I really can't stand this dopey notion that Reese has so many busts when half of his picks went down because of injury. It also tends to then morph into many of those picks were bad, and how many had careers cut short due to injury is somehow on the GM, too. Here’s a break down of the 1st five rounds (the guys you really expect to stick and contribute) of each year since 2007 when JR has been in the GM’s seat. It’s really not all that bad. Only 9 out of 43 (included AB1 in 2007) that you can say just should not have been taken in that slot. Obviously, some will disagree, but I didn’t think I was giving JR the benefit of the doubt that much. And it’s not just JR or TC to blame if guys don’t pan out. Mara has to bear some responsibility for allowing the disconnect between the two as to types of players we want.
2007 1 Aaron Ross – Good pick (Later injuries)
2 Steve Smith – Good pick (Later catastrophic injury shortened career)
3 Jay Alford – Solid pick (Very promising, but later injury shortened career)
4 Zak DeOssie – Good pick
5 Kevin Boss – Good pick
7* Ahmad Bradshaw – Excellent pick
2008 1 Kenny Phillips – Excellent pick (Esp. at #32 – later catastrophic injury shortened career)
2 Terrell Thomas – Excellent pick (Later catastrophic injury shortened career)
3 Mario Manningham – Good pick
4 Bryan Kehl – Bad pick (Not nearly tough enough for the NFL)
5 Jonathan Goff – Solid pick (Later catastrophic injury shortened career)
2009 1 Hakeem Nicks – Excellent pick (Did coaching staff de-rail Giants career with pressure to play through injuries?)
2 Clint Sintim – Bad pick (Tweener that was too small for rush DE and didn’t have LB instincts … all way before injuries set in)
2 Will Beatty – Excellent pick for end of Round 2.
3 Ramses Barden – Bad pick (Desire seemed to be fatal flaw)
3 Travis Beckum – Bad pick or poor coaching development (Tweener of TE/WR that Killdrive wasn’t going to use)
4 Andre Brown – Solid pick (Later injuries curtailed career)
5 Rhett Bomar – Awesomest pick of all ti …. O.K., bad pick.
2010 1 JPP – Excellent pick at #15 (If 2010 was going to be re-drafted after 2011 season, JPP might be #1 overall)
2 Linval Joseph – Good pick.
3 Chad Jones – Who knows … but horrific accident not on JR or TC & Co.
4 Philip Dillard – Bad pick. Not an NFL beezer.
5 Mitch Petrus – Bad pick or didn’t develop or lack of interest.
2011 1 Prince Amukamara – Good pick. BPA at #19. (Not flashy but uber-solid.)
2 Marvin Austin – Bad pick. (Lack of desire seemed to be fatal flaw)
3 Jerrel Jernigan – Bad pick or staff didn’t develop?
4 James Brewer – Bad pick or staff didn’t develop?
2012 1 David Wilson – Bad pick or staff didn’t develop? (Then injuries torpedoed career)
2 Reuben Randle – Solid pick. (Maybe not what we want him to be yet, but not a bust.)
3 Jayron Hosely – Bad pick.
4 Adrien Robinson – Bad pick or staff didn’t develop?
4 Brandon Mosely – Bad pick or staff didn’t develop?
2013 1 Justin Pugh – Very good pick. (Solid starter, and "versatility" is actually good guys!)
2 Johnathan Hankins – Excellent pick.
3 DaMontre Moore – Good to Excellent pick (Depending on whether his development was stunted.)
4 Ryan Nassib – Solid pick. (Could develop … but we won’t see much real game action given Iron Eli.)
5 Cooper Taylor – Good pick. (Shows lots of promise for a 5th rounder.)
2014 1 ODB – Really? (Best draft pick for Giants since LT … period.)
2 Weston Richburg – Good Pick (Seems like he’s be a very solid C at some point. Wasn’t fully ready to be a G rookie year, but experience should be better than sitting.)
3 Jay Bromley – No clue … too early.
4 Andre Williams – Good pick (Solid RB with upside in 4th round … I’ll take it.)
5 Nat Behre – Good pick (Shows promise for a 5th rounder.)
5 Devon Kennard – Excellent pick. (Real-deal beezer in Round 5 … nice.)