Chris Mara: Giants almost took Geremy Davis in the 5th Round

I wonder how many other teams' Senior Vice President of Player Personnel left their war rooms to go pursue other interests. It says a lot about his priorities.

In comment 12273504 Danny Kanell said:

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In comment 12273481 Eric from BBI said: Quote: Quote: Mara wasn't there for the actual selection of Davis. He was on a private jet to Louisville to watch his horse run in the Derby. With no Wi-Fi on the flight, Mara found out about the pick when his son Daniel's cell phone was able to pick up service. He was not involved in the actual discussion for the selection. Am I nuts for having a problem with this? There's just something not right about this, i'm sorry. How can he not at least be available?

Hmm.., you're right. In that thread about his Derby trip last week. It was just assumed that he had access to the war room since you know he is rich and it is um... 2015. But not to be able to get a signal is LMAO.

In comment 12273523 Bold Ruler said:

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I wonder how many other teams' Senior Vice President of Player Personnel left their war rooms to go pursue other interests. It says a lot about his priorities.

good point ... I feel like after the 3rd round, the draft just sorta ended ... we shall see

the negotiation pointer!

- Davis' Agent

The Giants really group the guys they want on their board. If your name isn't on that board and you drop, they could care less.

In comment 12273523 Bold Ruler said:

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I wonder how many other teams' Senior Vice President of Player Personnel left their war rooms to go pursue other interests. It says a lot about his priorities.

This is my reaction, with the caveat that I have no idea what his draft day responsibilities would otherwise be. If he's not a coach and not knowledgeable about the college players, what would he do? More voices does not mean better voices.

That said, why is he flying and out of contact during the draft? He should have woken up at 6am and flown down before the draft.

We almost drafted on player not projected to be drafted for another.
I feel much better now.

but at this point in time, I believe Chris Mara is little more than a figurehead (which is the company's/Giants right)..

The bulk of the personnel work is done by Ross, Reese and the scouts, imo..

At one time he was quite involved I believe. It seems his lack of promotion affected him imo

In comment 12273550 Deej said:

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In comment 12273523 Bold Ruler said: Quote: I wonder how many other teams' Senior Vice President of Player Personnel left their war rooms to go pursue other interests. It says a lot about his priorities. This is my reaction, with the caveat that I have no idea what his draft day responsibilities would otherwise be. If he's not a coach and not knowledgeable about the college players, what would he do? More voices does not mean better voices. That said, why is he flying and out of contact during the draft? He should have woken up at 6am and flown down before the draft.

He runs the scouting department and helps Ross put the draft board together. He also gives the final scouting report.

In comment 12273481 Eric from BBI said:

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Quote: Mara wasn't there for the actual selection of Davis. He was on a private jet to Louisville to watch his horse run in the Derby. With no Wi-Fi on the flight, Mara found out about the pick when his son Daniel's cell phone was able to pick up service. He was not involved in the actual discussion for the selection.

And there we have it. For those of us that had a problem with this prior to the draft this was our very point. Many answered back that the draft would be warped up and done by the time he was leaving.

The fact is if he wasn't in the family the Giants would never have allowed someone in his position to cut out early during the draft to go "play"

More evidence that Wellingtons sons didn't truly learn the lessons of the father.

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They ended up with the same players they always would have ended up picking. Who cares if the 5th and 6th round order was swapped?

- depth WRs who are useless on the STs - is over,I guess.


Or at least suspended.

Speaking of STs, Landon Collins is supposedly the best gunner Saban has ever coached...

of the NYG draft board looking different than what a fan or draftnik's board may look.

Both players face an uphill climb to make the active roster. Even though NYG is still rebuilding the roster talent on the whole, chances are only the first three picks will make the active roster.

Having faith in the process and people that work for you. The guys in the league that don't (or didn't) e.g. Al Davis and Jerry, really screwed up their teams.

In comment 12273522 Jay in Toronto said:

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is Chris Mara? What are his qualifications?

Chris Mara joined the Giants as Vice President of Player Evaluation on July 29, 2003. He was promoted to Senior Vice President of Player Personnel in 2011.


This is Mara’s second tour of duty with the franchise. He joined the Giants staff prior to the 1979 season and over the next 14 years was a member of the club’s player personnel department. Mara was a scout during the franchise’s first two Super Bowl Championship seasons in 1986 and 1990.


Following his first stint with the Giants, Mara spent eight years (1994-2001) operating ProRate, Inc., an independent football scouting service contracted by as many as 15 NFL franchises. The service provided an evaluation of the free agent market in the NFL.


Mara spent 2001-02 as the President/General Manager of the New Jersey Gladiators of the Arena Football League. Mara oversaw a myriad of responsibilities including ticket sales, operations, and the arena lease. His primary focus was on player personnel and player contracts. Mara brought his extensive knowledge of professional football to the team and revived the struggling franchise in just one season.

I want to know where Kate was...

In comment 12273522 Jay in Toronto said:

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is Chris Mara? What are his qualifications?

the Mara part.

If picks 5-7 work out, they should put him on a plane without wifi every year.

After watching Finding Giants my point about how much Reese, Coughlin and the Maras are involved on the 3rd day was confirmed.

Reese was in the back of the war room near the door, Mara was there talking to him and Coughlin wasn't even around. And all those guys left the room before the end of the draft. I guess Reese and Coughlin have interviews to do, so it makes sense.

The scouts and positions were there at the table making their case to Ross who appear more like he conducting a vote tally. In fact Dave Merritt was more front and center and pushing for Behre.

is the Cross-checker. He double checks all the grades (that make up the giants board) of the top 300 prospects. He will confirm or critique grades.

He's in a very important position.. at least optics wise.

In comment 12273757 Mason said:

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After watching Finding Giants my point about how much Reese, Coughlin and the Maras are involved on the 3rd day was confirmed. Reese was in the back of the war room near the door, Mara was there talking to him and Coughlin wasn't even around. And all those guys left the room before the end of the draft. I guess Reese and Coughlin have interviews to do, so it makes sense. The scouts and positions were there at the table making their case to Ross who appear more like he conducting a vote tally. In fact Dave Merritt was more front and center and pushing for Behre.

No wonder we've struggled with our late round picks. We haven't had many late round guys go beyond their rookie contract

In comment 12273518 Big Blue '56 said:

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In comment 12273504 Danny Kanell said: Quote: In comment 12273481 Eric from BBI said: Quote: Quote: Mara wasn't there for the actual selection of Davis. He was on a private jet to Louisville to watch his horse run in the Derby. With no Wi-Fi on the flight, Mara found out about the pick when his son Daniel's cell phone was able to pick up service. He was not involved in the actual discussion for the selection. Am I nuts for having a problem with this? There's just something not right about this, i'm sorry. How can he not at least be available? If he was around, we would have drafted La'el Collins in the 7th..:)

I am surprised NO team drafted him in the 7th round. If he gets arrested - you lose a 7th round pick. If he is innocent and doesn't get arrested - it would have been the steal of the century for a team that had the nerve to go for it.

you can afford to take a private jet
but not bother to hire a private jet with wifi

wifi is something most commercial airlines have now

because it smacks of arrogance and sends the signal that he's above it all and could care less, a family of privilege. I'm sure Chris Mara gets paid a bundle.

In truth, though, it's funny and = what Essex said.

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From the linked Vrentas article:

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Mara’s daughter, Kate, introduced her dad to Bradshaw’s college coach after she filmed We Are Marshall, and that conversation was part of the reason why the Giants drafted Bradshaw.

the first round.

How well did that work out...

If our player ratings are different then the rest of the league and you believe that only the top 3 drafted players will make the team, the scouting system in place needs changes. Mara saying we almost picked Davis a round earlier then needed(may not have been worth a 6th)is not a good thing.

really well, cuz we got Nicks instead! (:

In comment 12273498 yatqb said:

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Harris is the prime example of that, but Davis is another. The team even expects Odi to play STs.

yatqb, Unfortunately, the only sure way to shore up ST is to get rid of Quinn & he seems to have some strange power that keeps him around!

I think they make strange choices, and too often from the third round on, although this year they got #3 correct. I do agree their scouting/drafting in the second half needs to improve, period.

I get your point and agree in some respects, but in this draft, I'm not certain right now that the talent in rounds 5-7 was all that good on the whole. Historically, what percentage of these picks make the final 53?

I kept saying to myself, from this point on it's feels like more of a crapshoot than in most years.

Kentucky Derby. There are these things called cell phones, or even if he wasn't intimately involved, he might be in a position to know what went down, don't you think?

In comment 12273977 DonQuixote said:

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Kentucky Derby. There are these things called cell phones, or even if he wasn't intimately involved, he might be in a position to know what went down, don't you think?

Did you read the quote Eric posted?

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Mara wasn't there for the actual selection of Davis. He was on a private jet to Louisville to watch his horse run in the Derby. With no Wi-Fi on the flight, Mara found out about the pick when his son Daniel's cell phone was able to pick up service. He was not involved in the actual discussion for the selection.

Emphasis mine

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The fact is if he wasn't in the family the Giants would never have allowed someone in his position to cut out early during the draft to go "play"

I'm not so sure about that. The Giants might be the kind of organization that lets any employee off on game day for personal reasons, provided they have a plan in place to cover.

Whether or not that's a good thing, I'm not entirely sure.

In comment 12274095 Dan in the Springs said:

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Quote: The fact is if he wasn't in the family the Giants would never have allowed someone in his position to cut out early during the draft to go "play" I'm not so sure about that. The Giants might be the kind of organization that lets any employee off on game day for personal reasons, provided they have a plan in place to cover. Whether or not that's a good thing, I'm not entirely sure.

I guess we can't be sure, I'll give you that. But I would be very surprised unless it was for a family emergency or something comparable. Choosing a hobby type activity over the importance of the draft I still suspect not.

wants to act like part of the ownership group, he should sit back, watch his horse in the derby and let the managers manage.

if he wants to be a senior VP of player personnel, then i expect him to be pulling 100 hour week up to the culmnation of the draft and to stay until the draft is over.

but don't give yourself the management title and then act like an owner when it's convenient.

team cannot draft after its 1st round selections.

This year included.

Are you clueless? The 2nd and 3rd Round picks this year are outstanding.

Yeah, I agree with you about this year's draft may have been more of a crapshoot late then others but we haven't done well in the later rounds in a long time. BTW, I love our third round pick. I think he will contribute from day one.

when Ross said they almost drafted Kuhn in the fourth round? Good thing they took Robinson instead!

Let's say Chris Mara is really into a prospect that a scout absolutely hates. Would this scout feel comfortable going to war with Mara over the prospect the same way they would with Reese or Ross because of the last name?

In comment 12273723 Mike in St. Louis said:

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I want to know where Kate was...

The Mara girls are ordinary looking at best. I don't get all the attention from most here. Really don't measure on any meter. Every time I hear someone going gaga over them I can only imagine what the poster looks like. Geez.

still in Kentucky. I hear his horse is still running.

So they thought high of Davis so drafted a guy who felt he would be an UDFA while Davis was still there a full round later?

To each his own. Not sure there are many guys that don't find Kate Mara at least attractive if not very hot. Count me in "She looks very hot!" group.

In comment 12274361 Salty Meats said:

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Every time I hear someone going gaga over them I can only imagine what the poster looks like. Geez.

So, you sit around picturing guys... I guess it's not surprising, really.

Go out and get La'el Collins. Don't let Jerrah steal him. Do what's necessary to get him, Would make the OL ferocious.

just sayin

It was mentioned by one of the analysts during draft coverage that they'd like him better there. Yet he would need to gain roughly 30 pounds and need to learn to block at high level. I would rather see him challenging for one of the TE spots that are sorely needed but not sure how long it would take for him to add the needed weight.