Ah, but the question is, what did you and/or the local pundits think of the draft at the time. I ask because I don’t recall any year that the two local papers weren’t upbeat about the draft. The Draft is the NFL’s version of Spring Training – everyone is a winner*.
*With the exception of the Jets, who seem to never like their draft. But let’s look at their draft that year:
1 12 Shaun Ellis DE Tennessee
1 13 John Abraham DE South Carolina
1 18 Chad Pennington QB Marshall
1 27 Anthony Becht TE West Virginia
3 78 Laveranues Coles WR Florida State
5 143 Windrell Hayes WR Southern California
6 179 Tony Scott CB North Carolina State
7 218 Richard Seals DT Utah
Of course, having four picks in the first round is just ridiculous. Shaun Ellis has been solid and consistent, if not a household name. Abraham has underperformed, but still there. Chad Pennington has been a very good QB when not injured. We just got Anthony Becht who is a solid but not flashy blocking tight end. Laveranues Coles is good but was overvalued by the Skins. I don’t know about the other three, but even if they never played a down you certainly can’t grouse about that draft.
True that. Except, of course, last year when everyone was in fits after giving up two first round picks, a third round, and a fifth round for an egotistical rookie who would supplant the popular incumbent. It got even worse when we released Collins shortly thereafter. Last year was most certainly not a year in which the draft seemed to help the team. Most fans were pissed at Ernie Accorsi; it appeared he was hurting the franchise in the short term in order to solidify his legacy, as he will likely be retiring in the next couple years.
At the time, it semed like a stupid move, but now it seems like pure genius. If ever there was a draft where you would be okay not having a first round pick, this was it. Not to mention all the extra cap space we had with which to be aggressive in free agency.
The Giants look great on paper, having addressed 7 key areas of need with reasonably high quality players. (8 if you count Jay Feely, the kicker.) If they don’t make the playoffs, I’ll be pissed. (Considering how feeble the conference was last year, it’s not a reach. Hell, we were a wildcard team up until week 10, IIRC.)
Nobody does. That was the best draft in franchise history. It was almost as good as the worst Ravens draft. (Those guys have some serious scouting ability. They’re freaks.)
That was a bit more rambling than I intended. To clarify, almost every NY area paper was down on the Giants draft in 2004. So were the fans.
Even ignoring Eli, Chris Snee (the second rounder) was viewed as a homer pick by Coughlin, being that Snee is his daughter’s baby daddy. (Many a fan voiced the sentiment ‘If I knocked up TC’s daughter, could I play for the Giants?’) Snee turned out to be a pretty damn good pickup, but at the time was viewed as overrated.
Since we sent the third rounder to SD in the Eli trade, that left us with 2 picks on the first day, and neither ended up being a player the fans and (NY area) media were thrilled about.
We’re talking about the wisdom of drafting a kicker high: if he’s cut by the team that took him, as Conway was, or if he sucks while playing for the team that took him, and only later is any good, that’s a bust.
In addition to making bad trades, what the hell are the 'skins thinking drafting another QB? Now they’ve got 3 high-priced (well, one HIGH and two probably medium) QBs plus Hasselback on a team that’s built to win today and end up like the 9ers in a few years.
Not that I mind the meddling of Danny Snyder. I’m thinking it’s almost time for him to get a new coach…