Sometimes Jerry Reese leaves you scratching your head
By Michael Stewart
According to reports first reported by sports writer Gary Myers of the New York Daily News; the Jets offered the Giants their 1st round pick (#20 overall) and their 2nd round pick (#51 overall) for the Giants 1st round pick (#10 overall). The Jets wanted to move up and select OT Laremy Tunsel, but the Giants turned the Jets down and selected Eli Apple.
Now let’s take a moment and recap what I just stated; GM Jerry Reese rejected an offer that would have given the Giants 3 picks within the first 51 players in the draft. Instead Reese felt that Eli Apple is so talented that he couldn’t phantom making such a move to improve the Giants.
The same Eli Apple that was never mentioned as a possible top 10 talent/selection before the draft. The same Eli Apple that was rated the 3rd best CB in the draft behind Vernon Hargreaves III (selected 11th overall) and William Jackson (selected 25th overall). In fact, according to many mock drafts and football experts across the country, Eli Apple was projected to go no earlier than the 22nd slot in the 1st round. Also, to further add confusion to what Jerry Reese did or didn’t do, Eli Apple was rated the 22nd best overall prospect in the draft. So, if so many experts and other NFL teams had Apple rated near the back-end of the 1st round, then how is it possible that the Giants; most notably Jerry Reese had Apple rated as a top ten prospect on his board?
Let’s assume that Reese decided to trade back with the Jets (most logically move) and Jets (as reported) selected OT Laremy Tunsel with the 10th overall pick. Below are several scenario’s:
1st Round
- Laquon Treadwell (WR) taken at 23 by the Vikings would have been a nice addition to go along with OBJ and a big target in the red zone for Eli Manning.
- William Jackson (CB) taken at 24 by the Bengals was rated higher than Apple and in my opinion, a better cornerback.
- Eli Apple (CB) if Reese really wanted Apple after all, he probably could have gotten him with the 20th pick and still got an extra pick as the only CB drafted between picks 10-20 was Vernon Hargreaves III at 11.
2nd Round
- If the Giants had selected Treadwell, then the need for Sterling Shepard would have most likely been lessen. If so, then players such as (ILB) Reggie Ragland, (RB) Derrick Henry or even (DT) A’Shawn Robinson were available.
- If Reese had selected either Jackson or Apple in the 1st, then selecting Sterling Shepard would have made the best sense for the Giants.
- With the additional 2nd round pick the Giants could have selected (CB) Mackensie Alexander (who will be better than Apple as a pro) if no CB was taken in the 1st round.
- If a CB was taken in the 1st round, then Reese could have selected either (OLB) Deion Jones or a big body (OG) in Cody Whitehair who would have replaced an unreliable John Jerry.
Recap: If Jerry Reese had accepted the offer from the Jets and still had gotten Eli Apple at #20, and the rest of the picks remain the same for the Giants; with the exception of the additional pick at #51, no one could argue that it would have strengthened and deepen the Giants roster.
Aside from the selection of Apple in the 1st round, I like the selections by Reese through rounds 2-5 mostly and the selection of Jerell Adams in the 6th round is a huge question mark. I have been very critical with Reese over the years and with good reason. His track record of draftee’s remaining with the Giants throughout the years and contributing is near the bottom of the league.
This year’s draft was a vital one for not only the Giants, but also to Reese as his job is most likely on the line if the Giants fail to make the playoffs. Now many fans will be very objective with me with my critical views on Reese, stating that he has two Super Bowl Championships under his belt as the GM.
Let me remind you that the Giants got extremely hot late in the season in each of their Super Bowl Championships seasons (2007-10-6 record) (2011-9-7 record) and carried that wave all the way by defeated the New England Patriots twice; which to their credit, was no small task. I truly hope that I’m wrong regarding my evaluation of Eli Apple and becomes the CB and player that contribute towards the Giants making the playoffs and possibly winning another Super Bowl. Unfortunately; my gut tells me that one day I will be writing another article regarding Eli Apple as one of the worse 1st round selections in Giants history.