Once upon a time, the New York Football Giants were the professional version of Linebacker U … Harry Carson and Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks and Pepper Johnson … A Big Blue Wrecking Crew, to be sure.
LT was the second pick of the 1981 draft at a time when Carson, Brad Van Pelt and Brian Kelley were already established and heralded as the Crunch Bunch.
Former GM Jerry Reese understandably prioritized pass rushers and cornerbacks, so much so that the Giants had turned into Linebacker Who? while Eli Manning was running for his life behind an offensive line that was never upgraded.
B.J. Goodson and Devon Kennard are the only linebackers drafted by Big Blue in the last six years and they were fourth- and fifth-round picks, respectively.
The last time the Reese Giants drafted a linebacker before the third round was in 2009, when Clint Sintim, who could not stay on the field and went bust, was a second-round selection.
Reese did trade for pedestrian LB Keith Rivers in 2012 and a year later for middle linebacker Jon Beason, who was terrific for a spell until he quickly broke down.
Enter new GM Dave Gettleman.
Back to the future the Giants go.
You can debate whether Alec Ogletree, acquired from the Rams on Wednesday along with a 2019 seventh-round pick for fourth- and sixth-round picks this year, is a $10 million gamble worth taking.
He does not come without risk — the Rams discarding him after a subpar 2017, too soft against the run, one year after guaranteeing him $31.4 million — but he is only 26 and a first-round pick in 2013, even after some pre-draft baggage.
“Alec has evolved into a true leader on our football team,” GM Les Snead said after giving Ogletree the big deal. “His teammates voted him as a captain in back-to-back seasons for a reason — and it’s not only because of his production, but his character and resiliency.”
And a year later, they were shopping the guy to the Chiefs as part of the Marcus Peters trade and unloading him to the Giants: beggars who can’t be choosers.
“The focus of the team from a linebacker perspective has been weak in the last few years,” Carson told The Post.
Gettleman is desperate for linebackers for new defensive coordinator James Bettcher’s 3-4 system, and needs to rebuild his offensive line while also targeting The Next Manning. Goodson has shown promise but played just seven games last season. Carson has served as a mentor of sorts to him and likes his size and range.
“What the Giants need is a leader on defense,” Carson said.
Bettcher will be expecting Ogletree and Goodson to give them that leadership.
“I think that they would be a good duo in the middle of the defense,” Carson said, “and also that they’ll be very effective.”
Still a long way to another Big Blue Wrecking Crew or a Crunch Bunch. But maybe it can be a start.
“Those are titles from yesteryear,” Carson said, and laughed. “You’ll never have another Crunch Bunch, you’ll never have another Big Blue Wrecking Crew. But you can form a defense and develop a new persona, a new name, and go from there.”
Carson hated the old nicknames.
“Yeah we were on posters, but those were names that were laid on us by other sources, not necessarily names that we embraced and came up with ourselves,” he said.
Told that Giants fans would kill for another group like that, Carson said: “I hope so.”