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Just because the 2021 NFL draft has come and gone doesn’t mean mock draft season is over. No, no… apparently mock draft season now runs around the clock.
More than a week removed from the conclusion of the 2021 draft and 2022 NFL mock drafts continue to flow like fresh water from a mountain stream. And the latest to jump on the trend is our friend Mark Schofield over at Touchdown Wire.
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Schofield dropped his “ridiculously early 2022 NFL mock draft” late last week and with pick No. 7 overall, he has the New York Giants selecting Alabama linebacker Christian Harris.
Quarterback here is indeed tempting…
After all, we are entering the “year of no excuses” with New York Giants signal-caller Daniel Jones. The team added wide receiver Kenny Golladay in free agency as well as the shifty Kadarius Toney in the draft, and with Jones entering year three, he has to take a step forward.
Assuming he does, linebacker is the kind of position that Dave Gettleman could look to address early in the draft. Christian Harris is a former defensive back, and his athleticism makes him perhaps the ideal modern linebacker.
With their second first-round pick — the pick acquired from the Chicago Bears — Schofield has the Giants taking Miami offensive tackle Zion Nelson at No. 11 overall.
Thanks to the draft-night trade between the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants, the deal that allowed the Bears to move up for Justin Fields, the Giants are now back on the clock. Again, quarterback could be in play here if Daniel Jones fails to take the kind of step forward Giants fans are hoping to see in 2021. Or, Dave Gettleman could package this pick and the other first-round selection to move up to the top of the board and add a new face at QB.
Assuming that the organization wishes to move forward with Jones, offensive tackle could be in play for the Giants. Andrew Thomas looked better down the stretch in the 2020 season, Matt Peart performed well for a third-round selection, and the organization also returns Nate Solder for the 2021 campaign after he opted-out in 2020. Still, if the unit does not perform as well as hoped, tackle could be in the mix next season. Nelson started all 13 games at left tackle for the Miami Hurricanes as a true freshman in 2019, and followed that up with another seven starts in 2020.
Both Draft Wire and Touchdown Wire really, really want the Giants to move on from Daniel Jones. Instead, they end up with Harris and Nelson, two players who have already been connected to the Giants multiple times.