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.

WHY NOT USE THE GEORGE YOUNG METHOD?
MAKE A LIST, TAKE THE HIGHEST LEFT

By Dave Klein
As we draw ever closer to the NFL draft, which is going to be held - strike or no strike, lockout or no lockout, wedding in London or not - the names become slightly more clear. It is hard to put a finger on one or two prospective first-round selections for the Giants on many levels, including which players go before them and, not to be insensitive, their proclivity for often making a mistake.

Mistake, you say? You mean like William Joseph, Ron Dayne and a pair of second-round flubs like Sinorice Moss and (soon to be) Clint Sintim?

So for now, positioned 16 days from the first round moment of truth, we propose to offer a Baker's Dozen of prospective selections, one of whom should almost certainly emerge as general manager Jerry Reese's ultimate decision.

Remember, we must count team needs even though this team seems to be determined to pick the best available athlete. Have we accurately determined their needs? Without any access to the value board and the scouting reports and evaluations, do we seriously approach their views on these players?

Well, let's give it a shot. We have separated their needs into four general sub-categories - offensive line, running back, linebacker and secondary. Then we add a tight end because, well, there are so few good ones this year and this one kid would make a difference (if the Giants' feel he is worthy of the 19th position in the round).

The offensive line needs, as you might predict, includes five tackles and a center; the running backs provide just one legitimate candidate; similarly, there is just one cornerback; there are three outside linebackers and, finally, one defensive tackle. And we threw in that tight end, who is almost certainly bound for the second round but if the Giants don't take him early, he won't be there later.

To name names:

The tackles are Nate Solder, Colorado, 6-8, 315; Anthony Costanzo, Boston College, 6-7, 310; Derek Sherrod, Mississippi State, 6-6, 315; Gabe Carimi, Wisconsin, 6-7, 315; and Tyron Smith, USC, 6-5, 310.

The center is Mike Pouncey, Florida, 6-4, 315.

The running back is Mark Ingram Jr. of Alabama, 5-10, 215.

The outside linebackers are Robert Quinn, North Carolina, 6-4, 270; Akeem Ayers, UCLA, 6-2, 255; and Justin Houston, Georgia, 6-3, 270.

The defensive tackle is Corey Liuget of Illinois, 6-2, 300.

The cornerback is Ras-I Dowling of Virginia, 6-1, 200.

Oh, and the tight end is Kyle Rudolph of Notre Dame, 6-5, 265.

The late general manager George Young, who brought intelligence and logic to the Giants' draft efforts, solved the problem perhaps too easily one day when he said: "If we have the 15th pick, I will work on creating a list of my top 15 players and then scratch them off as they get picked. When our turn comes, I'll take the highest rated kid still there."

Well, why don't we follow that usually successful method and list the 13 players in our own order of preference? We must amend this by saying that the obvious highest choices will not be included in our list quarterbacks like Cam Newton and Blaine Gabbert; wide receivers A.J. Green and Julio Jones; defensive tackles Nick Fairley and Marcell Dareus; and Patrick Peterson and Prince Amukamara.

There are a few others who won't make it down to 19th or, if they do, wouldn't be in the Giants' plans.

So we rank our Baker's Dozen this way:

1. Sherrod;

2. Quinn;

3. Castanzo;

4. Liuget; 5.

Carimi; 6.

Ingram; 7.

Smith; 8.

Solder; 9.

Houston; 10.

Ayers; 11.

Dowling; 12.

Pouncey; 13.

Rudolph. Sherrod, Quinn, Dowling, Castanzo and Smith will almost certainly be snapped up prior to the 19th spot. Pouncey has a chance of staying there. So do Carimi and Solder. Liuget? Well, he's the best of the defensive tackles but it really isn't a major need for the Giants. Remember, they took Linval Joseph last year and they still have Chris Canty, (maybe) Barry Cofield and Rocky Bernard (who appeared to awake from his coma near the middle of last season).

So if Liuget is still there along with Carimi, Ingram and a few of the others, what would you do? And Pouncey would solve a crumbling situation, too. It's the same old dilemma, isn't it? Need vs. best available athlete.

The secret here is the presence of Cofield. He is truly unhappy with his Restricted Free Agent tender offer. It's hard to blame him. He's a quality defensive end and he assumed he would be able to leap into the free agent market and ring up a high seven-figure offer from some team, perhaps even the Giants. But now the lockout, the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and, at least for the time being, there is no free agency, no Unrestricted Free Agents and, well, no major money dangling in front of him.

Will he decide to stay? One never knows, but it might be smart to back him up with a player like Liuget.

On the other hand (I love playing devil's advocate here) the running game is in need of support. Ahmad Bradshaw is a quality back with bad feet; Brandon Jacobs might have peaked and isn't comfortable redefining himself; D.J. Ware is ordinary at best. And why not take a tackle? Do you think Guy Whimper is the answer? Do you think Shawn Andrews' back will miraculously get better? Do you think Kareem McKenzie will suddenly get younger? Is Will Beatty going to miraculously "get it" and turn into the left tackle the team envisioned last year when he was the second-round pick in 2009? There are a few others tackles languishing on the roster, but why bother?

And what of outside linebacker? Sintim hasn't seen the light bulb yet. Michael Boley is fine but smallish. Veteran free agent Keith Bulluck was so ordinary his age began to show. You got somebody else? So what about Ayers or Houston? If they're there, that could be a subject of discussion in the off-limits draft room.

See? It's not as easy as it would appear, and on the other hand all is not lost if they don't get the absolutely perfect player in the first round. They'll do it all over again in the second, third and fourth rounds. They have no fifth (Sage Rosenfels) but three sixth round picks and a seventh. That's eight total players (excluding trades) and one can only hope that a few of their picks will turn out to be helpful.

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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