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Breaking the Dreaded Curse of the 3rd Round.

Klaatu : 7/9/2016 8:52 am
It's been well-documented that for the past 20+ years the Giants have been burned, badly, in the 3rd Round of the draft. Underachievers, out-and-out busts, career-ending injuries, it's absolutely ridiculous just how little success they've had with their 3rd Round picks (with Justin Tuck being one notable exception), so much so that not too long ago I half-seriously suggested that should trade their 3rd Round pick every year, for whatever they could get for it.

Heading into the 2016 season, the Giants have a lot riding on their three most recent 3rd Round picks - FS Darian Thompson, DE Owamagbe Odighizuwa, and DT Jay Bromley. Thompson is the presumptive starter at FS, and Odighizuwa and Bromley are expected to be the first guys off the bench at their respective positions in the D-Line rotation. Injuries (God forbid, knock on wood) could press either one (or both) into a starting role.

For a defense looking to rebound from a historically bad year, and irrespective of the team's free agent acquisitions, the Giants need these three players to provide a decent return on their 3rd Round investments. Thompson must show the leadership, intelligence, and production that the Giants are counting on. Odighizuwa must stay healthy and prove himself to be a force off the edge or up the middle. Bromley must show that he's the penetrating 3-tech the Giants have needed for years.

It's imperative that they justify the Giants' faith in them. It's imperative that they do not allow history to repeat itself. It's imperative that they break the dreaded Curse of the 3rd Round.
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Tuck is a good delineation point  
Coach Mason : 7/9/2016 9:53 am : link
After we have some pretty bad misses. You CAN fault for guys that had injury history that busted (like potentially Odi if he never makes it back) but not for freak accidents like Chad Jones (who really didnt have much of an injury history prior).
RE: RE: never the less as you parse back from the Tuck pick  
Coach Mason : 7/9/2016 9:57 am : link
In comment 13027467 Klaatu said:
Quote:
In comment 13027453 gidiefor said:


Quote:


Shiancoe, Will Peterson, Ron Dixon, Dan Campbell -- were all third rounders inside the last 20 years


I think you are on safer ground saying the last 10 years : )



From 1990 on:

Greg Mark, Ed McCaffrey, Aaron Pierce, Marcus Buckley, Gary Downs, Rodney Young, Roman Oben, Ryan Phillips, Brad Maynard, Bryan Alford, Dan Campbell, Ron Dixon, William Janes, Jeff Hatch, Visanthe Shiancoe, Justin Tuck, Gerris Wilkinson, Jay Alford, Mario Manningham, Ramses Barden, Travis Beckhum, Chad Jones, Jerrel Jernigan, Jayron Hosley, Damontre Moore.

I see a couple of hits, but a lot more misses. And what did Visanthe Shiancoe do for us, anyway?


William Janes sucked so bad I dont even remember him Will Peterson OTOH was actually a really good player until the injury bug got him.
it's about bad luck as much as it is about bad drafting.  
Klaatu : 7/9/2016 10:00 am : link
Regardless, I'm just hoping it changes this year. A 3rd Round pick is a major investment, and the Giants need for their last three to start paying dividends.
RE: it's about bad luck as much as it is about bad drafting.  
Coach Mason : 7/9/2016 10:09 am : link
In comment 13027475 Klaatu said:
Quote:
Regardless, I'm just hoping it changes this year. A 3rd Round pick is a major investment, and the Giants need for their last three to start paying dividends.


Yeah it is a premium pick and it would be awesome if all 3 pan out. Especially Thompson since the alternatives are sketchy at best. However if just one of Brom or Odi really break out the DL should be in really good shape regardless.
RE: RE: it's about bad luck as much as it is about bad drafting.  
robbieballs2003 : 7/9/2016 10:17 am : link
In comment 13027479 Coach Mason said:
Quote:
In comment 13027475 Klaatu said:


Quote:


Regardless, I'm just hoping it changes this year. A 3rd Round pick is a major investment, and the Giants need for their last three to start paying dividends.



Yeah it is a premium pick and it would be awesome if all 3 pan out. Especially Thompson since the alternatives are sketchy at best. However if just one of Brom or Odi really break out the DL should be in really good shape regardless.


I don't know about that. We need both and, honestly, more than both. You need a rotation along the DL. Look no further than that SF fiasco under Fassel. Our DL was so worn down and we had nobody to fill in. Our starters look fantastic on paper but we are really counting on Bromley and Odi to play significant roles.
jimmy googs  
area junc : 7/9/2016 10:19 am : link
how could anyone short of a complete homer have warm & fuzzies about Bromley? the only notable things he did last year were getting a costly roughing the QB penalty and accused of rape. he's a nobody in the NFL until he does something on the field
hosley is  
area junc : 7/9/2016 10:21 am : link
a terrible football player who nobody signed as a UFA. currently a street free agent

that said, i think DT is a stud. i agree with robbie that our lack of MLB hurts our ceiling
Hosely was constantly berated  
mattlawson : 7/9/2016 10:30 am : link
For a reason. He stunk.
PFF has been kinder to Bromley than most here.  
Klaatu : 7/9/2016 10:32 am : link
Such as their assessment of him after the Bucs game:

Quote:
DT Jay Bromley (+1.9) was also productive off the bench, finishing with two run stops and two QB hits in his 31 snaps.


And as Chris Pflum at SB*Nation noted after the 49ers game:

Quote:
Bromley's snap count has steadily risen throughout the season. He hit his season-high against San Francisco with 34 snaps, or 50 percent of the defensive snaps. Steve Spagnuolo had mentioned before the game that Bromley had been working extremely hard all offseason, and his has showed. When he has been on the field he has consistently been stout at the point of attack and frequently disruptive behind the line of scrimmage. In his first start, Bromley's +3.1 made him the highest-rated Giant on Sunday night.
With so many missed 3rd Rounders I've  
Giants2012 : 7/9/2016 10:36 am : link
often wondered why they don't try trading up in the 2nd Round over the years. Not that the picks haven't been high due to all the losing but jumping up 5-10 slots may have been more beneficial than the 2nd and 3rd rounders drafted. Especially with the OL IMO

Of course, i wouldn't take the risk every year b/c then the roster depth become the Redskins pre-the last two years.

Bromley has shown flashes, Odi sounds like he used his RS year wisely  
Eric on Li : 7/9/2016 10:44 am : link
Thompson is obviously a rookie but all sounds well with him. Good post because there's a ton of truth.

From the 2 championship runs obviously there were enormous contributions from Eli, Plax, Nicks, Strahan, Osi, JPP, but as much as those guys contributed we had plenty of years where they each had good seasons and the team went nowhere. The differences in 07 and 11 was production from unexpected guys. Webster went from benched bust to best CB we've had in a decade, Tuck finally stayed healthy, Boss, Bradshaw, Steve Smith, Kawika, and others made big plays. In 2011 Cruz obviously emerged, but Deon Grant, Blackburn, Ballard & Boothe also stepped up and played tons of meaningful snaps.

How far this year's team goes will very much be decided by the guys behind the starting 22 on the depth chart. The 3 guys you mentioned are among the most promising in that respect, but equally important are the veterans like Keenan Robinson, JT Thomas, John Jerry, etc.
Isn't it a case league wide with hitting or missing on 3rd rd'ers  
micky : 7/9/2016 10:59 am : link
I bet if avg out every team is close to or same in that aspect. Though it may appear there's a perceived "curse" maybe not so in overall picture js
...  
ColHowPepper : 7/9/2016 11:01 am : link
Manningham was definitely a + player, but overall the history of 3rds is as you describe it in the OP.

As to breaking that string, I'm still very much in show me mode w/r/t Bromley: in a historically bad defense (and the 49ers were a very bad team last year), PFF saying Bromley in effect stood out is not saying much. I think odds may be that by mid-season one of the FA signees this year or last may vault over JB as first DT off the bench.

I get the OO pick when it was made, liked it (as vs the Bromley pick, which I hated), but I have very low expectations: I want him to do very well, but he seems to be a magnet for somewhat serious injury/conditions that impair performance.
RE: PFF has been kinder to Bromley than most here.  
Joey in VA : 7/9/2016 11:03 am : link
In comment 13027494 Klaatu said:
Quote:
Such as their assessment of him after the Bucs game:



Quote:


DT Jay Bromley (+1.9) was also productive off the bench, finishing with two run stops and two QB hits in his 31 snaps.



And as Chris Pflum at SB*Nation noted after the 49ers game:



Quote:


Bromley's snap count has steadily risen throughout the season. He hit his season-high against San Francisco with 34 snaps, or 50 percent of the defensive snaps. Steve Spagnuolo had mentioned before the game that Bromley had been working extremely hard all offseason, and his has showed. When he has been on the field he has consistently been stout at the point of attack and frequently disruptive behind the line of scrimmage. In his first start, Bromley's +3.1 made him the highest-rated Giant on Sunday night.

I'm not sure what they're watching but consistently stout at the point of attack? Frequently disruptive? They watched a different player than I did, Bromley has to either add weight and be an anchor or drop weight and be a real three, currently he is shit at both.
RE: RE: RE: it's about bad luck as much as it is about bad drafting.  
Coach Mason : 7/9/2016 11:22 am : link
In comment 13027486 robbieballs2003 said:
Quote:
In comment 13027479 Coach Mason said:


Quote:


In comment 13027475 Klaatu said:


Quote:


Regardless, I'm just hoping it changes this year. A 3rd Round pick is a major investment, and the Giants need for their last three to start paying dividends.



Yeah it is a premium pick and it would be awesome if all 3 pan out. Especially Thompson since the alternatives are sketchy at best. However if just one of Brom or Odi really break out the DL should be in really good shape regardless.



I don't know about that. We need both and, honestly, more than both. You need a rotation along the DL. Look no further than that SF fiasco under Fassel. Our DL was so worn down and we had nobody to fill in. Our starters look fantastic on paper but we are really counting on Bromley and Odi to play significant roles.


If Snacks,Hank,JPP,Vernon,Odi and one of the other DTs on the roster play well that will be a pretty strong rotation. Of course Brom playing well too can only help.
If we can get off the field  
Doomster : 7/9/2016 12:09 pm : link
on third downs, that will help the rotations....
RE: If we can get off the field  
Jimmy Googs : 7/9/2016 12:20 pm : link
In comment 13027555 Doomster said:
Quote:
on third downs, that will help the rotations....


If the rotation would help on third down, we could get off the field...
Most of third rounders football careers ended due to injury  
Mason : 7/9/2016 12:50 pm : link
Holy cow. This organization has had a lot of issues with injuries throughout the years. Both on and off the field.
Will Peterson was more than just a good player  
George : 7/9/2016 12:51 pm : link
For a couple of years there he was the best guy in our secondary and consistently outplayed the guy the Giants drafted in the first round the year he came into the league - Will Allen.

Brad Maynard was a good punter. Roman Oben had a couple of good years at LT. You've already mentioned Justin Tuck.

But still, I agree with the general premise of the thread. The 3rd round hasn't been nearly as good to us as the 2nd or the 4th.
It should be noted  
George : 7/9/2016 12:57 pm : link
that, historically speaking, the Giants have often chosen to find bargains in the 3rd round by selecting people who have been thought to possess 1st round quality but, for one reason or another (usually injury, but sometimes character) have fallen.

It's not a bad strategy if you've got a fairly strong roster going into the draft: take a flyer on a guy in the middle rounds and see if he turns out to be the star that some thought he'd become.

But it's a really good way to create holes in said roster if he doesn't pan out, and if failures outnumber successes.

That's been the case the last 15 years: some have succeeded, but most haven't; and there you have one of the reasons why our current roster is so sketchy depth wise (and why we've had to rely on free agency so heavily this year).
Round 3 Success  
Gregorio : 7/9/2016 1:08 pm : link
On this subject, there is an article about the success rate by position of draft picks across the league. According the report, the success rate in the 3rd round is less than 50%. It defines success as a draft pick that became a starter for more than half of his NFL career. Here are the success percentages for each position in the third round:

3rd Round - OL (40%) TE (39%) LB (34%) DL (27%) WR (25%) DB (24%) QB (17%) RB (16%)

Now, for the Giants drafting org, I view this as a challenge to beat these percentages. Unfortunately in round 3 they haven’t done a good job. To their credit, they have been good at round 1 picks, at least in recent drafts. I haven’t run round 1 numbers but I’d like to see their success rate compared to league average.

Full explanation and stats by round here:
http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2015/2/20/8072877/what-the-statistics-tell-us-about-the-draft-by-round
RE: Round 3 Success  
Jimmy Googs : 7/9/2016 2:08 pm : link
In comment 13027615 Gregorio said:
Quote:
On this subject, there is an article about the success rate by position of draft picks across the league. According the report, the success rate in the 3rd round is less than 50%. It defines success as a draft pick that became a starter for more than half of his NFL career.


Success for a NY Giant 3rd rounder in the past decade is defined as they actually started an NFL game...
Reese should have a  
XBRONX : 7/9/2016 2:35 pm : link
taken a consensus of the draft guides put them up on a board and thrown a dart. He couldnt have done worse.
RE: I don't really have concrete support for this comment but  
LauderdaleMatty : 7/9/2016 3:55 pm : link
In comment 13027434 Jimmy Googs said:
Quote:
Jay Bromley doesn't give me any warm n' fuzzies.

If he is the first man off the bench for the D-Line, I hope its not until like November...


+1. He's never ever flashed to me. Even shitty or Hal ass picks like Barden Travis Beckham had a game or two or even a play that flashed at some point. Bromley by all accounts isn't a slack ass like Marvin Austin but I expect him to be another guy who never gets to a second contract here. Old saw for me but never ever should have let Joseph walk for a much lesser contract than they Harrison.
And between the two of them,  
Doomster : 7/9/2016 4:02 pm : link
they dropped more int's than they caught....
I meant  
Doomster : 7/9/2016 4:03 pm : link
Peterson/Allen....
Thompson  
Glover : 7/9/2016 4:39 pm : link
looks to be the best of the lot. Odigazooie can't be counted on. Bromley can be counted on to be average or below average. At least Odiggie had upside with injury risk, Bromley was just a flat out reach. Horrible pick.
I have faith though. So it takes Reese 10 years to learn how to draft. Things look rosy from here on out.
Lot's  
OC2.0 : 7/9/2016 4:48 pm : link
Of "imperatives". Hope Spags is up to the task. He's got more talent on D than we've had in awhile, imo.
Gregorio  
grizz299 : 7/9/2016 6:29 pm : link
Thanks
Anyone who feels a 3rd round pick  
Hades07 : 7/9/2016 11:23 pm : link
Is a "premium" selection clearly has never bothered to look at the recent history of 3ed round picks league wide.
It's a day 2 pick.  
Klaatu : 7/10/2016 1:42 am : link
It's considered a premium pick.
Looking for and expecting 100%  
adamg : 7/10/2016 4:22 am : link
success for third rounders is going to leave you feeling paranoid/cursed/disappointed like this forever. We've drafted well for a while. FA the last few seasons has sucked. That's been the real major setback. And that is a major setback.

You can complain about an offensive line that aged and disintegrated under Reese's watch, but he's drafted in the top two rounds 3 times in the past four years, all of those picks are considered by the coaches and people around the team as the core and best players in that position group. We've drafted a top 3 WR. We drafted our best LB. And if Moore wasn't a total retard headcase, he could have been a huge pickup for the defense from that third round spot. He has/d the talent.

Our drafts are far from weak. Even this year with all the big signings and seemingly great picks, our biggest hole is a lack of signing of a FA RT. I think these types of threads do a disservice to our FO and also ignore the more important aspect of their faults: missing the boat in some of the FA market. Hopefully, we can pick up someone else's scraps in July/August. Either way, I'm hoping we can secure that RT in the draft next year. That seems to be our most effective way of acquiring talent that produces and stays on the field (unlike Schwartz).
Gregorio's link is to an article that is atrociously bad  
BlueLou : 7/10/2016 6:04 am : link
In analysis and conclusions, with literally zero basis to the conclusions statistically.

But it does provide interesting data:
67% of 1st round picks succeed.
40% of 2nd round
27% of 3rd round.
17% of 4th round and less than 10% each round thereafter.

This over a recent 10 year period and success defined as starting half the games one has been available for - a pretty low bar for success.

Nitwits blasting Reese could have a look at those numbers and rethink their opinions.

Those with half a brain here are truly exhausted at pointing out that injuries to the Giants'premium picks are far more the cause of the club's lack of talent than poor drafting is, relative to league norms.
Those %s seem unusually low. Start half the games  
Jimmy Googs : 7/10/2016 7:44 am : link
in a career or just with the first team that drafted them?

Do un-drafted free agents make up that many starts in the NFL?
More than you would guess Jimmy.  
BlueLou : 7/10/2016 7:57 am : link
Somewhere I saw it posted that about as many UDFAs earn starts as 4th -7th rounders put together. But if you do the math it makes sense. With a normal complement of draft picks a team brings on 4 4th-7th round draft picks each year and something like 10-20 UDFAs or prior UDFAs.

And how many undrafted kickers, punters, and long snappers are "starters" for STs?
On the Giants recently,  
BlueLou : 7/10/2016 8:10 am : link
UDFA starters included Cruz, all TEs since Boss, Unga, Herzlich, Wynn, Whitlock, maybe Wade or McBride, Dahl, many of them pending injuries to the 1st team starters.

Obviously few of these guys were + starters, but they did start games
Just going thru our likely starters to come up with who was an  
Jimmy Googs : 7/10/2016 8:15 am : link
undrafted free agent...

- Cruz
- our Tight End
- Jennings
- Harrison
- 1-2 of our LBs

Not counting Specials, I count 5-6 guys that will likely start for the Giants that were undrafted. That is much lower than the result portrayed by that article.

Now I know injuries will force reserves to come in and get starts but that doesn't equal the definition they provided as lasting half their career.

What am i missing?
Lou - you and I have the same mindset but I am  
Jimmy Googs : 7/10/2016 8:18 am : link
not seeing how this makes up half of our starting roster?

Are the Giants a bad example, meaning most teams have many more undrafted free agents playing?
Jennings was originally a 7th round pick.  
BlueLou : 7/10/2016 8:26 am : link
I think all the Giants LBs were picks too save Herzlich.

I don't think you can ignore the PK and punter positions, they were in the data cited.

Go through the math more carefully and double check if I copied it accurately.
You forget that some starters -  
BlueLou : 7/10/2016 8:30 am : link
Eli for example - was not accounted for in those stats. Those % starters from each round was for 10 years of data.
I trust you copied it right. Good call on Jennings and some  
Jimmy Googs : 7/10/2016 8:39 am : link
of the other items that support the findings (vets, kickers, etc.). I am still on first cup of coffee this lazy sunday!

It is just a fairly surprising how many undrafted guys make such an impact in terms of starts.

I know many here on BBI often give props to GMs when they find valuable undrafted free agents, but it is also a two-edged sword since you could say they a) should have drafted them outright and/or b) the guy they drafted got beat by the UDFA.

RE: Those %s seem unusually low. Start half the games  
Gregorio : 7/10/2016 9:38 am : link
In comment 13028035 Jimmy Googs said:
Quote:
in a career or just with the first team that drafted them?

Do un-drafted free agents make up that many starts in the NFL?


Jimmy,
the article describes it as half the career, not only the team that drafted them.

Greg
Googs, I just scanned the article again and you cannot trust those ,#s  
BlueLou : 7/10/2016 9:46 am : link
I posted supposedly from the article.

The article so far as I am willing to look at it further DOES NOT give % of players that suceed from each round overall but only position by position, so far as I see now on 2nd quick read through.

It gives success rates by rounds only position by position, which frankly is by and large a moronic analysis.

Pardon I apparently misquoted it.
Show me  
Gregorio : 7/10/2016 9:48 am : link
BlueLou,
what leads you to write 'with literally zero basis to the conclusions statistically.'? The source data for the conclusions in the report come from Pro-Football-Reference.com. Do you find those numbers to be inaccurate or wrong? If so, please explain.




In comment 13028017 BlueLou said:
Quote:
In analysis and conclusions, with literally zero basis to the conclusions statistically.

But it does provide interesting data:
67% of 1st round picks succeed.
40% of 2nd round
27% of 3rd round.
17% of 4th round and less than 10% each round thereafter.

This over a recent 10 year period and success defined as starting half the games one has been available for - a pretty low bar for success.

Nitwits blasting Reese could have a look at those numbers and rethink their opinions.

Those with half a brain here are truly exhausted at pointing out that injuries to the Giants'premium picks are far more the cause of the club's lack of talent than poor drafting is, relative to league norms.
RE: RE: Those %s seem unusually low. Start half the games  
Jimmy Googs : 7/10/2016 9:52 am : link
In comment 13028097 Gregorio said:
Quote:
In comment 13028035 Jimmy Googs said:


Quote:


in a career or just with the first team that drafted them?

Do un-drafted free agents make up that many starts in the NFL?



Jimmy,
the article describes it as half the career, not only the team that drafted them.

Greg


Thanks Greg. That's why my point is those % starts by draftees seems really low because someone's actually got to be starting these games and it only leaves UDFAs to do so.

Difficult to translate the %s to a weighted-average across 24 starters but nevertheless...
RE: It's a day 2 pick.  
Hades07 : 7/10/2016 1:51 pm : link
In comment 13027996 Klaatu said:
Quote:
It's considered a premium pick.
by people who don't pay attention, sure. They could put all 3 rounds on the first day and as a day 1 pick it still won't be a premium pick. I would only consider a pick that can reasonably expected to produce a good NFL player a premium pick. Those end around the middle to the end of the 2ND round. The 3rd does not produce a lot of NFL value league wide.
If your not getting value out of your 3rd round picks,  
Jimmy Googs : 7/10/2016 2:00 pm : link
generally speaking, your team will suck...
RE: Show me  
BlueLou : 7/10/2016 2:15 pm : link
In comment 13028104 Gregorio said:
Quote:
BlueLou,
what leads you to write 'with literally zero basis to the conclusions statistically.'? The source data for the conclusions in the report come from Pro-Football-Reference.com. Do you find those numbers to be inaccurate or wrong? If so, please explain.


The data would be MUCH BETTER presented if it included the overall success rate of all position players round by round.
I thought I saw that in the link but on 2nd view didn't see that information at all.

By breaking it up into position groups without having the baseline % of players who succeeded in each round it's ridiculous to suggest a team should draft this or that position in this or that round as the author of the link suggests.

And the link doesn't offer another link to examine the original source material, which is a shame...

I found it interesting to read nonetheless and thank you for linking it.
Thanks BlueLou,  
Gregorio : 7/10/2016 5:14 pm : link
That’s right, the report doesn’t roll up success rates to all positions per round. That would be another view of the data. I suspect any reader of such a generalized view, would naturally want to see success rate broken down by position.

Breaking success rates down by position though, doesn’t mean there is zero basis for them statistically. You can get to the website of the source data here.

pro-football-reference.com

Greg
corrected link here  
Gregorio : 7/10/2016 5:17 pm : link
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/

Greg
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