Giants Acquire LB Alec Ogletree For 2 Draft Picks
Meet the new GM, much different than the old GM! Or at least different enough. Jerry Reese used to run from acquiring big name linebackers while Dave Gettleman is burning draft capital to acquire one. One day the Giants will realize they can use draft picks to pick linebackers early in the draft (we don’t talk about Clint Sintim around these parts). But I’ll take trading for one that was picked in the first round for two picks in the 2nd half of the draft, with the 4th rounder being the Giants compensatory pick at the end of the 4th round instead of the 2nd pick of the 4th round. Forget about missing the days of Taylor, Banks, and Carson. I miss the days of Pierce and Mitchell.
*Goosebumps every single time*
Ogletree was a freak coming out of Georgia, like most Georgia players are, and I imagine current D-Coordinator and future Super Bowl Champion head coach James Bettcher won’t mind having a linebacker like Ogletree to unleash in his blitz-heavy scheme. Ogletree doesn’t come cheap, however, as he just signed a big extension with the Rams in October.
But we aren’t paying the bills, so why should we care? I guess keeping a few bucks available under the cap for Odell’s upcoming contract, as well as the price of any O-Line free agents that could help keep Eli upright (Andrew Norwell?), especially now that Michael Bennett is an Eagle would be nice. But the guts of this team are still a playoff team that had some glaring holes but also some real talent. Linebacker was one of those positions because Jerry Reese apparently didn’t realize that linebacker was still a position in the NFL, so now Gettleman will have to pay to fix Reese’s mistakes. But at least he’s trying to fix the mistakes with solutions outside of late round picks and undrafted free agents.
I don’t know if this trade means the Giants are more likely to trade the 2 pick for more picks or what, but I do know my annual fear about the Giants linebacker corps sucking is not as strong now that they have acquired an athletic freak that was also a team captain last season. Granted, this blurb from ESPN doesn’t make me feel great considering the Giants will be switching to a 3-4 defense as well.
Ogletree, a safety in college, has been a captain on the Rams the last couple years and led the Rams’ transition from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense under Wade Phillips throughout the summer. The 26-year-old has struggled at times under a new scheme, with Pro Football Focus grading him 81st among 87 qualified linebackers.
via ESPN
As for the other potential issue with this trade, I have officially chosen to forgive Alec Ogletree for his cheap shot on Odell Beckham that sparked that huge brawl a few years ago.
I can only imagine the size of the bounty Gregg Williams placed on Odell’s head before that game. Probably a kabillion dollars based on the highlights ODB was putting on team’s asses during his rookie season. Every time ODB touched the ball, he had five Rams gunning for his head. If you are above getting paid good money just to scramble in a stranger’s brains, you hate capitalism. That simple. Plus if the 2017 NFL season taught us anything, it’s that everything from the Jeff Fisher Era should probably be ignored, except for all of Big Cat’s blogs about Jeff Fisher. Those should be put in the Smithsonian.
So welcome to the GGGGGGGG-Men Alec Ogletree. May you end up as an acquisition that is remembered closer to Antonio Pierce than Carlos Emmons.
Actually fuck Carlos Emmons, that no good, double agent for the Eagles son of a bitch. I can’t believe I just poisoned the juju of this entire blog by mentioning him. My apologies, Giants fans. Here are Ogletree’s college highlights video since it’s #DraftPropagandaSZN and college highlights always get the blood rushing to all the right parts.