Reese Era in Review: Revisiting the New York Giants 2013 NFL draft

Here we look back at Jerry Reese’s selections for the New York Giants in the 2013 draft, and re-think it for what could have been.

Former New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese was once one of the most respected executives in the NFL. However, due to a string of questionable personnel decisions, Reese ultimately deprived the Giants of the necessary talent to keep stay competitive with the rest of the league. As a result, Reese was fired, but he could have saved his job if he went in the right direction during the 2013 NFL Draft.

Reese did a better job in 2013 than the previous two years, but that’s not saying much. Three of the seven players Reese selected that year are still in the league today, but only one player he picked is still on the team. The Giants would finish the 2013 with a 7-9 record, the first of three consecutive losing seasons. Outside of a few Ernie Accorsi holdovers, the sub par talent of Reese’s previous draft classes began to show that they weren’t capable. The 2013 draft was full of talent and if Reese made the right picks, the Giants would have been on the right track back to contention.

Here are the re-draft rules taken into account:

• Players selected in this revision maintain their original round value at the time of the 2013 draft except the for the Giants’ final pick of the seventh round. The Giants had the second to last pick in the draft and dipping into the undrafted free agent market was the only way to find the right player.
• No hypothetical trades have been made for this revised draft. It would be impossible to predict how the draft would have played out otherwise.
• The only trades recognized are the trades teams originally made during the 2013 draft.
• Revised drafts of previous years have not been taken into account when determining picks. All picks address areas of need that the Giants had on their roster going into the season.