Evaluating The Current 53

It's obviously a fluid situation, but I thought it could be helpful to take stock, look at where we're at with the roster, and where the Giants could opt to go with the rest of FA:

QB (2): Eli, Geno

I expect Geno to beat out Josh Johnson to win the backup job. The Giants could take a QB to start grooming him, but I'd be surprised at this point. Too many other holes right now.

RB (4): Perkins, Vereen, Darkwa, ?

Look for the Giants to add one more player here. Preferably through the draft. More on that later

WR (6): OBJ, Marshall, Shepard, Harris, Lewis Jr, King

Harris sticks due to special teams value. Could see him taking a paycut. Rest is pretty solid. Doubt the Giants add any more players to this group

TE/FB (4): Ellison, Tye, Adams, Lacosse?

Starts to get trickier here. Clearly none of the four are making any defenses shake in their cleats. We also don't totally know what the Giants have here in Lacosse. I would like to see them add a pass catcher to bust up the cover two that seems to give us such much trouble.

OL (9): Flowers, Pugh, Richburg, Jerry, Hart, Fluker, Jones, ?, ?

Obviously everyone's main concern, for good reason. Tough to see the Giants getting an upgrade on Flowers at this point, so we're all just going to have to pray that he takes a jump in year three. That said, feeling pretty good about the rest of the line. You'd hope that the Giants should be get a decent 16 games out of Jerry, Hart and Fluker, plus presumably another addition.

DE (5): JPP, Vernon, Okwara, Owa, Wynn

Pretty set here, honestly. Yes, you can upgrade on the latter three, but the Giants aren't giving up on OO, and Okwara came on late. Feeling pretty decent about this group with JPP back in the fold.

DT (4): Snacks, Thomas, Bromley, ?

Outside of Snacks, a whole lotta nothin. Hankins coming back changes this, but if not, it becomes a major major hole.

LB (6): Goodson, Herzlich, Casillas, Kennard, JT Thomas, ?

Keenan Robinson low-key ended up playing the second most snaps of any LB last year. He will be missed if he doesn't come back or is replaced adequately. The last four players mentioned above are on the final year of their deal, so this group could look very different very quickly.

CB (6): Jenkins, Apple, DRC, Deayon?, ?, ?

Top 3 are studs, but the Giants are one injury away from being in big trouble very quickly.

S (4): Collins, Thompson, Adams, Berhe

Strong group. Collins turned into a stud. Excited to see what Thompson can do coming back.

K (1): ?
P (1): Wing
LS (1): DeOssie


So in recap, here are the current holes on the roster:

RB, TE, OL, OL, DT, LB, CB, CB, K

With 7 picks left and free agency not even over, have to like the current makeup of the Giants roster. I know people want major upgrades on the OL, but that feels unlikely at this point. I actually think the bigger need is at DT, where the Giants don't have much depth, and now may have to replace a three year starter.

Here is what I propose:

Free agency:

1. Re-sign big Hank to a one year, 8 mil deal. Probably the largest amount of money for a single season that he's going to get on the market. Hankins can prove his worth this year and then try to hit it big with the Giants or elsewhere. With JPP's restructure, the Giants should have the cap to pull this off.

2. Bring in one vet CB for cheap. Maybe it's Sensabaugh, maybe it's Wade, maybe it's someone else. Alterraun Verner is still out there. But you saw what happened last year when DRC went down in the playoffs. The Giants got absolutely picked apart. Need more re-enforcements here.

Draft:

Rd 1: Zach Cunningham, LB, Vandy

Jerry Reese was at his pro day, which makes a ton of sense. Cunningham is clean off the field, productive, athletic, and did it all with a subpar supporting cast. He's a prototypical Reese rd. 1 pick. With Robinson likely gone, and four of the five LBs under contract potentially leaving next year, you need to restock here. ZC should be a 3 down player who will be a tackling machine and can cover both TEs and RBs.

Rd 2: Caleb Brantley, DT, FL

With a sub-par combine, many think Brantley will slip to the 2nd. Would be a great fit with the Giants as a penetrator next to Snacks.

Rd 3: Jake Butt, TE, Michigan

Great fit for Butt, a former first round prospect, who is now coming off a torn ACL. He should be able to rehab for a while and learn behind Tye, before taking over for him down the line. Not a great blocker, but should be a pretty strong pass catcher for Eli for many years.

Rd 4: Samaje Perine, RB, Oklahoma

Tough to come up with a better compliment to Perkins. Perine is basically a ball of muscle. Good for short yardage, and has surprisingly good hands out of the backfield.

Rd 5: Julie'n Davenport, OT, Bucknell

Giants have supposedly shown interest in this kid. Developmental OT who has supposedly some great physical gifts.

Rd 6: Zane Gonzalez, K, Arizona State

Best kicker in the draft

Rd 7: Sojourn Shelton, CB, Wisconsin

Probably won't get drafted, but a good kid. Tough player, had a productive year

Thoughts?