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Last night in the NFL Draft, an under the radar tradition returned after a two year lay off.
A team traded up to the pick just before the New York Giants. In his nine drafts since being named General Manager in 2007, Jerry Reese has been "jumped" by a team trading up to the pick directly before him six times.
2008
The Giants were jumped by the Jets, who traded up to take TE Dustin Keller. The Giants had traded Jeremy Shockey to the Saints earlier in the year, the 2008 Giants starting tight end wound up being Kevin Boss. The Giants wound up selecting S Kenny Phillips.
2009
The Buffalo Bills jumped the Giants and took C Eric Wood. 2009 would be Giants starting center Shaun O'Hara's last full season in the NFL. The Giants would draft WR Hakeem Nicks.
2010
The Seattle Seahawks jumped the Giants and took S Earl Thomas. Giants S Kenny Phillips, who Reese took after the Jets jumped him in 2008, would be out of the league two years later due to injuries. The Giants would draft DE Jason Pierre-Paul.
2012
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers jumped the Giants to select RB Doug Martin. The Giants then took until their time was up and selected RB David Wilson.
2013
The San Francisco 49ers jumped the Giants to take S Eric Reid. At safety in 2013 the Giants started Will Hill opposite Antrel Rolle. The Giants drafted RT Justin Pugh.
2016
After a few years of not getting jumped, the Giants were jumped by the Chicago Bears, who took LB Leonard Floyd.
Not all of these trade ups were to clearly take a player that the Giants were targeting. It's doubtful the Giants would have taken Earl Thomas if he was on the board as they had a very good duo at safety, and with Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon at DE, they didn't have a pressing need for a pass rusher in the 1st round. But had the Giants, who haven't had made the playoffs since 2011, been more proactive on draft day, they'd be a better team.
In his nine years running drafts for the Giants, Jerry Reese has traded players for draft picks three times, and has made just three draft day trades. He traded up in the 2nd in 2015, and he traded back in the 3rd round in 2009, the 4th in 2008 and 2013. He's more likely to trade draft picks for players, having done so four times. In 2017, if a team wants a player the Giants might take, they should have no problem jumping them.