Could be overthinking this a little but have had few huge early round misses in the draft on players who come from colleges that are not exactly known as football schools but are pretty close to East Rutherford, New Jersey. Going back to 2001 these are the players we have taken in the first 3 round who are from schools in the proximity of New York (being a 1 hr flight/5-6 hr drive maximum)
Jay Bromley- Syracuse
Justin Pugh- Syracuse
David Wilson- Va Tech
Jayron Hosley- Va Tech
Will Beatty- UConn
Clint Sintim- Virginia
Jay Alford- Penn St
Mathias Kiwanuka- BC
Chris Snee- BC
Jeff Hatch- Penn
Will Allen- Syracuse
Of these players I would say only Snee has been a full on hit. Kiwanuka has been a very solid player over the course of his career but never anything really special (however will give him the benefit of the doubt that perhaps that injury in 07 could have impaired his athleticism), Wilson could never have been predicted, and Alford's career was also ravaged by injury so who knows what he could have been but god bless him because he had one of the biggest/best/most memorable sacks in team history. The jury may still be out on Bromley and Pugh because it is early in their careers but it does not look bright especially for PUgh who has been pretty lackluster in his career so far. Hosley has been a total bust, after watching Beatty get burned consistently again last night I would say he is almost at that point himself, Sintim also a huge bust, I don't remember Jeff Hatch, and Will Allen was a total disaster. It seems to me that this is a pretty poor track record especially recently. When you look at the guys we have drafted from outside the NY proximity in the first 3 rounds the list goes as follows
OBJ
Richburg
Hankins
Damontre Moore
Reuben Randle
Amukamara
Marvin Austin
Jerrel Jernigan
JPP
Linval Joseph
Chad Jones
Hakeem Nicks
Ramses Barden
Travis Beckum
Kenny Phillips
Terrell Thomas
Mario Manningham
Aaron Ross
Steve Smith
Sinorice Moss
Gerris Wilkinson
Corey Webster
Justin Tuck
Eli Manning
Will Joseph
Osi
Visanthe Shiancoe
Will Peterson
Obviously there are some misses in there also and it is a much bigger sample size but if you go through this list the majority of these guys were key contributors to the team at a point in their career/currently are. Thoughts everyone?
They have scouts all over the country that focus on different regions. The scouts live all over the country and focus on the schools in their region.
They all meet up at the Senior Bowl, the combine, etc.
So, your thought process on local draft picks has no basis in reality.
Really more the point I was trying to make. This thread should have more specifically focused on the lack of success we have had drafting from Syracuse and why we continue to do so.
TC has connections at both Syracuse and BC that would give him better insight to the player and help in the scouting process. The Maras are well connected at BC as well.
In Ernie's time, he was close with JoePa and brought in Penn State players...Kerry Collins the most high profile
Going back to George Young in the 1980s, he preferred Big 10 players, specifically from Michigan and Michigan State.
The 1990s Dallas dynasty was brought back by focusing on Miami players thanks to Jimmy Johnson's connections. You just hope that the college team of choice actually produces good players.
BTW - How much further is Chapel Hill from East Rutherford than State College? Do you think an hour and a half or two hours makes a difference?
They have scouts all over the country that focus on different regions. The scouts live all over the country and focus on the schools in their region.
They all meet up at the Senior Bowl, the combine, etc.
So, your thought process on local draft picks has no basis in reality.
most of them need to be closely evaluated for bust/hit ratios
get the old guy some free candy and his walking papers
Look at NE's drafts in recent years and they have been even worse than the Giants. Having Brady and Little Bill cures a lot of problems
Especially Samoans.
they are beating the bushes.... and failing....