The 20202 NFL Combine is being held this week in Indianapolis and the New York Giants, holders of the No. 4 overall pick in April’s NFL Draft, will be seeking their next class of presumptive stars.
What will they be looking for and what the rest of the football world believes they should be looking for are two distinct and separate things.
If I ran the Giants, I’d be looking specifically for two types of players first: ones that can make plays on defense and ones that can protect my young quarterback.
What is going through general manager Dave Gettleman’s mind is anyone’s guess. Like most, I’m under the assumption he knows what his team in lacking, but you can never tell with him. He falls in love with players and ends up reaching.
Here’s some players the Giants should be interested in this week.
Offensive Tackles
- Jedrick Wills, OT, Alabama (JR, 6’5″, 320 pounds)
- Andrew Thomas, OT, Georgia (JR, 6’5″, 320 pounds)
- Mekhi Becton, OT, Louisville (JR, 6’7″, 369 pounds)
- Tristan Wirfs, OT/OG, Iowa (JR, 6’5″, 322 pounds)
You can take them in any order you’d like. They all should be there at No. 4 when the Giants select. The favorite here is Becton, who is just so massive and imposing he’s hard to pass up. The question is can you trade down a few spots and still get one of these guys?
The answer is yes. Gettleman should trade back from No. 4 with a team looking for a quarterback, grab some draft capital and maybe take one of the above and perhaps one from the below list in Round 1:
- Isaiah Simmons, Clemson (rJR, 6’4″, 225 pounds)
- Kenneth Murray, Oklahoma (JR, 6’2″, 234 pounds)
- Patrick Queen, LSU (JR, 6’1″, 227 pounds)
- Zack Baun, Wisconsin (rSR, 6’3″, 240 pounds)
- A.J. Epenesa, Iowa (JR, 6’6″, 280 pounds)
- K’Lavon Chaisson, LSU (JR, 6’4″, 250 pounds)
- Yetur Gross-Matos, Penn State (JR, 6’5″, 264 pounds)
- Terrell Lewis, Alabama (rJR, 6’5″, 258 pounds)
Any one of the above players would walk right onto the practice field in East Rutherford and take someone’s job Day 1. Simmons would be the optimal choice, but the Giants might have to stay at No. 4 to get him, pending his Combine performance.
I love Epenesa and Baun, but they aren’t Top 5 worthy. The rest could be mid-late first rounders or even second rounders, but I’m putting Becton, Simmons, Baun and Epenesa on my dance card. I’ll also be interested to see how Chaisson fares as well.
For those who are into the best available player theory, Alabama wideout Jerry Jeudy and Ohio State defensive back Jeffrey Okudah are two players to watch.