If there's one thing New York Giants GM Jerry Reese can master it's the NFL Draft. Every draft Reese has been a GM for since his debut in 2007 has consisted of players making a huge and positive impact for the Giants. It's hard to choose which pick would be considered the best of the best by Reese, but I'm going to give it a go.
After much thought the best draft pick Jerry Reese has made since becoming the GM of the New York Giants is Jason Pierre-Paul.
We heard it all leading up to that draft in 2010. Many analysts all around the football world said the Giants needed to draft linebacker Rolando McClain. "Rolando McClain or bust" was what I kept hearing. Well, McClain was picked up by the Oakland Raiders earlier in the draft and I looked at my friend Tim and said, "They better draft Pierre-Paul then."
A lot of fans at first didn't like the pick. Another defensive end? We needed a linebacker! All JPP seemed to be was an athletic freak of nature who knew how to do back flips better than playing football.
JPP was thought of as too big of a project mostly because he started playing football later in his life than most. Can he play football in the NFL? Was he really ready?
He posted his best season so far in 2011 ending the year with 86 tackles, 16.5 sacks, and a Super Bowl XLVI ring. He cannot only get to the quarterback, but has great skill in tracking the running backs. When the Giants run defense struggled greatly in 2012, JPP seemed to be the only player making any kind of plays against the run. He has also showed great skill in batting down passes, and who can forget the blocked field goal he made against the Dallas Cowboys in 2011 which likely helped save the Giants season.
There are still improvements to be made in his game. After all he is still a young guy with a big career in front of him. To me, the sky is the limit for JPP. We're only seeing the beginning.
Since being drafted JPP has shown he's one of the finest young defenders in the entire league. McClain on the other hand, well, he was arrested Sunday night ... again. In other words, he's not aspiring to be the NFL caliber linebacker everyone thought he'd be.
Once again, Jerry Reese proved genius while making the rest of us look silly.
You can follow Kelsey O'Donnell on Twitter @KelsODonnell