Draft History: Giants top picks played big parts in championship seasons
Draft History: Giants top picks played big parts in championship seasons
The New York Giants played in nine NFL Championship Games, winning three, over the team’s first 30 years of existence. Most of those clubs played before the NFL Draft became a widely used method of stockpiling talent. Since 1955, New York has won five titles, and those rosters featured star players that came from the draft. The Giants have always been known for their defense, but the “Best” list has its fair share of offensive players as well.
BEST
10. (tie) Osi Umenyiora, DE (Round 2, Pick 56 in 2003), Jason Pierre-Paul, DE (Round 1, Pick 15 in 2010) and Justin Tuck, DE (Round 3, Pick 74 in 2005) – How can you pick among three players who starred on New York’s dominant defensive line in Super Bowl XLVI? You simply don’t. All three players would be worthy selections at this spot. Umenyiora is a two-time champion, a two-time Pro Bowler and an All-Pro in 2005, when he posted a career-high 14½ sacks. He also had 13 in the Super Bowl XLII season of 2007 (his other Pro Bowl year) and 11½ in 2010. In nine seasons with the Giants, Umenyiora totaled 129 games, 85 sacks, 450 tackles and 35 forced fumbles (including an NFL-high 10 in 2010). Before blowing off two fingers in a fireworks accident, Pierre-Paul was a force in the Super Bowl XLVI season, setting a career-best with 16½ sacks while also being named a Pro Bowler and an All-Pro. He made the Pro Bowl again the following year and added 12½ sacks in 2014. JPP spent eight seasons in New York, amassing 79½ sacks, 47 passes defended and two interceptions returned for touchdowns. Tuck was a reserve in the Super Bowl XLII season, but started for six of his nine seasons with the Giants. The two-time Pro Bowler and 2008 All-Pro totaled 60½ sacks (including four seasons with 10 or more), 23 passes defended and 18 forced fumbles.
9. Joe Morris, RB (Round 2, Pick 45 in 1982) – A generation before the two Giants wins over the Patriots, there was the magic of the 1986 championship team, which includes five players on this list. Morris was overshadowed by players like Walter Payton and Roger Craig, but he had three 1,000-yard seasons, two Pro Bowl selections and an All-Pro nod in 1986. He had 1,336 yards and led the NFL with 21 touchdowns in 1985 and added 1,516 yards and 14 scores the following year. His career was cut short by a foot injury that caused him to miss two seasons before a one-year stint with the Browns in 1991. He ranks third in Giants history with 5,296 yards and fourth with 48 touchdowns.
8. Mark Bavaro, TE (Round 4, Pick 100 in 1985) – A degenerative knee condition slowed down one of the NFL’s most promising young players of the mid-1980s. Bavaro played on both Giants championship teams and had 51 yards and a touchdown in a Super Bowl XXI victory over the Broncos. After a solid rookie season in 1985, Bavaro was a Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection in each of the next two years. He posted career-highs with 66 catches and 1,001 yards in the 1986 Super Bowl season, and added 867 yards and a personal-best eight touchdowns the following year. After missing 1991 due to his knee, Bavaro spent a year with Cleveland and two with Philadelphia before retiring in 1994.
7. Tiki Barber, RB (Round 2, Pick 36 in 1997) – The “Lightning” half of the pairing (with “Thunder” Ron Dayne”), Barber played a key role in helping the Giants reach Super Bowl XXXV after the 2000 season. He is New York’s all-time leader with 10,449 yards and ranks second with 55 touchdowns. Barber’s stellar career includes three Pro Bowl selections and six 1,000-yard seasons, with a high of 1,860 in 2005 (when he earned his only All-Pro honor). He was also a threat to catch passes, with six seasons of more than 500 receiving yards to his credit.
6. Frank Gifford, RB (Round 1, Pick 11 in 1952) – As good of a receiver as Barber was, Gifford, a Hall of Famer, was even better. The eight-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro totaled 5,434 yards and 43 touchdowns receiving as the focal point of a Giants offense that went to six NFL Championship games in his 12-year career (they only won once, in 1956). Gifford was also a capable runner, amassing 3,609 rushing yards and 34 scores. He was named United Press International’s Most Valuable Player in 1956.
5. Harry Carson, LB (Round 4, Pick 105 in 1976) – While he didn’t have the sack totals of the two defensive players above him on this list, or even the defensive ends at the 10th spot, Carson was a Hall of Famer who spent his entire 13-year career in New York. The nine-time Pro Bowler harassed opposing passers and rushers, posting 14 fumble recoveries, 11 interceptions and eight sacks. He now teams with Bob Papa to form announce tandem for Giants games on the radio.
4. Michael Strahan, DE (Round 2, Pick 40 in 1993) – Another Hall of Famer and the team’s all-time leader with 141½ sacks, Strahan chased down opposing quarterbacks for 15 seasons, all with New York. He posted double-digit sacks six times and led the league twice, including a league-record 22½ in 2000, which ended with the Giants playing in Super Bowl XXXV. Strahan is a seven-time Pro Bowler and a four-time All-Pro who left on top, retiring after the Giants spoiled the Patriots’ chase of perfection and won Super Bowl XLII.
3. Phil Simms, QB (Round 1, Pick 7 in 1979) – Before Eli Manning came along, Simms held Giants records with 33,462 passing yards and 199 touchdowns. He took a New York squad that was floundering and led them back to relevance. The two-time Pro Bowler and two-time champion hit the 3,000-yard mark six times, with a high of 4,044 in 1984. Simms missed all of 1982 after tearing a knee ligament in a preseason game, but he recovered and made his first Pro Bowl in 1985 and led the Giants to a victory over the Broncos in Super Bowl XXI the following year. In that game, Simms completed 22 of 25 passes, and that 75 percent completion rate is still a Super Bowl record. New York was on their way to another title in 1990 when Simms broke his foot late in the regular season (Jeff Hostetler came off the bench to lead the Giants to a victory over the Bills in Super Bowl XXV). Simms has been a part of NFL television coverage since his retirement in 1994, and he currently is a studio analyst with CBS.
2. Roosevelt Brown, T (Round 27, Pick 322 in 1953) – While the NFL Draft wasn’t as loaded with talent at this point, it is almost unfathomable that 74 (count ’em 74) tackles were taken before Brown, and only one other (Bob St. Clair, who was taken by the 49ers with pick 32) is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He spent 13 seasons with New York, joining Gifford on six teams the made the NFL Championship Game, including the 1956 title season. Brown was selected to nine Pro Bowls and six All-Pro teams.
1. Lawrence Taylor, LB (Round 1, Pick 2 in 1981) – His drug abuse and sexual escapades aside, Taylor changed the way the NFL played defense. Sacks were a new statistic in 1982, and no one was more adept at getting to the quarterback than L.T. during his 13 years in New York. He hit double-digits seven times, including a league-leading 20½ in the 1986 Super Bowl season. Taylor’s list of accolades is one few players possess: Hall of Fame, NFL MVP in 1986, Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1981, three-time Defensive Player of the Year, 10 straight Pro Bowls, eight All-Pro selections and two championships. He ranks second in team history with 132½ sacks and has nine interceptions, with two returned for touchdowns.
WORST
10. Tyrone Wheatley, RB (Round 1, Pick 17 in 1995) – The most common word used to describe Wheatley was “enigma” during his four-year run with the Giants. He was buried behind Rodney Hampton, and later Barber and Charles Way, on the depth chart, and there were complaints of being overweight and missing team meetings (the overweight issue was unfounded, since he was at the same weight he played at in college, and the team meeting complaint was due to the fact that he brought his younger brother to school beforehand). Still, he had injuries (hamstring, ankle), and there were times when his head was not in the game. He had his best seasons after being traded to the Raiders in 1999.
9. Lee Grosscup, QB (Round 1, Pick 10 in 1959) – This was a bad year for the quarterback, as the only Pro Bowler was Joe Kapp, an 18th-round selection by the Redskins who spent eight seasons in the CFL before earning his honor in Minnesota’s Super Bowl IV season in 1969. Grosscup played in eight games over three seasons with the Giants. He was signed by the Vikings but released and instead landed in New York again, this time with the American Football League’s Titans (the early name of the Jets). After two seasons in the CFL and two more with the upstart Continental Football League, Grosscup was out of football as a player. He has found success as a broadcaster, first for AFL games, then college for NBC and ABC, the USFL, the CFL, and the California Golden Bears.
8. Jim Files, LB (Round 1, Pick 13 in 1970) – Files took an interesting career path after being drafted. He spent four years with the Giants, recording five interceptions and starting all 56 games, but the team was going in the wrong direction. He left the NFL and returned to his hometown of Fort Smith, Ark., where he started ministering to Vietnamese and Laotian refugees coming through nearby Fort Chaffee.
7. John Hicks, G (Round 1, Pick 3 in 1974) - He started strong on some bad Giants teams in the mid-1970s, earning the UPI Rookie of the Year Award, but teammates accused him of slacking in his blocks and coach John McKay felt he wasn’t playing up to his potential. After four years and 52 games, Hicks was traded to Pittsburgh, but never played for the Steelers due to injury. He ran a real estate company after his playing days and died from complications of diabetes in 2016.
6. Eli Apple, CB (Round 1, Pick 10 in 2016) – Injuries, attitude and poor play highlighted Apple’s career after many experts said it was a reach to pick him at so high a spot. In two-plus years with the Giants, he made 100 tackles and had one interception, but he was susceptible to the big play. He angered teammates with disparaging remarks on social media and was called a “cancer” in the locker room by former teammate Landon Collins. He also faced hamstring and groin injuries and argued with coaches over having to practice with the scout team. All this led to him being traded to the Saints for draft picks in the middle of the 2018 season.
5. Luke Petitgout, T (Round 1, Pick 19 in 1999) – Although none of the tackles drafted in 1999 were Pro Bowlers, Petitgout was one of the more penalized players at his position. Throughout his eight years in New York, he amassed 79 penalties and missed time with back problems and a broken leg. He was the starting right tackle for the Giants’ loss to the Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV.
4. Ereck Flowers, T (Round 1, Pick 9 in 2015) - Flowers faced the same criticisms as Petitgout (penalty-prone and inconsistent) with the added issues of poor technique and allowing too many defenders to pressure Eli Manning. Flowers played 51 games with the Giants, but became expendable after New York signed Nate Solder. He latched on with Jacksonville for the second half in 2018 and played with Washington last year.
3. Anthony “Skip” Minisi, RB (Round 1, Pick 2 in 1948) - The 1948 Draft was fairly uneventful for the Giants, although they did find a true diamond in the rough with undrafted free agent Emlen Tunnell, a Hall of Famer who ranks second all-time with 79 interceptions (74 with New York). Minisi spent one year with the Giants before changing professions. He went back to the University of Pennsylvania for law school, and spent more than 40 years as an attorney in Philadelphia. Two other first-round picks that year ended up in the Hall of Fame. Detroit and Pittsburgh star quarterback Bobby Layne was selected third by the Bears and future Giants starter Y. A. Tittle was taken sixth by the Lions.
2. Cedric Jones, DE (Round 1, Pick 5 in 1996) - Some sources have Jones as the worst draft pick in team history, but he had two effective seasons at the end of his five-year run in the NFL. He tallied a career-high 7½ sacks in 1999 and 3½ more the following year, when the Giants played in Super Bowl XXXV. New York made good on its next two picks, with wide receiver Amani Toomer selected early in the second round and tackle Roman Oben in the third. However, one player from this Draft would have been an improvement over Jones. Tony Brackens, selected 33rd by Jacksonville, was a 1999 Pro Bowler who registered 55 sacks in eight seasons with the Jaguars.
1. Derek Brown, TE (Round 1, Pick 14 in 1992) - Brown was mainly a special teams player, and he had just 11 receptions and 87 yards in three seasons with the Giants. He was left exposed and taken by the Jaguars in the 1995 Expansion Draft, but he missed the season when a hit in a preseason game caused him to suffer bruised ribs, a collapsed lung and damage to his spleen and kidney. He played for three teams over the next four seasons, but his career totals of 401 yards and one touchdown are not what should be expected from a player drafted this high. The best tight end from this draft was definitely Mark Chmura, a sixth-round pick who went to three Pro Bowls and played in two Super Bowls, including a Packers win over the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI. He also caught a touchdown from Brett Favre in the following year’s “big game” (a loss to the Broncos).
Next: Miami Dolphins
-By: Kevin Rakas
Writer