On Saturday night when Day 1 was over, we heard from Reese (and Ultimatenyg in the comments section):
Q&A with Jerry Reese:
Q: Did you get your man?
A: We got a very good player; very good player. We like him a lot. He is a big, strong kid, very productive, strong body type that you like. A lot of production. He is a very young kid, I think he is only 20 years old. So we feel good about picking this guy at 29. A lot of production.
Q: You said the other day you didn’t have a glaring need at WR. You picked him. Why?
A: Well because we had a good grade on him and he was there at the right time. We didn’t reach for anybody. We feel good about where we picked him.
Ultimatenyg here: translated, we DID NOT GET OUR MAN. Their man was Edwards, Matthews or even someone else. Nicks was essentially the best available, and he may turn out to be a great pro, but he was NOT the man they wanted. When you get the person you are targeting, believe me, they will let you know. When Accorsi got Jacobs in the 4th round, he was doing cartwheels. This is how the draft works. On the other hand, Cedric Jones wasn’t their man either.
Well, yesterday afternoon we get a nugget from Garafolo on the NFL Network. The Giants make a deal with the Detroit Lions to move from 29 to 20. They are about to grab Maclin. Except the Eagles take him at 19 and the deal is off. For better or worse, we found out who their “man” was.
It is very interesting to learn from these pieces of combat. You think this had ANYTHING to do with them going up 6 picks for Barden? You better believe it. And this is a good thing. You must remain unpredictable. You cannot let people read you easily. If you sit back and NEVER trade up, they will know that you NEVER trade up, and that will give the competition an advantage.
It bothers me to no end to watch the Giants, season after season, never intentionally fake a FG or do some sort of trick play. It helps the opponent when you are THAT PREDICTABLE. It is one less thing to defense. IT DOES NOT MATTER WHEN A TRICK PLAY DOES NOT WORK. It pays dividends for you immediately because it puts the opponent on edge, not knowing where the next trick is coming from.
The 45 yard pass to Boss on the first play from scrimmage in Q4 of Super Bowl (which started the drive ending in Tyree’s 4 yard TD pass, putting the Giants ahead 10-7) was NOT IN THE PLAYBOOK. It was drawn up on the sideline. Gilbrown, the serial waster of TEs, needed to break out the stone knives and bearskins and invent a radical concept, a seam pass to his TE. It worked because his own negligence made it … unpredictable!
I will never forget a great playcall the Giants made many years ago. It was back when Collins was QB. The Giants had just scored a TD very late in the game and needed two to tie. They set up 4 wide, and then the RB went in motion. I am yelling at the top of my lungs, YES, QB sneak from empty backfield, there is NO LINEBACKER! And wouldn’t you know it, Collins took one step back and then went right past center into the end zone. It worked because the Giants hadn’t called that play since, well probably Parcells.
Yes, Parcells, the riverboat gambler. The man who had Rutledge on a fake in Super Bowl XXI. The man who had Gary Reasons take the snap on the fake punt in the NFC Championship, getting us another one of those critical FGs in the 15-13 win.
You have to do the unpredictable for your PLAYERS. It tells them you have skin in the game. People mistake it for being desperate. If done erraticly and infrequently, it empowers your team.
George Young was one of our heroes, a man who restored the franchise to credibility and built consistently competitive teams. But he was predictably old-fashioned to a fault when it came to the draft. Accorsi did more trades within a few years as GM than we saw in almost two decades with Young. ~50% of you folks out there like the Barden pick the best of all of the selections made this weekend. I guess that means that you like the statement the Giants made when they went up six picks to get their man. I did too.
Oh, by the way, would it surprise you to find out that the Giants went to 85 from 91 for Barden to jump over… none other than… Bill Parcells, who was waiting at 87 ready to take him?! OF COURSE WE ARE NOT SURPRISED. RULE #8.
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