It started off as a routine exchange between Giants general manager Jerry Reese and me during an awkward and tense postseason press conference. I asked Reese about the Giants' lack of success in the mid-to-late rounds of the NFL Draft, and he answered with a brushoff.

"Mid-to-late rounds, you know, you have lesser talent in the mid-to-late rounds," Reese said. "We just missed on some guys, gotten good players out of mid-to-late rounds. Just to be frank, Jordan, you have lesser talented players in the mid-to-late round. You know, if you pick in the Top 10 or Top 12, you get some higher quality talent."



Given that the Giants general manager is available to the media to talk football about seven of the 365 days each year, I decided to press. After owner John Mara had said unproductive draft classes were a primary cause of the Giants' struggles, I assumed we could accept that as a given.

"Your percentage of hitting on those is lower, in the last eight years or so, than the other teams," I told Reese. "Granted you're not going to hit 50 percent ..."

But Reese fired back.

"Have you researched that? Do you know that for a fact?" Reese said. "OK, until you know that for a fact, then I don't think you should say that. That's just my opinion. If you know that for a fact, then you can tell me that. But give me the facts on that."



Ummm, challenge accepted.



So I went to the record books and studied every draft for every team, Rounds 3-7, since Reese took over as general manager in 2007. I was looking for was the number of "hits" the Giants had in those rounds, compared to the rest of the league.

"Hits" will be defined as players who were starters or significant contributors for more than one season for the team that drafted them.

Look, there are lots of ways to define "hits." And by almost any measure, the Giants haven't been successful in the mid-to-late rounds since Reese took over. This is especially true after 2007, when (by my count), Reese recorded four of his six "hits." That means he has found just two quality players in Rounds 3-7 in the past seven years.

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Those two are wide receiver Mario Manningham and linebacker Jacquian Williams. And really, it can be argued whether Williams was a quality player or whether he was on the field only because the Giants didn't have a better option. He's since faded out of the league after his four years with the Giants.



The only Pro Bowler from these rounds during Reese's time as general manager is long snapper Zak DeOssie, who was drafted in the fourth round in 2007 as a linebacker.



Pretty much any way you calculate the mid-to-late rounds, it's not pretty for Reese and the Giants.



(Note: Thanks to everyone who sent me data. And a lot of you did.)



Here's a look at the raw numbers (h/t BBI, although not sure the individual responsible for this):



Ed Valentine and the people at Big Blue View have done a good job of breaking it down. Basically, no matter how you twist the numbers, it says the Giants haven't done a good enough job in the mid to late rounds.

It's why Mara said this on Tuesday:



"Jerry knows this is on him. I've had that discussion. You can't hide from the record. It's up to you now to get it fixed because the last three years are just not acceptable."

TALK IS CHEAP, Ep. 38: Who should replace Tom Coughlin as Giants coach?

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Jordan Raanan may be reached at jraanan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JordanRaanan. Find NJ.com Giants on Facebook.