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?
The only QB is Manning. Johnson or Smith will be the #2. As far as the draft at that position, unless the Giants are willing to draft a QB at #23, then it probably isn't worth drafting one this year. Trubisky, Watson, Mahomes, Davis, and Kizer will all be gone by #55. Peterman, Kaaya, Dobbs, etc., are just backups. Reese has also had no luck with day three "developmental" QBs. Mahomes is still may dark horse pick for #23, but it would be a very gutsy move by Reese.
They've drafted two OL in the first round and another in the 2nd within the past four years. What are you talking about?
And Hall can play some cb in a pinch if needed
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The biggest problem on this team last year was solved by the signing of Fluker.I don't think so,they need to draft at least one OL early or this problem will continue to be a thorn in the side.When we can't run the ball or give Eli time to go through his reads next season,everyone will be bitching about how they failed to fix the line again.I would love to draft a stud to add to the D,but if they don't address the OL until the 5th round then they will be doomed once more for ignorance in this area.At some point they need to bite the bullet and go heavy on OL in the draft,now is that time.
They've drafted two OL in the first round and another in the 2nd within the past four years. What are you talking about?
What I am talking about is fixing the OL .Yes they used a first on Pugh four years ago,a second on Richburg three years ago, and a first on Flowers two years ago.Last year they did nothing to add to the line,and so far this year they added DJ Fluker as a FA. When I say go heavy I mean don,t just add one guy and think that the line is fixed because it isn't.Going heavy to me would be in addition to Fluker Drafting OL in two of the first three or four rounds,and if it were the fist two rounds that would be fine with me.
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In comment 13398228 tomjgiant said:
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The biggest problem on this team last year was solved by the signing of Fluker.I don't think so,they need to draft at least one OL early or this problem will continue to be a thorn in the side.When we can't run the ball or give Eli time to go through his reads next season,everyone will be bitching about how they failed to fix the line again.I would love to draft a stud to add to the D,but if they don't address the OL until the 5th round then they will be doomed once more for ignorance in this area.At some point they need to bite the bullet and go heavy on OL in the draft,now is that time.
They've drafted two OL in the first round and another in the 2nd within the past four years. What are you talking about?
What I am talking about is fixing the OL .Yes they used a first on Pugh four years ago,a second on Richburg three years ago, and a first on Flowers two years ago.Last year they did nothing to add to the line,and so far this year they added DJ Fluker as a FA. When I say go heavy I mean don,t just add one guy and think that the line is fixed because it isn't.Going heavy to me would be in addition to Fluker Drafting OL in two of the first three or four rounds,and if it were the fist two rounds that would be fine with me.
In my opinion, we need playmakers who can make a more immediate impact, on both sides of the ball, as much (if not more) than we need O-Line prospects who will most likely not see much playing time as rookies.
I expect the Giants to draft, maybe, one good OL prospect somewhere in the first three rounds, but no more than that if it means passing up a good WR, TE, CB, DE, or LB.