Carl Banks: Giants selecting OT at No. 4 would be logical

Carl Banks explains why the New York Giants selecting an offensive tackle at No. 4 would be the logical and safe choice.

If you ask any New York Giants fan what they should do with the No. 4 overall selection in the upcoming NFL Draft, the responses will vary from far-fetched to level-headed.

Many want the game-changing defensive player or an offensive playmaker who will make a splash. The reality is the Giants need a staple left tackle, something they haven’t had in the better part of a decade.

Former Giant great and radio analyst, Carl Banks, is one of those who believe the Giants should do the logical thing and select one of the four stud left tackles they will likely have their choice of on April 23.

“If they get the right offensive lineman, I don’t think anybody is going to be upset, considering that they’ve bolstered the defense,” Banks told WFAN’s Joe and Evan. “Obviously, there’s no Isaiah Simmons currently on the Giants roster, but their holes have been filled. I don’t know how deep those holes have been filled to, but they’ve been filled.

“An offensive lineman who is going to be there for Daniel Jones for the next seven, eight, 10 years, if he’s successful, is going to prove better than an Isaiah Simmons. And that’s taking nothing away from [Isaiah Simmons] … If they take a lineman, I understand the logic.”

When the Giants are on the board at No. 4, they should have their pick of Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs, Jedrick Wills, Jr. of Alabama, Mekhi Beckton of Louisville and Georgia’s Andrew Thomas.

“It’s not often that an NFL team gets the lineman of their choice,” continued Banks. “And I think they’ll have their pick of offensive linemen, just based on what’s going to happen in the first three picks of this draft.”

And that’s likely to unfold much like most of the mock drafts we’ve seen with Cincinnati selecting LSU quarterback Joe Burrow first overall followed by Washington taking Ohio State EDGE Chase Young rusher at No. 2. Detroit could surprise by trading back at No. 3, but any team moving up to that spot would do so with the intention of selecting a quarterback.

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