Friday, April 23, 2010

Didn't Get Around To It

Here is the transcript of our conference with the Giants' director of college scouting, Marc Ross, after the Pierre-Paul pick.


Q: Media tends to use words like riser/late riser. Was this a guy that was a riser? Did he make his way up as this process wore on?

A: In our eyes?

Q: Or did you identify him early?

A: He was a guy that during the season when I went to South Florida because I had four senior guys – where you put the tape on and you say, “Wow, who is the world is this guy?” Because you don’t know anything about him; he just got there. But he makes you take notice because he is jumping off the film. So of course you track him though the year. He was just a junior but the way he was playing it was a very strong indication that the guy was going to come out. So, no, he wasn’t a late riser for us. We had big grades on him throughout the year.

Q: Is it more difficult to grade a guy like this who has had a limited amount of playing experience?

A: Well, if you just base it off of when he played, it is very easy to grade the guy because he tremendous. And then you go, and just like any player that is my job – to scout these guys and dig deep and find out whatever --- all players have strengths and weaknesses, red flags. It is our job to dig deep and feel comfortable with those and research them so that we know they are a good fit for us.

Q: Did the defensive coordinator, Perry Fewell, sort of come to you and say, “This is what I am looking for.”

A: No, not at all. We go through the process. We meet for weeks and our scouts write reports all year and we stack the board based on the best players. Of course, Coach and I will talk a lot but, no, the coordinators or the position coaches don’t come and say that.

Q: Given his limited playing time, how much actually did you guys put in terms of time to scout him? How many games did you see; how many films did you look at? And was there one that really stuck out and you said, “Hey, this guy would be great for us.”

A: Well, I have probably seen every game he has played this year. Our scouts, the way I have them do it, we have three scouts that do that area, they break down different parts of the season and do it. Of course the coaches get involved. Every game – Florida State – he jumps out on tape every game he played.

Q: You have three very good pass rushers – defensive ends. Is he like any of them – a body type like Kiwanuka?

A: He is rangy like Mathias in that kind of height. But when you see this guy – this guy is a freak of nature, really, some of the stuff that he can do and the way he looks. He is just a different guy. He has done things that I haven’t seen in scouting – in games – that I just haven’t seen.

Q: Like what?

A: Combination of the length and power and speed – just running though people and rag dolling tackles. He is just a different breed of athlete.

Q: Did he play against any tackles or linemen that were rated high? Because that is how you judge him, I would assume?

A: When you watch any position you try to grab the best matchup. I was at the Rutgers game – that was referenced earlier and of course watched the tape several times. He lined up on Anthony (Davis). They went head to head maybe 15 times and actually contacted each other seven times. And he did fairly well. So that was probably the best competition that he had even though they weren’t the whole game up against each other.

Q: You guys are obviously comfortable with this pick. But is it tough to get comfortable with a guy who has such a limited body of major college work?

A: Of course you would like all guys to be fifth-year seniors or four-year starters and producers and all of that kind of stuff. But that is why you do the research. That is why we have the scouts and these guys that take a lot of pride in their job to make sure we get this thing right. And I take a lot of pride in what I do. And I wanted to make sure that we were totally comfortable with this guy.

Q: Is there athleticism or are the technical skills there right now?

A: No, when he learns how to really play, it is going to be “watch out.” Because he does some things just naturally just playing – in your back yard just going. And when he really learns - when he gets his coaching and he keeps growing and developing like we think he will, he is going to be tremendous.

Q: Does this put a little pressure on your coaching staff – to get him where he needs to be?

A: How do you think I am going to answer that? Yes, of course. That is why you do it. With good teams you have to have that bond between the scouting staff and the coaches and that trust with one another with any player you take to hope that the kids do develop. They all are not ready made; they have to get better.

Q: How much did (George) Selvie, on the other side, how much did that benefit him?

A: We will talk about Selvie later. This kid is a great player. Selvie --- not much; not much. This kid helped Selvie.

Q: Then how do you know he won’t – two years ago people were talking about Selvie kind of how there were talking about Jason PP now. How do you know he is not going to be another Selvie?

A: They are totally different players; totally different skill set; totally different athletic ability. The media was talking about Selvie – the guy had a tremendous sophomore year. He had 15 sacks or so. But his production has gone down and that is where you evaluate their skill set; their athletic ability; the height, weight, speed, the quickness, the strength, those things.

Q: There is a lot said about his ‘up side’ and when you look at a guy a lot of times you have to weigh potential against what you think you can get out of him right away. How much did potential kind of outweigh what you can get right away in looking at this guy for long term?

A: If he was a bad player and we were just basing it on potential, then you don’t make the pick. But this guy is a very, very good player; tremendous player, an impact player who we still see with tons of upside, probably the most upside in the draft. But it is not like we are saying, “Man, we are hoping.” We see it. The guy does tremendous things on the field. And he is a good player that we are hoping still gets a lot better.

Q: How much more weight can he carry on that frame?

A: This guy can be 280 easy, easy. He has almost 35 inch arms, tall, long legs, easy.

Q: Did you give the recommendation for Coach to go see him personally?

A: Of course I set it up to recommend to him that we should go see this group at South Florida. They had other good players, too, that we needed to see. So it was a good trip.

EP

13 comments:

  1. You can't teach that kind of speed on a 270-280 lb. frame, so I'm pretty happy right now. Of course like all of us, I'll have to wait to see how he plays.

    Speaking of speed, I haven't been thrilled with the Giants' lack of it at starting LB, especially MLB, recently. Like Wayne0, would love to get hold of Kirk Morrison (good speed, and led Raiders in tackles past 5 years). With Morrison weighing in at 240 lbs, though, that means there's a need for solid run-stoppers at DT.

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  2. ERN JUST KEEPS IT COMING!!!! Here is my dream draft the rest of the way

    1. Trade Osi
    2. Trade for Morrison (I'd do an even exchange but realize for some reason the Giants would get more)
    3. Draft 1 OL, 1 or 2 DT, 1 LB, 1 or 2 DB, 1 Kicker (can we please ditch Tynes!)

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  3. Wayno, What do you want in return for Osi?

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  4. I would take a bag of balls but realistically since there seems to be a mkt for him for some reason i would take a 3.

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  5. You think a third round pick has more value to this team? I think they should keep Osi. He is a year removed from his knee surgery. Which should help get a better initial push off the line.

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  6. Sorry to disagree Wayno, but here is my reasoning. Drafting a LB in 2nd or 3rd to compete for a spot. Keep Osi for the season, as Kiwi's contract is due up and Osi has a cheap contract. Plus, our DE roster would be Tuck, Osi, Kiwi, and JPP. JPP is an upgrade over Toffelson. That looks a lot better than having Toffelson in there. Then, wait until after the season to 1. see what Kiwi's contract demands will be 2. see how Osi does and if there is a better market for him and 3. determine if 2011 will be locked out. Still not that happy about the JPP pick, but it does open some options for us regarding the end of the 2010 season. It is a pick for the future, not so much here and now. I do agree with your ideas for the rest of the draft, but would like to see a blocking TE in there. Would also love to ditch Tynes.

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  7. I would be on board with the "trade Osi" stuff if Jerry Reese wouldn't have knocked over women and children to get to a microphone to announce "and we're not trading Osi so don't even ask" three nanoseconds after the pick.

    Do we trade up in the second round to get Brian Price or sit tight and wait for Jerry to draft a punter out of Bill and Ted's Excellent Junior College?

    Only kidding.
    I'm sure we'll find some defensive tackles with a full compliment of knee cartilage in the upcoming rounds.

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  8. Hopefully the Giants grab "Mount" Cody with their 2nd round pick. Big DT from Alabama. For some reason I think the Giants will be bringing in Morrison from Oakland. I know we all want a LB but if they bring in Morrison then they should be fine.

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  9. This is hilarious! I just went to an article about the Giants second round options (http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2010/04/preview_of_giants_second-day_p.html). There are reader comments at the end. The first comment reads:

    "Maybe we can get a guy who juggles in the second round".

    You gotta love that.

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  10. I would love to get Cody in the second round. I have a limited knowledge and viewing of College football but was quite enamored with Cody. Looked like a run stuffing 10 yr NFL dt to me.

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  11. I wouldn't take Cody until the third round. There are still a lot of quality DT out there. Joseph, Houston, Price & Thomas are all still available. Wayno, I remember you saying something about Fred Robbins eating his way out of the league. Now you want to draft a DT with well documented weight issues. Then, you go as far as saying you see him as a 10 year player?

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  12. cody has 0 work ethic.

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  13. Terrence Cody is the type of DT that's going to have weight issues for his entire career. Not to mention, he's not the type of DT that the Giants generally like.

    And someone mentioned Morrison. That's not out of the question, but there's really no need to do anything until after the draft. The Giants had no intentions on trading a pick from this year's draft for Morrison.

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