In 2002, the New York Giants held the 15th overall selection in the NFL Draft. They got a bit antsy as their turn to pick neared and traded up one spot with the Tennessee Titans to get their man — Miami tight end Jeremy Shockey.
The Giants gave up picks 15 and 110 to Tennessee, who chose defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth and cornerback Mike Echols with those picks.
In Bleacher Report’s re-draft of the 2002 NFL Draft, writer Brad Gagnon has Shockey going 9th to the Jacksonville Jaguars, so he wasn’t there for Ernie Accorsi to grab.
Instead, Gagnon has the Giants selecting Florida State wide receiver Javon Walker, who went 20th that year to Green Bay.
What actually happened: Traded up, drafted TE Jeremy Shockey 14th overall
Where he was actually picked: 20th overall by the Green Bay Packers
The New York Giants were also pretty solid at offensive tackle in these days, but they did lose a pass-catcher when Shockey went to Jacksonville in the top 10. Here, they sort of replace him by at least giving eventual franchise quarterback Eli Manning another talented target in wide receiver Javon Walker.
In Green Bay during Manning’s rookie year with the Giants, Walker caught 89 passes for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns. That was his only Pro Bowl campaign, but he also went over 1,000 yards with the Denver Broncos in 2006. It was downhill from there, but the Giants might take this chance, hoping to squeeze a little more out of the Florida State product.
At the very least, he would have provided a huge upgrade over Ike Hilliard in support of Amani Toomer (and, later, Plaxico Burress).
I don’t know how much (if any) of an upgrade Walker would have been over Hilliard or Toomer, who is the Giants’ all-time leading receiver. And there’s no way he was better than Plaxico.
The correct revisionist pick here would have been Miami safety Ed Reed, taken 24th by Baltimore, the only player in this draft class to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame thus far.
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