National Football Post Tavern Talk

THURSDAY TAVERN DRAFT TALK….

Let’s do a good team for a change and there is no better place to start than with the World Champion NY Giants.  A little background on the methodology of how the Giants draft:  In 1979, the Giants were in turmoil.  Head Coach John McVay was fired.  Andy Robustelli quit as director of operations. Wellington Mara and the family of his late brother, Jack, each owned 50 percent of the team, and Wellington's relationship with his nephew Tim, who represented his part of the family, had disintegrated to the point that they did not talk.  Wellington made the football decisions, and when he announced he would hire a new coach before a general manager, Tim objected. The stalemate became ugly, and Pete Rozelle, the N.F.L. commissioner at the time, stepped in as the mediator. He sent the two Maras a list of potential general managers. George Young was on the list, and both accepted him.

What Young brought to the Giants was a system of player procurement that still is a part of the landscape of the organization. For 15 years, Young taught history and political science in Baltimore high schools and coached football at his alma mater, Calvert Hall College, and at City College, both high schools. His teams won six state titles in 15 years. In 1968, Hall of Fame coach Don Shula hired Young to work with the Baltimore Colts as a personnel aide, and for six years Young worked in personnel and as an assistant coach. From 1975 to 1979, he was the director of pro scouting for the Miami Dolphins.

Young believed in a grading system that works in unison with the kind of team that he is trying to build.  Young wanted a BIG, FAST FOOTBALL TEAM THAT HAD SIZE, SPEED AND TOUGHNESS.  So this grading system indentifies players that meet the correct height, weight and speed requirements set forth by the organization.  Even the exemptions to the standards have their own grade and the objective of the system is to draft all CLEAN players-essentially players that meet the standards. 

When Young left, Ernie Accorsi took over and kept the foundation in place, but added his flair, his views and his beliefs around the core of the system.  When you have a foundation in place, it is easier to modify and improve than to have to bring in a new way of doing business.  The players might not play well enough, but they do fit the requirement, so the fault lies in the evaluation, rather than the system. 

This process takes discipline from everyone in the organization.  It takes someone at the top that understands and believes in the value of having a comprehensive grading system as the foundation for building a Championship team.  Remember, scouting is more about elimination, than finding players.  So when the system helps in the elimination process, it makes scouting that much easier.  And being consistent in what kind of players you draft allows you to find gems along the way. 

The grading system APPLIES to ALL players that are drafted, signed as free agents or claimed on the waiver wire.  It is an organizational philosophy that is part of the fabric of the team. 

HERE IS THE BREAK DOWN FOR THE GIANTS

SINCE 2002

• 6 NUMBER ONE PICKS
• 7 NUMBER TWO PICKS
• 6 NUMBER THREE PICKS
• 7 NUMBER FOUR PICKS
• 6 NUMBER FIVE PICKS
• 9 NUMBER SIX PICKS
• 10 NUMBER SEVEN PICKS

The 2005 Draft made this a CHAMPIONSHIP team, as they were able to acquire Justin Tuck and Brandon Jacobs in the 3^rd and 4^th round after trading their number one pick for Eli Manning.  Those two alone were worth number one picks

7 offensive line and 9 defensive lineman were taken in the draft.   New York will draft this position in any round. 

No linebacker was drafted in the first two rounds.  The earliest LB selected was Gerris Wilkinson in the 3^rd, 95th overall. 

They might have some misses early, but almost always find gems later in the draft.  In 2003, they drafted their starting left tackle in the fifth round and Osi Umenyiora in the second.  They selected WR Kevin Walter in the seventh, but lost him to the Bengals on a waiver claim. 

Think this team can draft backs?  They got Jacobs in the fourth and Bradshaw in the seventh.  Well done. 

They might make mistakes in evaluations, but never in the kind of players they are searching for. 

This team works all phases of the player procurement system and brings in talent that fits each and every day. 

They are consistent and they have a plan.  And that is a very good business model for drafting and building an NFL team. 

SINCE 2002 BY POSITION….