Since so many on BBI criticize the LB and say Reese does not draft any, I went back to see where the Giants drafted and they missed out on looking at the first 3 rounds of 07-11 drafts.
2007 - Ross - 20th: Beason 25, Spencer 26, Pozluzny 34, Harris 47, Durant 48
Smith - 51: Black 68, Davis 69
Alford - 81: Bradley 87, Okwo 94, waters 96
There was no debate that NY was going to take CB. Beason, Spencer & Harris are good LB. None of the others did anything
2008 - Philips - 31: Lofton 37, Dizon 45
Thomas - 63: Gooden 72, Crable 78, Wheeler 93
Manningham last pick in rd 3
Lofton is the only guy playing and Atlanta did not resign him
2009 - Nicks - 29: Laurenaitis 35, Maueluga 38, Sintim 45
Beatty - 60: Williams 69, Levy 76
Barden - 85: Mckenzie 97
After the Sintim pick, no LB were drafted until williams - he and Mckenzie are on their 4th teams
2010 - JPP - 15: Weatherspoon 19
Joseph - 46: Washington 47, Lee 55, Spikes 62, Angerer 63
Jones - 76: Butler 79, Bowmann 91, Curran 98
Linval is a very good DT, Lee had all sorts of injury questions. Bowmann the NFL missed on
2011 - Prince - 19: Ayers 39, Carter 40
Austin - 52: Mouton 61, Moch 66, Irving 67, Sheppard 68, Wilson 72
Jernigan - 83: Foster 84, Dent 91
While we can debate the Austin pick, those 5 LB picked after him are not exactly lighting it up. 3 of them do not play. The 2 guys after Jernigan are better
The point of this is - the best LB are picked very early in the draft and the Giants have hardly been in a situation where quality LB were available. The guys after LinJo are good, but so is he and at a position generally difficult to find good players.
Based upon this, you are relying on late round picks or FA players. This shows there are not a lot of LB coming from college
As for "everyone knew we were taking a corner," not everyone knew that, and that's not how they draft (or so I'm always told). BPA. Beason was, and is, a better player than Ross.
You can debate all you want, there was a 100% certainty that the Giants were taking the CB in 2007 based upon the CB entering that season. They did not have a choice but to get new talent.
Now it seems that is no longer the case.It's like the more complaining people do the worse our linebackers get.
You want to say he erred with Austin and Sintim - I totally agree. When it comes to the LB, the point is there are not many at the times the Giants are picking
But back to 07, had we taken Revis then the discussion is moot. But that year I wanted Beason more than any other DB. He has proven to be everything our LBs haven't been. Ross has been decent, but I think his production could have been had by other means had they drafted Beason.
Overall, they need to scrap their draft philosophy when it comes to LBs.
I think the devalue of interior OL has come from the fact that Eli has a great pocket presence.
Personally, I feel like if you neglect something for long enough, it catches up to you.
"Poor LB drafting plus lousy Def. Coord. equals big problems."
Giants need a MLB and EA went for a DE. It happens but Ryans was. Very good to great LB Until injury. Kiwi has never been anything other than average.
You could argue that after Pierces first tow years his play declined pretty rapidly. He was a smart tough player but he became a lability pretty quickly.
They have to put a premium on the positions they believe will get the most bang for the buck.
The Giants obviously highly value QB, WR, DE and DT.
Next the DBs.
If there was magically extra cap money for the Giants to spend, don't you think they'd upgrade what they feel are the lesser rated positions?
You have to do the best you can with what you have. An upgrade at LB would probably mean a downgrade at another important position.
Maybe the solution is to cut Eli, promote Nassib and sign the finest 3 free agent LB this off season?