Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
After this weekend’s draft, the New York Giants earned a grade of “meh.” Big Blue didn’t get a cornerback or linebacker on the third day, two areas of need. Last year’s 31st rated defense in terms of yards allowed per game left Radio City Music Hall with the same concerns as it had when it began drafting last Thursday.
The first three picks were good ones and typical of the way the Giants draft. Justin Pugh can start right away at right tackle. Defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins is a colossal mammal that will occupy O-linemen and free up Jason Pierre-Paul, Mathias Kiwanuka and the next guy they drafted to rush the passer. That next guy, Damontre Moore, was the Giants best pick this weekend, according to this writer. Moore was the top rated pass rusher in the whole draft when the year began. He slipped to the third round because of bad combine numbers.
But there’s one number the Giants couldn’t ignore: 12.5. That was the number of sacks he had for Texas A&M University. The man feasts on quarterbacks for dinner and snacks on their backups for that occasional midnight snack. But the good feelings over Reese’s draft should end there because of what they did next.
The Giants swapped fourth round picks with the Arizona Cardinals and threw in a sixth round pick to draft quarterback Ryan Nassib. The move was crazy, considering the fact linebacker Khaseem Greene and cornerback B.W. Webb were still on the board when Big Blue got Nassib. Either of those guys – both talented prospects who could contribute right away – would have addressed need areas.
The Nassib pick was surprising, since he will play behind Eli Manning, holder of the NFL’s longest current streak of consecutive starts by a quarterback.
When will this brother see the field? “Yeah, if he doesn’t ever play, that would be great,” General Manager Jerry Reese said about Nassib.
Reese said that Nassib’s value was too high to ignore. And he’s right.
The Syracuse quarterback is a great value in the fourth round, considering that some draftniks had him projected as a first rounder. He is an immediate upgrade over current Giants backup David Carr.
The Giants fourth, fifth and seventh rounders were Cooper Taylor, Eric Herman and Michael Cox, developmental prospects who are not expected to contribute inn September, if they make the team.
So in the end, the Minnesota Vikings, Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, St. Louis Rams and the San Francisco 49ers had better drafts than the Giants.
Then again, Reese is the guy who won two Super Bowls. And Reese’s scouts know how to sift for gold from that undrafted free agent pool. Who knows? He can and will probably fill those holes at outside linebacker and cornerback before the season starts.
But as of right now, hours after the draft, this armchair GM feels like the real GM could have made better picks.
Tacuma R. Roeback is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TacumaRoe, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+
