Every April, yours truly consults with the resident encyclopedia on college football talent for NY Giants draft ideas. Question- Marvelous, what kind of people can we be looking at that are good men at #20?
Marvelous:
RB Marshawn Lynch [California]
OT Joe Staley [Central Mich]S Reggie Nelson [Fla]CB Chris Houston [Ark]CB Darrelle Revis [Pitt]LB Lawrence Timmons [Fla St]
CB Aaron Ross [Texas]LB Paul Posluszney [Penn St]LB Patrick Willis [Miss]DT Justin Harrell [Tenn]LB David Harris [Mich]CB Jonathon Wade [Tenn]LB Anthony Waters [Clemson]
And Marvelous adds: “I LOVE CB Leon Hall [Mich] but he will not be there!! Neither will RB Marshawn Lynch of Cal (a brilliant RB!!) Probably CB’s Revis of Pittsburgh & Ross of Texas will also be gone BUT- How do we know what other teams do before us??”
A note on Marvelous. For those of you unfamiliar with his knowledge, let me relate one of my favorite stories…. It was January 2002.
Andy: “I am so sick of our woefulness at TE. Howard Cross at TE is a nice blocker but he is killing us because he allows the defense (strong safety) to freelance. Are there any TEs we can look to in April to draft?”
Marvelous: “Where do we pick?”
Andy: “Right in the middle, figure around 16.” (Note- we had the 15th pick)
Marvelous: “Well, there is a guy named Shockey, but he won’t be there at 15, he is definitely going in the Top 10. He’ll be gone (by the time the Giants pick).”
Andy: “That sucks. We need a TE desperately. He is that good?”
Marvelous: “He’s a freak of nature. Big, fast, very good hands, does not drop a ball, from Miami.”
Andy: “Too bad we won’t be able to get him.”
Fast forward three months later. With the 10th pick in the draft the Arizona Cardinals pick….. Offensive lineman Levi Jones. We are going WILD because we know the next 3 or 4 teams will not be drafting TEs. We get to 14 and the Giants trade up 1 pick to get… Jeremy Shockey.
Why was this significant? Because Marvelous knew this guy was the real deal, and it also filled a huge need simultaneously.. a rarity. WHO WAS THE GIANTS PREVIOUS #1 PICK that was sent to the Pro Bowl? You had to go back to Rodney Hampton, the last pick of the first round, taken in 1991! So for the record, Marvelous does not get too excited about Giant #1 picks, and given that we have picked only ONE Pro Bowl player in the past SIXTEEN YEARS, it says something. (It says TRADE DOWN YOU BLIND BATS! The best move of the entire draft last year was the Giants dropping down 7 picks to 32. Marvelous, fwiw, was keen on DeMeco Ryans… who I might add, as a rookie MLB made 125 tackles and 3.5 sacks. Ryans went immediately after the Giants, the 33rd pick (1st pick second round).)
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