I may or may not put together a post which recaps this evening’s game. If this is the last post you see and it is Monday morning, you’ll have your answer. There really is not a lot expected this evening which will change what we see and know about the team.
JPP and Rolle seem to talk about running the table every week and every year around this time of the season. They both have enough heart, but at a certain point you still need the players. Speaking about players, Patricia Traina of Bleacher Report tweeted a table of data on all 32 teams and what the percentage of their roster was made up of draft picks and original UFAs.
The identity of the front office of the NY Giants has always been to build through the draft. Given that the CBA ends at Round 7 for rookies, UFA signings are important as well in finding the John Randles and Vontaze Burficts too. Amazingly for the Giants, their best UFA signing ever was not even signed on draft day… no one in the NFL wanted Victor Cruz so he landed in the Giants lap because even the Giants would not pay for his bus ticket to try out for the team. He went home from UMass and the rest is history. The luck of Victor Cruz ironically shows in part why the team otherwise suffers. The NY Giants are 28th in the NFL in percentage of the team on the roster from Drafting/UFAs. They no longer are a team that builds through the draft. And given their alleged patience, their lack of success in draft day has eroded the roster. This is why the team is left with players like Adrien Robinson and Brandon Mosley. Reese wants them there and the coaches do not exactly have a bevy of other talent to replace them with anyway.
George Young is turning in his grave. Young wisely passed along a culture in 1997 down to Accorsi (and Reese) which strictly adhered to the principle of building through the draft. Free Agency was used sparingly. And as evidenced from anecdotal signings, many Free Agents do not end up delivering on their past success from other teams. Examples of Albert Haynesworth implosions are far more prevalent than the Kareem McKenzies. For the Reese signings, higher profile acquisitions like David Baas and Chris Canty show how costly it is to “win” the bidding for a player’s services. In short, generally speaking, home grown is better than not. And even here in 2014 that is borne out by the Top 16 teams, which have 88 wins, while the bottom 16 teams have 71 wins. Of course there are other variables, and not all good teams are in the top and not all bad teams are in the bottom. The point is that getting a 49% roster yield from the draft/rookie UFAs is a good part of why the Giants are where they are. Throw in the injuries and that is more than a majority of the problems.
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