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 four sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls.
Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

WITH JERRY REESE AT THE CONTROLS, THE UNEXPECTED SHOULD BE EXPECTED

By DAVE KLEIN
In just two weeks from Saturday, the Giants will make their 37th first round pick in the last 40 years (they had previously traded away three such plums, in 1973, 1975 and 1993, although that last one was spent the previous summer when they took quarterback Dave Brown in the supplemental draft).

By and large, the results have represented a mixed bag, and some of the rejects from that bag still provoke giggles.

For instance, in 1971 their first round selection was running back Rocky Thompson; in 1974 it was tackle John Hicks; in 1988 it was tackle Eric Moore; in 1991 it was running back Jarrod Bunch; in 1992 it was tight end Derek Brown; in 1994 it was wide receiver Thomas Lewis; in 1996 it was defensive end Cedric Jones; in 2000 it was running back Ron Dayne and in 2003 it was defensive tackle William Joseph. And who can ever forget (at least among us old-timers, the 1972 first round doubleheader of cornerback Eldridge Small and defensive end Larry Jacobson?

Not much of a collection of "talent," was it?

On the other hand, there have been some gems in the last 40 years, and we might include defensive end Fred Dryer (1969), quarterback Phil Simms (1979), linebacker Lawrence Taylor (1981), linebacker Carl Banks and offensive tackle William Roberts (both 1984), running back Rodney Hampton (1990), quarterback Eli Manning (2004, that draft day trade involving San Diego), and defensive end/linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka (2006).

There have also been a sack of good to outstanding players who fell short of the designation "great," and they might include offensive tackle Gordon King (1978), cornerback Mark Haynes (1980), defensive end Eric Dorsey (1985), center Brian Williams (1989), wide receiver Ike Hilliard (1997), offensive tackle Luke Petitgout (1999) and cornerback Aaron Ross (2007).

So now we head into the 2009 draft and the Giants, clearly in far better hands first with Ernie Accorsi and now with Jerry Reese at the controls, own 10 overall selections, five of which come in the first 100 players. They have a first round choice (29th overall), two seconds and two thirds.

Will they find what they need? Will those players become part of the franchise lore or part of its bag of jokes?

When it was pointed out that good teams (and that is certainly what the Giants must be considered) don't usually have room for 10 rookies in any given year, Reese just smiled enigmatically. "We may not have all those choices when the draft comes," he said.

All right, that's it for the history tutorial. Now we move to this month's draft and the endless variations on the same theme that will be, could be or should be present when the Giants get ready to select.

And this is not just for the first round. As opposed to most of the fans, the team regards the second through seventh rounds as important as the first -- just less expensive. There are things to accomplish, positions to help, depth to build -- and keep in mind, 10 players not only won't make this roster, there won't be that many selected.

"It is difficult," Reese agrees, "for a strong team to find 10 new spots."

Without the benefit of "inside information," simply knowing what the Giants do and given a reasonable feel for how they think, let's start this by saying that whatever you expect them to do in that first round will probably not be what happens. By that, you'll discover -- perhaps to your surprise -- that instead of taking a wide receiver or a linebacker they'll wind up with a center or a tight end.

Just when you feel they have enough running backs, they might come up with a bluechip steal if one slips down to their 29th spot -- or, perhaps even more important, if they get the idea that one will slip to, say, the 20th or 21st position. It would, in and of itself, be reason enough to pull that trigger.

Reese is just the kind to do the unexpected. He took the risk when he traded into the final spot of the first round in 2006 and came away with the player he wanted all along -- defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka. And yes, you would be correct to say that Accorsi was still the general manager then, but it was Reese (by Ernie's admission) who had more and more input into the draft for the three or four years prior to that, and it was Reese who ear-marked Kiwi as the choice.

It was Accorsi who said, that day: "You can never have enough good pass-rushing defensive ends," but it was Reese who pushed and prodded for the move. It was Reese, the "official" general manager the next year, who made eight picks, saw all of them make the team, watched as all eight played a part in one of the playoff games (in Tampa) and stood by grinning as the Giants went on to win the Super Bowl.

He had six picks last year and they all made the team (although quarterback Andre Woodson spent the season on the practice squad and defensive end Robert Henderson was on Injured Reserve). He doesn't draft for the obvious needs. He won't mind adding depth when the chance presents itself.

"He is," says one fellow personnel expert in the league, "a guy who knows what to look for and isn't afraid to follow his opinion."

As another for instance, everybody in the heavily populated GiantNation feels the team needs a left offensive tackle, claiming that David Diehl isn't the answer and that his presence there puts quarterback Eli Manning at risk. Reese doesn't agree; in fact, two years ago he light-heartedly ribbed a reporter for insisting that he needed a left tackle, other than Diehl.

The fact that the Giants won a Super Bowl with Diehl at left tackle was telling commentary, and just the other day Diehl commented: "I'm a tackle, not a guard [which is where many feel he should play], and I'm a left tackle, not a right tackle. I'm staying put until somebody tells me I have to move."

Right tackle is a possibility, however, as in finding someone else to start replacing veteran Kareem McKenzie, who is often hurting with chronic back spasms. Reese will smile at that; he never lets his hole card show.

So keep in mind that what the Giants do on April 25 and 26 will largely be unexpected. On the other hand, remember that with Reese, the unexpected is usually expected. So the expected is the unexpected you should expect?

Excuse me now. I'm getting a headache.

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

NEW - Send a request to davesklein@aol.com for a free week's worth of news!

Stop in and visit "Mike's Keys to the Internet"
Links to every newspaper and magazine that's available on the net. 

Website by Mike