to win now.

The pair was likely hired with the understanding that ownership strongly preferred the latter but would defer to both after close review of game and practice film. The New York Giants decided to select Saquon Barkley with the No. 2 overall selection. The Penn State product was probably the best player in the draft, but Mara, Gettleman and Shurmur miscalculated the difficulty of reassembling a functional offensive line given Manning’s immobility.

Unfortunately, Reese’s horrible drafting and inability to competently address offensive line issues wasted the last seven years of Manning’s career.

This season is showing the same narrative as last season. The high-priced signing of Nate Solder and drafting of Will Hernandez were not enough to fix the offensive line. At quarterback, Manning appears to be terrified in the pocket, and the defense has underperformed. The Giants now sit at 1-7 in the midst of a fire sale.

Premier run-stopper Damon Harrison was traded to Detroit for a fifth-round pick following Apple’s departure, and that may only be the tip of the iceberg. Gettleman will likely be fielding calls for high-priced veterans such as Janoris Jenkins and linebacker Alec Ogletree.

What the Future Holds

Manning’s release or retirement would save significant money toward the salary cap. The Giants will likely target Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert, if he declares for the draft. With a subpar quarterback class outside of Herbert, Gettleman may look for a stop-gap QB, if the Oregon product opts to return to school.

Absent a high draft pick, Teddy Bridgewater, Tyrod Taylor and Nick Foles are some of the names that could be on the Giants’ short list for a quick fix.

The New York Giants will have at least two straight years with picks at the top of the draft. Gettleman now has extra picks in the fourth and fifth rounds as well, and he may collect more in the next few days. In order to avoid a prolonged rebuild, the veteran football executive must find several effective starters in the mid-rounds.

The organization would be wise to follow the process of the New England Patriots. The Pats have been able to sustain success for nearly two decades by drafting well in the mid-rounds. They also have a sound understanding of when to move their high-priced veterans before they become less productive.

Gettleman has begun to reshape the New York Giants scouting department, which was long overdue. Hopefully, this will result in productive drafts in 2019 and the future.