Giants Draft Recap

Draft Review
 
Overall grade: B
 
This easily could have been an A-.  After round 1 they did pretty well.  They got players later than many predicted they would go and generally in positons of need.  Matching value and need is what makes a good draft.
 
However to do well you need to be flexible enough to move up or down if need and value are not matching.
 
The Tunsil fall caught them of guard.  They were certain that either Conklin or Floyd would still be there and they were both value /need guys.  The Myles Jack fall was anticipated by many but also worked against them.
 
Both Tunsil and Jack were guys that the Giants didn’t feel they could take because they are scarred by their own personal experiences.
 
With Jack they recall the career of Kenny Phillips, the talented but knee injured former Giant first round selection.  With Tunsil they were scarred by column favorite Will Hill, a very talented safety who they ultimately cut after he kept failing drug tests.
 
I would guess at least 25% of these players have smoked pot in college. Tunsil’s crime was getting his phone hacked.
 
The reason I fail them for their round 1 pick is not that they passed on Tunsil –who I do believe will prove to be a great pick for Miami.  They failed because even if they were afraid of another Will Hill situation they should have traded the pick to someone who wasn’t.  They had Apple rated higher than Hargreaves.  Again, most don’t, but ill respect their scouting and evaluation.  But again, if most didn’t he could have been available later.
 
It’s known the Jets offered their number 2 to get up to take the Giants 10th pick to take Tunsil.  It is highly likely that Apple would have been around at 20 –but even if he wasn’t the Giants could have walked away with William Jackson, a cornerback that many had rated higher than Apple and Cody Whitehair, one of the top rated Guards in the draft or linebacker like Deion Jones.  Certainly Whitehair more than makes up for any gap they would think exists between Apple and Jackson.  If they had done that their draft would have been considered to be an A- at least.
 
Apple may turn out to be a good player but nobody had him going that high.  There is the other issue that both of the Giants presumptive choices were known so that teams traded up to the two slots ahead of them.
 
I do like most of what they did with the rest of the draft.  I like the idea of a third receiver and a third cornerback being taken because Jerry Reese is right about one thing.  If you have 2 you are one short.  In today’s NFL 3 effectively start at every position.  The giants’ offense could be potent this year.
Sterling Shepard offers a legit second option and should benefit from attention on Odell Beckham, and if Victor Cruz comes back to anything close to old form defenses will have a tough time keeping up.
Darian Thompson was someone people had projected as high as late in the first round before a bad combine work out and is also a need position.  BJ Goodson could be the key to the draft.  The giants have needed a middle linebacker for years.  He was productive in college and is strong against the run.  He won’t be on the field on passing downs.  Paul Perkins the RB from UCLA also put up great college numbers.  People say he is a bit small but he is only 7-10 pounds less than most others and Jerrell Adams was one of the more highly ranked TEs in the class.  All could wind up contributing this year.  Shepard is the one most likely to be a big contributor. 
 
Having another weapon with OBJ will be big for the offense. Ignoring Reese’s talent evaluation skills, he clearly is ill equipped to run a draft.  How other value talent is important to knowing value.  He has never showed acumen for this.

​-Ari Glass