May 6, 2003
East Rutherford, N.J. - After selecting 11 players in this year's NFL
draft, the Giants believe they added a group of youngsters who will help them
win this year, as well as provide building blocks for the future. The draft
choices improved the talent level and depth on the team, while increasing the
competitiveness at several positions. Their presence should make for a lively
training camp, beginning July 25.
The picks, in order, were Miami defensive tackle William Joseph (first round,
No. 25 overall); defensive end Osi Umenyiora from Troy State (second round,
No. 56); tight end Visanthe Shiancoe from Morgan State (third round, No. 91);
cornerback Rod Babers of Texas (fourth round, No. 123); Illinois guard David
Diehl (fifth round, No. 160); wide receiver Willie Ponder of Southeast Missouri
State (sixth round, No. 199); cornerback Frank Walker from Tuskegee (sixth round,
No. 207); special teams performer and wide receiver David Tyree of Syracuse
(sixth round, No. 211); Michigan safety Charles Drake (seventh round, No. 240);
center Wayne Lucier of Colorado (seventh round, No. 249) and wide receiver Kevin
Walter of Eastern Michigan (seventh round, No. 255).
Ernie Accorsi, who ran his sixth draft as general manager of the Giants, recently
sat down to discuss the players selected, and the process that brought them
to the Giants.
Q: Your statements since the draft indicate you are happy with the players
selected, particularly because you were able to choose players you had targeted
prior to the draft. Is that a correct assessment?
Accorsi: One general statement I'll make is that for the last five years,
we have tried to select size and speed, and I don't think we ever did it to
the extent that we did in this draft. Size and speed and athleticism, that's
what we were going after. We were not looking for a finished product, athletes
who had a ceiling.
We got bigger and faster, that's what we did. We never gave into anything
other than that. The players we drafted can run, particularly the people who
play in space.
We were looking for people for whom the sky is the limit, players that can
run fast and are big. And we did that. I was amused at one of those post-draft
rating systems - thank God they didn't grade my biology exam in college - that
said we drafted for the future in the second and third round. That's just written
by somebody who doesn't know what they're talking about. The future is now.
The laughable thing about that is that Osi can run 4.6 (in the 40-yard dash)
now. We're not waiting three years for him to run 4.6. He's fast. They all play
and they play fast, particularly defensive linemen in a rotation.
People (who criticized the selection of Shiancoe) didn't look at our two-tight
end offense last year. We picked a guy that can run and catch.
Q: Was that the plan entering the draft?
Accorsi: Absolutely, size and speed. We emphasized that. The guys we didn't
do that with in years past didn't last very long. They'd come in and maybe they
played at a little higher level because they were good college players, but
they'd last about three years and you replaced them. I don't want to mention
who they are.
Q: Did you select them in the past because of need?
Accorsi: In the past the system pretty much dictated that and we stuck with
the system. But we adapted the system a little bit and put a greater emphasis
on size and speed. It's that simple. We got big guys who can run, and that's
what this game is about.
Also, I thought we doubled our chances at three critical positions. We drafted
a guard and we signed a free agent guard (Jeff Roehl of Northwestern) who was
draftable. We talked about him in the seventh round. We drafted two receivers
and we drafted two corners. We had needs at all those positions. Maybe both
of them will make it, may the better man win. We doubled our chances for success,
rather than just taking one shot at that position. We didn't have that many
positions where we felt we really needed help. You can always use great players
- I don't mean to be cavalier. But those were positions we wanted to till. Because
we had 11 picks (including four compensatory selections), plus our free agents,
it was two for one. We didn't have to sign that many free agents, we could zero
in on the ones we really wanted.
Q: You used your first two picks for defensive linemen, which was an obvious
area of need entering the draft. How much more do you draft for need now than
you did in your first Giants draft in 1998? Is there more of an emphasis on
that now because of free agency and the salary cap?
Accorsi: I don't think you can give up athleticism and size and speed. But
anyone that follows us or the league knows that late in the game, you have to
get pressure from your defensive line. If you don't, you're blitzing from all
over the place and you're going to give up big plays. What happened (in the
NFC Wild Card Playoff game loss) in San Francisco is we ran out of gas because
of injuries and because of lack of depth at that position in a playoff game.
You can't play without pressure on the passer. On defense, you pressure the
passer and you cover the receivers. That's why corners and defensive linemen
are so important, and why they go so fast in the draft.
We needed defensive linemen. But if we lost Joseph, I'm not so sure we would
have picked a defensive lineman because we were running out of people we felt
good about. And we were not going to pick a second-round talent in the first
round to fill a need. We would have just waited until the second round to pick
a second-round talent.
Q: Do you target players you hope will be available to you in later rounds,
and how much success did you have in acquiring those players?
Accorsi: We targeted probably 20 guys and said we would like to get a couple
of them in the later rounds. Certainly one of them was the special teams player
from Syracuse (Tyree). We waited long enough to pick him and I didn't want to
wait any longer. We targeted Walter and Ponder - we really liked those two receivers.
We didn't target Babers because we thought he might go a little higher. Then
when he was there, we grabbed him. We did target Walker.
And we certainly targeted our second and third round picks. They weren't
later rounds. But it's easy to say you reached. But we're picking 25th. You
have 31 teams that go before you pick again. You think you feel good if you
say, `I think we'll pass on him and wait to the third round' and then he gets
picked before you? Then he plays for somebody else. So if you want him, take
him. That comes from the self-confidence you have, and the trust you have in
your scouts and your organization. We trust our decisions, and that's why we
made both of those selections.
Yeah, maybe on paper they should have been chosen later. But we were at
the bottom. We were a lot closer to the next round than we were to the previous
round. When you're seven or eight picks away from the next round - so Osi's
not a second-round pick (as some outside the organization claim). Well, we picked
him seven spots away from the third round. And we would have had to wait 25
spots to pick him in the third round. We just went and got him, and that's our
philosophy.
Q: Did you expect to see William Joseph still available when you made the
25th pick in the first round?
Accorsi: He wasn't even in our initial plans because we had him going a lot
higher. We had some other people that we thought might be there that got picked.
But that was really an easy decision when that happened.
Joseph is big and he can run, he comes from a top program and he plays a
position of need. It married all the factors for us.
Q: Are you concerned his senior year did not measure up to his junior season?
Accorsi: Let's face it, if there had not been that prevailing feeling, he
certainly would not have been there. We did a lot of research. He thought about
coming out (after his junior year) and he didn't. We had our secret weapon in
player personnel, Jeremy Shockey, give us a lot of information. So we all felt
pretty good about it.
Q: You see him coming in and contributing this year?
Accorsi: They (Joseph and Umenyiora) have to. In this league, you have to
rotate your defensive linemen. You see some of the teams with great, great defenses,
and sometimes they'll have a free agent in there to give their top players a
breather. (Michael) Strahan didn't get a chance to rest last year, (Cornelius)
Griffin was playing hurt, we had the Hammer (Keith Hamilton) out (with a torn
Achilles tendon) and (Kenny) Holmes had some knee problems. So the young guys
played a lot, but these are our first and second draft choices.
Q: This is the second year in a row your top pick is from Miami. Do you
prefer taking players from big football schools in general and Miami in particular?
Accorsi: There are a lot of good programs, but there is hardly one like Miami
when it comes to producing NFL players. They kind of got a late smart because
they didn't get real competitive until around 1979 or '80. But they're going
to pass everybody else - Notre Dame, Southern Cal -- if this continues. I think
they're like third now in producing first-round picks and NFL starters.
Of course, your next question is, `Did you contradict yourself in the second
and third rounds?' Well, number one, our second-round pick played against Mississippi
State, Miami, Nebraksa, Marshall and Missouri. We watched him against those
teams, and he had three sacks against Mississippi State. Then there's a point
where you have to pick talent over school. We still stayed with five or six
pretty major schools. But you don't pigeonhole yourself to any theory. There
are players that come out of all kinds of schools. I'll take those three Hall
of Famers that came out of Morgan State (the Giants' Roosevelt Brown, Leroy
Kelly and Willie Lanier) if they ever want to get reincarnated.
Q: What did you like about Osi Umenyiora, the defensive end you selected
on the second round?
Accorsi: He has speed and pass-rush instincts. He had 16 sacks last season,
and he got a lot of them against good competition. He's smart. Our coaches spend
a lot of time when they come in here (for pre-draft visits) and he picked everything
up that (line coach) Denny Marcin hoped he would pick up. We can't wait to get
him in here.
He has the two things you can't coach, speed and instincts. You try to improve
them, but you can't create them. And I've said a million times, and I don't
mean this literally, but you can somewhat manufacture a guard, but you can't
manufacture a pass rusher.
Q: Why did you fill your hole at tight end with Visanthe Shiancoe?
A: He averaged 20 yards a catch. And I think they would tell you, he didn't
play in the greatest passing game in the world. Not the strategy, but the talent.
We don't draft people off of workouts, but he just blew the lights out (at the
scouting combine) in Indianapolis. And he did it with the things you're looking
for. Not just gymnastics, although they were superlative, but catching the ball,
speed. He caught everything; he has great hands. He's got it, he just has to
adapt to our league, which is understandable. But a lot of people have from
that level. He's got everything you want. And to put him out there with Shockey
will create problems for a defense.
Q: You talked many times about the need to have good cornerbacks in the
NFL? Does Rod Babers fit into that mold?
Accorsi: The only problem with him is his height (5-9). He can run and he
can jump. But we had a short corner who was a great player when I was in Cleveland
in Frank Minnifield. He was shorter than Babers, but he could jump through the
roof. So can Babers. Sure, you'd like them to be 6-2, but they're not drafted
there when they're 6-2. But he can run and he's got a 37-inch vertical jump,
which means he can leap. He's got a heck of a chance to be our third corner.
Plus he was a three-year starter at Texas, where he played well against a lot
of good receivers.
And he could come in and help us on special teams. When you pick athletes
like that, the one benefit that you have is that they're going to help you on
special teams.
Q: You looked at a lot of offensive linemen. What made you select Diehl?
Accorsi: Diehl had high grades. I'm not big on picking interior linemen high,
but he was sticking out. That's about where we wanted to pick him. He has a
chance to compete for a starting position (at right guard). He is an athlete.
For a guard, he has the size and speed requirements we were looking for.
Q: You had three picks in the sixth round. Why was Ponder the first of those
choices?
Accorsi: Ponder is a big guy who can run fast. We talked about him with Walter,
who is bigger but not quite as fast. We got two different types of receivers.
Walter is more in the Joe Jurevicius, Ed McCaffrey image. Jurevicius was stronger
and Walter is faster. Ponder has a lot of speed, and he's big, too. We had problems
with depth at that position last year. That's why we doubled our bets at that
position.
We did the same thing at corner with the next pick, Frank Walker. He's bigger
than Babers, but he played at a lower level of competition. He's going to compete.
He's one of those guys we had penciled in for the late rounds. You can never
have enough corners. Your third corner, depending on who you're playing, is
likely to play more than your SAM linebacker.
Q: After selecting David Tyree, you said it was for his special teams prowess
and not his work as a receiver. Is it unusual to covet a player for his special
teams abilities?
Accorsi: We kept Darnell Dinkins last year because of what he did on special
teams. Tyree was absolutely a guy we wanted to come out of this draft with.
When you have 11 picks, you can afford to do that (select a player for special
teams). He can fill in during an emergency as a receiver. But we thought he
was the best coverage guy we saw all year, and we wanted him for that reason.
That was all part of our special teams emphasis. If he's as good as we think
he is, he'll make the team on that basis. I credit the coaches. If they don't
want to take a guy like that, then you're wasting your time taking him. But
they wanted him.
Q: You didn't have a great need at safety, so was Drake too good to pass
up in the seventh round?
Accorsi: We have safeties, but this guy was too good an athlete. Again, it
was the benefit of having all these picks. But he has a good chance of making
this team. There are some people there he has a chance to beat out. He can run
and he's big.
Q: Did the need for a true backup center prompt you to pick Lucier?
Accorsi: There was a physical question, that's why we waited so long on him.
But I think we felt good about him medically that he is going to be okay. There's
a spot there - all he has to do is go win it.
Q: Is it safe to say you are confident the draft choices will help the team
this season?
Accorsi: They can't all make it because of (roster) numbers, but they all
have a chance. I didn't always feel that way in the past. In this draft, we
got bigger, faster and deeper. There's going to be a lot of competition. It's
going to be a very interesting training camp.
