The Giants had 11 draft choices in 2003. With news of the compensatory 4th for Omameh, that puts the Giants at 10 draft picks next April (starts April 25, ends April 27), the most since '03.
Looking back, that turned out to be a pretty damn good haul for the franchise.
Here's how 2003 went:
* First round. (25th) DT William Joseph. Underachieved, but sill received a ring for the 2007 Super Bowl win, even though he was injured that season. Started 17 games for the Giants in 4 seasons.
* Second round. (56th) DE Osi Umenyiora. Two-time Super Bowl champ. Pro Bowler. All-Pro. 85 career sacks. Instrumental in both 2007 and 2011 Super Bowl victories. A great Giant.
* Third round. (91st) TE Visanthe Shiancoe. Didn't do much for the Giants and was gone by 2007, but went on to have some good years playing for Minnesota. All-in-all, a respectable pro career.
* Fourth round. 123rd) CB Rod Babers. Cut in training camp (I believe).
* Fifth round. (160th) OT/OG Dave Diehl. Two-time Super Bowl champ.Helped anchor our last really strong O-line. Pro Bowler. Missed 4 games (4 starts, actually) in 9 seasons playing tackle and guard on both sides. A great Giant.
* Sixth round. (199th) WR Willie Ponder. A few years as a halfway decent kick returner. Overall, blah.
* Sixth round. (207th) CB Frank Walker. 5 INTs for the Giants in 3 seasons. Just missed the 2007 championship season (was with Green Bay that season.) Played for 5 teams in a 9-year NFL career.
* Sixth round. (211th) WR David Tyree. Super Bowl champion in 2007. 54 career receptions in 5 years for the Giants, but ... THE ONE catch! Not a great career. But ... a great Giant.
* Seventh round. (240th)S Charles Drake. Cut in training camp.
* Seventh round. (249th) OC Wayne Lucier. Started 20 games on the O-line in 2 seasons, but was gone by 2005.
* Seventh round. (255th) WR Kevin Walter. Cut by the Giants in training camp. Turned out NOT to be a good move, as he went on to have a pretty productive 10-year NFL career playing primarily for the Texans, where he had 326 of his 356 career catches, 4083 of his 4379 career receiving yards, and 24 of his 25 career TDs.
+++
Looking ahead a bit, and assuming the Giants don't screw this up and go on some ill-advised winning jag, I'll pencil them in for the No. 1 overall pick. I'm optimistic.
If so, or even in that ballpark, here's how things could line up. That means 4 players in the first 100 picks (or so), and a full 7 players picked by the overall 140th (or so) selection.
* First round. (1st)
* Second round. (33rd)
* Third round. (no pick)
* Fourth round. (100 range)
* Fourth round. (Saints pick - Apple)
* Fourth round. (Compensatory pick - Omameh)
* Fifth round. (138 range)
* Fifth round. (Lions pick - Snacks)
* Sixth round. (175 range)
* Seventh round. (Vikings - Jones)
* Seventh round. (Rams - Hankins)
Wouldn't it be nice to replicate the 2003 draft? I'd take it and run!
I guess I'll take another "crappy" draft, by your standards, Cousin Lawrence.
Long way to go.
I'm hopeful.
Third, still, would be fine.
I wouldn't discount OV being included in the draft equation. He has 2 years left both at $15.5M. We aren't getting good value at that price.
Reason I compared it ... 2019 we'll have the most picks since that particular one.
I agree with you, though ... combine another solid draft with tat of 2018 ... we're on the way up.
One of the issues this team has had is they haven't hit on any late picks so there is no depth. In turn they have had to turn around and over pay for mediocre talent. Sorry 🐝 they have to do better than that
Three guys with 5 rings ... is what I liked about 2003. Not that they were starters, or "made it" But that they all had huge impacts on championships.
Bottom line, 2003 had 3 champions. 2005 had 3 champions. I'll take that again in a heartbeat.
Quote:
another 2018 draft before 2003. Why would you want another 2003?
Reason I compared it ... 2019 we'll have the most picks since that particular one.
I agree with you, though ... combine another solid draft with tat of 2018 ... we're on the way up.
quality over quantity would be my goal.
Giants have had some good drafts in their history, I get that 2003 had quite a few picks, but if Gettleman duplicates the 2003 draft in 2019 he should be fired, and then drawn and quartered like William Wallace was including having parts of his body delivered to all ends of Giants nation, and then shot.
Wouldn't most fans be pleased with a 3-year draft-success run (2018/2019/2020) that produces 10 players that own a combined 17 rings?
2003 - Osi (2), Diehl (2) and Tyree (1)
2004 - Eli (2), Snee (2), Torbor (1) and Wilson (1)
2005 - Webster (2), Tuck (2) and Jacobs (2)
While some would advocate that with more darts, they are bound to hit the target. There are others that would prefer a limited number of darts, but moving closer to the target.
Our roster needs both depth (high number of picks) and talent (choices higher in the draft). Do we opt to fill the roster with lots of depth but non-starters? Or should we target starters and rely on UDFA for depth?
If we are picking #3, well we aren't getting much higher. But with no third round pick, it would be nice if we can package some of the picks to move up into the third round.
Second round - OT Dalton Risner (Kansas State)
Fourth round - ILB Germaine Pratt (NC State)
Fourth round - TE Zach Gentry (Michigan)
Fourth round - IOL Some Guy (no idea where)
Fifth round - FS Nas Adderly (Delaware)
Fifth round - RB Qadree Ollison (Pittsburgh)
Sixth round - CB Derrick Baity Jr. (Kentucky)
Seventh round - WR Jazz Ferguson (Northwestern State)
Seventh round - OLB/EDGE Jabari Zuniga (Florida)
Obviously not an all timer or anything. But it's decent. I would suggest that people take a look at random drafts from other teams. There are busts all over the place and a very low success rate in the late rounds.
If they chose not to resign Collins that would count.
Tyree was more than just that play. He was an excellent special teams player for most of his career. Wasn't a factor as a WR outside of the helmet catch, but if you get that quality of a ST player with every 6th round pick, you're ahead of the curve.
As for the draft overall, I'd probably give it a B+ largely due to where they were drafting (25th each round) and Diehl. A 10 year starting OL is outstanding value for a 5th round pick and Osi was obviously a great pick.
Shiancoe wasn't 'great' but he was probably close to average value for a 3rd round pick. If he wasn't behind Shockey and/or they kept him on a 2nd contract it would've been very good value for the slot.
The rest was pretty bad, but getting a pro-bowler, 10 year starter, ST star and solid TE depth out of a draft is a solid return.
That said, the 2018 draft looks much better, though you'd expect that since they were picking #2. Even so, getting (potentially) an all-pro, 2 long term starters (Hernandez/Hill) and LB depth (Carter) from just 6 picks is very good. And I think all those guys can exceed those projections.
They have the luxury of letting the draft come to them
I feel that a team gets in trouble by falling in love with a player and having to draft him earlier than anticipated
The extra picks allow the Giants to stay true to their board without fear of losing a preferred player
A lot of people forget what a great special teams player Tyree was. He made the NFL All Rookie Team for it in 2003, and was an All Pro and Pro Bowler for it in 2005.