One big difference in the draft philosophies of New York Giants general managers Jerry Reese and Dave Gettleman is the willingness to roll the dice on wide receivers.
In his first three drafts as GM, Gettleman selected 26 players. Only one was a wide receiver — Auburn’s Darius Slayton, who was drafted in the fifth round last year.
Reese oversaw 11 drafts for the Giants. He chose Hakeem Nicks (2009) and Odell Beckham Jr. (2014) with first round picks. Steve Smith (2007), Rueben Randle (2012) and Sterling Shepard (2016) were second rounders, while Mario Mannignham (2008), Ramses Barden (2009) and Jerrel Jernigan (2011) were third round selections. Geremy Davis was a sixth round pick in 2015.
We all know how many of these picks worked out. Some became integral contributors such as Steve Smith, who made some key receptions as a rookie in the Giants’ 2007 Super Bowl run and then had a Pro Bowl year in 2009 when he set a franchise record for receptions with 107.
Beckham had a record-setting first three seasons in becoming a household name. Manningham made one of the greatest catches in Giants’ history in Super Bowl XLVI. Randle was a decent second option to Beckham in 2015, catching 71 passes for 938 yards. Barden and Jernigan were basically non-factors in their Giants careers.
One player that is underrated is Nicks. He played 76 games over a six year period for the Giants, catching 318 passes for 4,676 yards and 27 touchdowns. Nicks had his best seasons in 2010 and 2011, tallying back-to-back 1,000-yard years.
In a recent interview on the Giants’ official website, Nicks talked about Big Blue’s Super Bowl XLVI run and the team’s second big win over the New England Patriots in a four-year span.
Nicks pointed to the Giants’ Week 16 victory over the New York Jets, which was highlighted by Victor Cruz’ 99-yard catch and run for a touchdown in the second quarter, as the turning point.
“Our turning point was probably that Christmas game against the Jets when we know that we needed it. Earlier that year, we knew the talent was there. It was just a matter everybody doing their job and focusing and locking in and being ‘all-in’ like Coach Coughlin told us. Once we put all of that together, that’s when the results came,” Nicks said.
The Giants were 7-7 entering that game against the Jets. They did not lose again for the rest of the season, defeating the Cowboys the next week to seal the NFC East title and then sweeping though the playoffs with wins over Atlanta, Green Bay and San Francisco before knocking off the Pats again in the Super Bowl.
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