Doug Marrone is a New Yorker. He grew up in The Bronx as a hard-core New York sports fan. He bleeds Yankees pinstripes. He knows what New York sports fans want: Big names, star power and winning.
So Marrone understands why the Giants’ selection of Syracuse offensive tackle Justin Pugh on Thursday in the first round of the NFL Draft did not exactly send the Giants fans at Radio City Music Hall spilling onto Sixth Avenue into spontaneous celebration.
Marrone, the current Bills head coach and former Syracuse coach who recruited and coached Pugh for his entire collegiate career, knows this wasn’t the sexy, big-splash draft pick the draftniks crave.
But in an interview with The Post Thursday about the newest Giant, Marrone delivered this message for those Giants fans who might have been nonplussed by the pick: In Pugh, you just got a smart, tough, dependable, 10-year starter who can play every position on the offensive line.
“He’s just a lunch-pail, go-to-work type of player,’’ Marrone said.
If those words do not embody a New York Giants player, none do.
“He’s not what you call a ‘sexy’ pick, but he is just a tough kid who works extremely hard in practice and is very proud of what he does,’’ Marrone said. “He’s a very mentally-tough, tough kid and he’s smart. I’m not sure what position he’ll end up playing [for the Giants] but he can play all five positions on the line.
“Every single year he was at Syracuse, he’s been, in my opinion, the best lineman in our conference. He’s been a very productive player. I don’t know what other guy who will be drafted that can pay all five positions on the line as well as he can. You can put that kid anywhere and he’ll play well.’’
Pugh, who played left tackle for Syracuse, will likely be penciled in by the Giants as the favorite to start at right tackle, where David Diehl is now more suited to be a swing player as veteran depth.
Marrone is not merely a current NFL head coach who happened to coach Pugh at Syracuse. His background is the offensive line.
He was an offensive lineman at Syracuse. He was Herman Edwards’ offensive line coach with the Jets, for whom he converted Brandon Moore from a project defensive lineman into a Pro Bowl guard, and he had a hand in a number of other success stories. He was Sean Payton’s offensive line coach in New Orleans.
The point is, Marrone knows what a starting NFL offensive lineman looks like. So his glowing assessment of Pugh has to be more than encouraging to Giants fans and — more importantly — to Eli Manning.
When their 19th pick arrived on Thursday night, the Giants had a number of options to draft a player flashier than Pugh. Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert, a 6-foot-5 1/2 talent with wide-receiver skills, was available. So was controversial Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o, as well as the Georgia linebacker with freakish skills, Alec Ogletree, and Florida State defensive linemen Bjoern Werner and Tank Carradine.
Any of those players would have elicited a more excited reaction from Big Blue Nation. But no matter, Marrone said.
“For me, [Pugh] has all the intangibles I always look for,” Marrone said. “He’s versatile, tough, smart, plays hard, plays hurt and finishes.’’
Recalling the first time he saw a recruiting tape of Pugh playing high school ball in the Philadelphia area, Marrone said: “He was on our board and we put on a tape of him and I was like, ‘Who is this kid? We’ve got to go get him. He can run and hit.’
“I thought, ‘Is it me or is this kid not the real deal?’ He had freakish movement skills and great feet.’’
Marrone, who had Pugh red-shirt in his freshman year “because he was developing his body,’’ then watched him seize the starting left tackle job a sophomore and more than hold his own in practice against teammate Chandler Jones, who the Patriots drafted as a defensive lineman in the first round last year.
“When Chandler went to New England in the first round last year,’’ Marrone said, “I knew Justin was probably thinking about coming out [early] for the draft.’’
Now he’s a Giant, something that should excite Big Blue fans more than their lukewarm draft-night reaction suggests.