In baseball, going 1-for-9 consistently (a .111 average) will bring a quick end to your big-league aspirations.
In basketball, shoot 1-for-9 from the field and you probably can't compete with a high school team.
In football, go 1-for-9 in the draft very often and your team probably ends up like the Detroit Lions or St. Louis Rams. Meaning, it doesn't win very often.
Unfortunately, it seems Giants GM Jerry Reese might just have done that in the 2009 NFL Draft. If you have been reading BBV for a while, you know I am a huge Reese booster. Right now, though, it's tough to defend the 2009 draft class.
After 2009 fourth-round pick Andre Brown was waived and claimed by the Denver Broncos, Ernie Palladino summarized the situation this way:
Nine picks, one star, three gone entirely, one on the practice squad for a second year, one bust in the making, one still waiting for a chance on the playing field, and two role players. Not a great 2009 scorecard.
I know you guys probably can't read Ernie's piece since it requires a subscription, but he is right on target here.
- No. 1 pick Hakeem Nicks is a star in the making.
- No. 2 picks Will Beatty and Clint Sintim are disappointing thus far. The Giants tried to hand Beatty the left tackle job this summer, and he could not take it. He might still develop, but not a good sign that he could not win a job. Sintim, according to Ernie "has bust written all over him." He just doesn't seem, at this point, to show the instincts for what the Giants are asking him to do. It's fair to wonder if he ever will, or if those who thought he would hve fit better in a 3-4 were correct.
- No. 3 picks Ramses Barden and Travis Beckum have each barely been able to get on the field. The guess here is that neither one ever becomes a central figure in the Giants offense.
- No, 4 pick Brown is gone.
- No. 5 pick Rhett Bomar might as well be. Pretty obvious that he will never, at least by choice, play a meaningful down for the Giants.
- Nos. 6 & 7 picks DeAndre Wright and Stoney Woodson did not make it out of camp a year ago.
You know, I take a mulligan every so often when I play golf. Unfortunately, you get no mulligans in the NFL. Mistakes in the draft, especially in the top half of the draft, can haunt teams for a long time. I am not writing Beatty, Sintim, Barden and Beckum off as busts at this point, but they need to step up and justify Reese's faith. The Giants will suffer if they don't.