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"He can move with it, too," Ross said, adding that Jones had a 93-yard punt return for a touchdown last season against Mississippi State last year.
Ross said Jones had "the best pure hands" of any position in the draft. "You can really see the baseball hand-eye coordination catching the football. He can really catch it."
He can also play in the box and in coverage, and at 225 is big enough to serve as a nickel safety replacing a linebacker. Ross called him an "explosive" hitter who can also play either safety spot. "You see him in single-high stuff," he said.
"He can be 230 because he's still not developed in his upper body and chest," Ross said. "You don't want to get too developed with the baseball stuff. So he could probably carry 230 easily. He may not want to be that big. The way they play the college linebackers these days, he's bigger than a lot of them who are barely six feet, 220 pounds."
So the Giants ended the evening with two more defensive players, but not a middle linebacker. Ross dropped a hint as to why, calling Linval Joseph and Jones "value picks." Young value, at that. All three picks, including yesterday's top pick, Jason Pierre-Paul, are juniors with more potential than experience.
It could explain in part why the Giants didn't go after what most people considered a good looking Penn State linebacker in Sean Lee.
"What we've done so far is, we've gotten value picks," Ross said. "I don't want to say this (middle linebacker) class was weak," Ross said. "There was McClain, and then there was a big dropoff. We didn't have a lot of guys with high value at that position."
EP
What's the over/under on how many safeties JR will sign up before we begin to get the hint...Kenny P is is big trouble, career wise?
ReplyDeletePersonally, as I wrote before, another season like last season and Reese is history. I'm not rooting for that, but I'm concerned. I've been a Giant fanatic for over 50 years. Losing seasons I am use to. Giant teams, especially the defense, quitting? That is unique. JR should be on notice. It goes without saying of course that TC is in the same boat.
Are you serious? Reese is not going anywhere. The guy has been running the team for three years, the team's record is 30-18, won the division and a Super Bowl.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind this is over a three-year span. What GM, after having a .500 season or back-to-back disappointing season would get fired after that resume? Accorsi -- who's teams did very little -- was there almost 10 years and basically made the playoffs once every three years. So, you're crazy if you think JR is going anywhere if this team doesn't perform. He hasn't even had the opportunity to hire a coach yet. Remember, Coughlin's not his guy. So, if you want to scapegoat someone, it's going to be TC, not JR.
As far as MLB, once they let Lee go, I figured the Giants didn't have any real LBs rated that highly and they weren't going to reach for one. It seems as though the Giants are drafting athletic players at their position. JPP, the DT and the safety. I hope they at least get one LB and O-linemen in today's rounds.
Dan notes that in the years Reese has been running the team "the team's record is 30-18 won the division and a Super Bowl". Statistics are often compared to bikinis....they reveal the important, but hide the essential.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct Dan, of course. However, I see the Super Bowl win as more Ernie A's win, which Jerry Reese had big part of, for all I know. Or a very small part...but in any event I see it more Ernie's watch.
In the two years since the Super Bowl the Giants have gone downhill dramatically. So...you point to a 30 and 18 record. I point to an 8-8 record. But that is all beside my point. I go back to the fact that this Giant team quit last year. There is a difference between losing, and quitting.
In the logical, good (or bad) old days I would have been in complete agreement with you Dan. And your view is the one that should be heeded, as far as my personal preferences go. Even talking about Reese losing his job this short into it would have been foolish. In the old days.
But we live in a different day and age when it comes to sports. Let this team quit again (and I am not saying they will, in fact I don't think they will) let them be 30th in def, give up the second most points or whatever, give up 40 points or more 5 times, and you will hear the calls for Reese to go. And you will see the prices for season tickets come down. There is simply too much money at stake here to rely too much on the 'loyalty' card, or 'logic' card. You'll see. I don't mistake the Tish Family, or John Mara, for that matter, with James Dolan. But lets hope it never comes to that.
jme - I view a team quitting as much more a coaching problem than a GMs. It's the GMs job to get the men that are on the field. It's the coach's job to get them to work. If you worked at job where the majority of the employees were slacking off because they had no respect for the supervisor, would the owner fire the HR director? Reese's concern should be that his free agent signings last year are, at this point, a total bust. Now, if those guys don't start to perform and the new FAs are a disaster, well, then I'm with you that Jerry's seat starts to feel very warm. I think anyway you look at it, Coughlin is first to be fired. Which means Reese probably has two-three years into the new coach's reign to right the ship before he gets the ax. So, in my opinion, Reese has a lot more wiggle room than you are giving him credit for. Now, as for your argument about season ticket prices coming down, sorry, you're off base there. The Giants instituted PSLs, they are 99% soldout throughout the stadium. Those people spent a small fortune. They are going NOWHERE. If there are numerous losing seasons in a row (like the lost decade of the 70s), no PSL holder will be able to get a fraction of their PSL costs back from a new buyer. They will be pissed, no question there! But what are they going to do? The Giants have them tied to their seats with golden handcuffs. They don't buy their season tickets, the Giants take them to court. They signed a contract. They are legally bound to buy their season tickets each and every year by law. New England has gone after a few PSL deadbeats and won handily in court. Ticket prices aren't going down, no matter what the Giants record is. The PSLs made sure of that. As for the Giants going the Dolan route, not happening. You would have to look long and hard to find a more arrogant, incompetent, spoiled child in a leadership position than Dolan. Let's face it, if he wasn't "daddy's little boy", Jimmy wouldn't be able to hold a job down at the fry station in McDs. Reese, the Tish family, and the Maras all have hairs you know where that are smarter, more likable, and more competent than James Dolan. Sadly, that's the nicest thing I can say about Jimmy.
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