E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he is one of only three sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls. Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

HOW MUCH OF THE BLAME FALLS ON JERRY REESE?
HEY, IT'S EVERYONE'S FAULT

By Dave Klein
When Tom Coughlin was allowed to resign last Tuesday, after another 6-10 season and after 12 years at the controls, the most obvious question - which was asked - was this: "Why does Coughlin have to go when [general manager] Jerry Reese is allowed to stay?"

Good question, no real answer.

Of course, as in all things concerning a pro football team, neither success nor failure can be attributed to just one person. But Reese was as responsible for the losing seasons - and he accepted blame, by the way, during his address on Tuesday - as was Coughlin. So, too, were injuries, poor decisions, clock management and several of the assistants.

"Obviously," Reese said, "we have issues with personnel. I'll take full responsibility for that. Maintaining a quality roster is up to me."

Yes, indeed, and the mark of a general manager is the draft choices four through seven - the final four rounds - and how many of those players not only made the team but made a contribution.

So from the 2010 draft, no players were on this past season's roster. From the 2011 draft, no players were on the roster. From 2012, one players, defensive tackle Markus Kuhn, the seventh round pick, is still here. From 2013, safety Cooper Taylor made it, though bouts of Injured Reserve maladies. The 2014 draft produced a pair of fifth round picks, safety Nat Berhe and linebacker Devon Kennard. This past season, the sixth round pick was wide receiver Geremy Davis and the seventh was guard-tackle Bobby Hart.

Looked on as a body of work, that ain't much.

Did Reese and his scouting and personnel staff do a better job with the higher picks? Let's see. Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (here, hold this) was the first round pick in 2010. No other player remains from that year.

In 2011, the top pick was cornerback Prince Amukamara, not great, not terrible, just there. No other player remains from that draft.

In 2012, the first choice was running back David Wilson, who had to retire from the game because of a spinal injury. Wide receiver Rueben Randle was the second pick, and if he learned the routes and the playbook he would have been much more helpful.

In 2013, Reese stuck in his thumb and pulled out tackle Justin Pugh, followed by defensive tackle Jonathan Hankins and defensive end Damontre Moore. Pugh is a quality player; Hankins was injured but showed enough to be considered a prize; Moore never developed emotionally and was subsequently released in mid-season of 2015.

The 2014 body snatch produced wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in the first round, center Weston Richburg in the second and defensive end-tackle Jay Bromley in the third. OBJ is a treasure; he is also sometimes out of control. Richburg pure quality and Bromley may best be described as a journeyman.

Last year resulted in a first round selection of offensive tackle Ereck Flowers and a second-round pick of safety Landon Collins. Both started all season and both will be outstanding.

When George Young came to the Giants as their general manager, one of the first things he said about player acquisition was: "The draft is not an exact science. You can't evaluate what's in a kid's heart."

He did extraordinarily well picking players.

So where did Reese go wrong? Well, another of Young nuggets was this: "Never look to see who was taken after your pick in any round. If you drafted a kid based on your best evaluation and scouting reports, you did your job. If a kid blossoms later, that's not your fault, and if you find one of those on your roster, you're not a genius, you're lucky."

But Reese still insists the Giants weren't that far away. "We lost eight games by a total of 26 points," he said, "and there were 10 plays during the season that if they went the other way we'd be in the playoffs. Tipped passes, wrong routes, things like that. We are not that far away"

And yes, a few Coughlin decisions, too, such as not going for a short-range field goal against the Jets to build a 13-point lead ... such as horrible time-wasting and clock squandering in the opening game of the season against Dallas. And a few others, too, and did the Giants need an assistant coach in charge of clock management? Yeah, they did, but so did every other head coach in their recent history, including the nearly-sainted Bill Parcells.

"Our defense finished 32nd in the league," Reese noted, and for those who don't keep up, there are only 32 teams in the NFL. "We lost important people. JPP didn't play for half the year; Hankins went out early. [Linebacker] Jon Beason was injured most of the year."

There were also defensive players on and off the roster during the season, and without such offensive stars as wide receiver Victor Cruz, guard Geoff Schwartz and tackle Will Beatty, along with a sad running game (attributable to Reese?) and the absence of a quality tight end (Will Nye? Come on) didn't do anything to help, either.

There will be a new head coach in place sooner than later, probably before the end of January, and the odds-on favorite appears to be offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo, if only for quarterback Eli Manning's peace of mind.

But Jerry Reese is still here, and he knows he's on the hot seat.

EXTRA POINTS - The Giants will play 2016 home games against Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington (NFC East), along with Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, Baltimore and Cincinnati. ... Their road games will be, once again, at Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington, along with Green Bay, Minnesota, St. Louis, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

The game against the Rams is scheduled to be played in London, England, although the city of St. Louis is in possession of a clause in the contract for the Edward Jones Stadium and mandates the team plays eight home games.

Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS where you can subscribe to his newsletters which run much more frequently than what is available here.
- Team Giants

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