Giant wishes
NFL Draft Mailbag
March 23, 2004
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
Reader feedback is always welcomed here at DraftKing.com. Send your thoughts to me at LouPickney@gmail.com.
From: John Griffin
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 12:45 AM
To: Lou Pickney
Subject: Robert Gallery
I notice you have Arizona taking Gallery with the #3 pick. I don't see that happening if Green sticks to his strategy of taking the best player available. I know you never can tell, but I read that Green listed who he thinks the best three players are in this years draft in order, Larry Fitzgerald, Mike Williams and Sean Taylor. If that is true, They will most likely get either Fitzgerald or Williams.
Lou: The popular thought seems to be that Dennis Green will take a WR at #3. Granted, Larry Fitzgerald and Mike Williams are two amazingly talented athletes who have strong potential to be perennial All-Pro performers.
But here's the thing... Arizona has a whole host of needs, but WR is not one of them. This is a team that spent a first round pick last season on Penn State wideout Bryant Johnson, then came back in the second round and picked up Florida State WR Anquan Boldin (who was the unanimous choice as the AP 2003 NFL Rookie of the Year).
If it were me, I would take either Eli Manning or Ben Roethlisberger if I were in power in Phoenix. But I'm not. The franchise seems content with its QB situation, which is mind-boggling to me, but so be it.
I know that Dennis Green found lightning in a bottle with Randy Moss in 1998. But rookie WRs rarely perform like that. Boldin did last season for Green's new Cardinals team -- and now he wants to try and make history repeat? I don't see how drafting Mike Williams makes this team better than by drafting Robert Gallery. My thought is that this is all a smokescreen by the cunning Green, who will snag Gallery as the Giants stand by watching in disbelief. At least, that's my guess.
From: Jay Perez
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 9:12 PM
To: Lou Pickney
Subject: Giants Draft Day Trade
The Giants should trade down from the #4 pick with Pittsburg for the #11
pick......
That way the Steelers can grab the QB they covet: Ben Roesthlisberger and the Giants would get the #11 pick the second round pick #44 and 4th round pick #106 from the Steelers.
The Giants would add much needed depth in a quality draft.
The Following is my draft forecast:
Round 1
#11 Will Smith DE - Ohio St.
Round 2
#34 Jacob Rogers OT USC
#44 JP Losman QB - Tulane
Round 3
#65 Bandon Everage S - Oklahoma
Round 4
#96 Issac Sapoaga DT - Hawaii
#106 Daryl Smith ILB - Georgia Tech
Round 5
#131 Darius Watts WR - Marshall
Round 6
#162 Jeb Terry OG - North Carolina
Round 7
#193 Travis Wilson FB - Kansas St.
Lou: Jay, if this were to turn out the way you projected, the Giants would deserve an A+ from the "draft experts" for the job performed. However, the odds of Daryl Smith lasting until day #2 AND Darius Watts being there at #131 both seem like major stretches to me. Even Brandon Everage at #65 is a reach. Maybe I'm wrong, but if this is possible, the Giants should jump all over it.
However, I think there's no way Smith and Watts will be there. Trading into the Top 5 from outside is highly problematic, particularly to take a QB, because of the salary cap ramifications (typically the Top 5 picks are able to command extremely high signing bonuses). Moreover, there's a chance that Roethlisberger might fall to the Steelers at #11. In short, I don't see Pittsburgh doing that deal; this strikes me more as a trade out of Madden 2004 than the real NFL. But if the Steelers for some reason do, and if the players you project falling are there, and if the Giants take them... then good grief, lookout NFC East.
