I think I know how you are going to answer this, but if you were Jerry Reese, and you had relatively equal grades on the players, would you move to strengthen the offensive line, draft a pass rusher, or draft a play-making receiver (tight end included) at #12?
IMO the biggest impact player that the Giants are likely to see on the board when they pick will either be the top DT or top CB. However, others feel that the players at those positions who are likely to be avilable in the second to third round would nearly be as valuable while the gap between the next tier of offensive tackles or tightends is greater.
So my question is, which positions do you see the greatest gap between the top guys available and the next tier?
Do you think the Giants will draft a Center at any point in this year's draft? They haven't drafted one since 2003, and then it wasn't until the 7th round (Wayne Lucier).
Hey guys: Just 6 weeks to go until the draft. (Actually its drat still 6 more weeks to go - kind of like winter hanging on up in these parts.)
Couple of intro points. If I can hammer anything home today its for guys when they think draft think players and not so much positions. Certainly I expect that heading into this draft that the Giants are primarily looking to add impact players with their premium picks as to just filling holes in the roster. The latter is what free agency is for. Indeed, one of the things I suspect teams like the Giants want to try and do with their premium picks is get things they can't get elsewhere in the later rounds or free agency (or at least is much harder to get).
And heading into this draft I would expect the Giants to have a couple of general goals in mind: 1) to juice the pass rush and 2) perhaps even more acutely in this draft significantly increase the speed, athleticism and big-play ability of their skill position people on offense.
Who do you feel is more prepared to make an impact instantly in the NFL? Sammy Watkins or Mike Evans? Though it is unlikely that both are available when the Giants draft, which receiver would help Eli the most in your opinion.
Eric: I'll hit yours first; I suspect that everything else being equal that it would be pass rusher first, impact skill player at 1a and OL way down the list.
That said if the impact guys the Giants are likely targeting are off the board and there is no pass rusher worth the 12th pick (and both are real possibilities) then I really like Zach Martin who is just so technically solid as well as versatile. Could come in figure in the mix at RG right away and provide an extra security blanket at OT down the road.
Since it's a big talking point around here, how do you see Aaron Donald against the run? I think way too many people look at his height and weight and assume he can't.
Last year I asked you about Peter Lalich, because he was the QB at my old high school. As incredible as this sounds, so was Bryn Renner. I see him as a late round pick.
Also, what do you think of Ju'Wuan James as a second round pick, and Justin Ellis as a fourth round pick? Thanks. I think Evans or Ebron are the most likely first round picks for the Giants.
With Giants loading up on corners, I am anticipating the defense getting more aggressive this year. Can you target a few good blitzing linebackers that you think will be available rounds 3-5...ok to throw DE tweeners into this answer.
My question is regarding the WR in the draft. If the Giants don't draft someone like Mike Evans in the first, do you see us drafting one of the WRs in rounds 2-3, ie Moncrief, Latimer, etc.?
Colin question on 2 OL that may be available in the mid rounds Â
Joel Bitonio from Nevada and Weston Richburg from colrado State. Are they possible a possible fit to bring more youth to the Giants OL and eventually become starters.
Chris: My sense is that Ebron's stock wasn't affected by his pro day; if anything it may be a positive for the Giants as there is a bit of a buzz around that several teams with top 10 picks are seriously looking at him;
Semi-pro - the one position with a big drop-off is TE. As noted, = I would suspect the Giants would like to get is a new-age TE that can run, can stretch defenses and most importantly will force defense to account for him with a DB. Once you do that you have a chance to get them out of their comfort zone and force them to really start to scramble to match-up. And while Ebron isn’t quite as fast as say Vernon Davis was when he came out he is the only true TE big-play threat among this year’s TE prospects. There are other guys the Giants may look at in later rounds but none comes close to Ebron’s explosiveness.
Klaatu: One never knows but I wouldn't necessarily expect, although it is a good at C. I do think the Giants will probably look to add a developmental OT in the mid rounds, but G/Cs are a dime a dozen in free agency.
Kevin: Both guys are really good prospects; Watkins is more explosive and smooth, while Evans has an amazing size, speed ratio; given the success he had with Plax maybe a guy like Evans would give Eli a little more of a comfort zone. I'd take either but i fear the Giants won't get a shot at either
I'm wondering if the better fits for the Giants O (at least in the past) are to be picked in Rds 2-4. Specifically Niklas and Fiedorowicz. Would they be better fits than Ebron and Amaro?
Gidie (up!) Pass rushers at #12 is a problem for the Giants b/c the onl guy you figure to be worth the pick is Donald. If the Giants go DE I would think it would be in the 2nd with Crichton or Kareem Martin. Since yat asked about Donald he's could be the wiild card for the Giants especially if Evans and Ebron were off the board. He's not necessarily a perfect fit for what the Giants like at the position, but neither was Pugh really last year. In Donald you have a guy who was arguably the best player in college football last year, was the best player at the Senior Bowl and then the best guy at the combine. The 64K question though is can he translate that quickness etc to the pro level and no one will know the answer to that until you actually get him on an NFL field. As such he’s the prototype boom-bust type prospect, but if he can play you could have a real impact guy. And what we know is the Giants always love upside with their premium picks. And whie I do have a sense that the Giants like Evans and Ebron I have heard nothing either way on Donald. Stay tuned
Thanks for doing this once again this year Colin, but inspired by another BBI thread, which player(s) talked about highly do you think are going to bust?
What do you think of DuJuan Jones as a backup/rotational player Â
Thanks for doing this. I disagree to an extent and think the Giants can not go the first 3 rounds and not draft an offensive lineman. With that being said, who would you rather have for the giants?
Zach Martin in Rd 1 or Marcus Martin in Rd 2
Hey Colin...nice to see a fellow Ottawan talking to the BBI gang... Â
one thing I have always noticed Colin is the Giants tend to select guys not really talked about a lot on BBI or elsewhere.
For example, not much talk about us taking Pugh last year yet it turned out to be a great pick. I am still concerned about the O-line, especially at center. Fact is, the reports on Walton are not very positive even if he remains healthy. With not re-signing Boothe, do you think the Giants address the center position at some point in the draft?
Acid: If the Giants goOL early this year I would expect it to be in the 2nd; any later and you are really talking developmental guys. And I would think James would be a reach there. On the other hand, I could see Ellis as a possible target in the 4th.
Kevin: If the Giants go LB in this draft they'll be looking for someone who can run and Smallwood is very slow. Mark asked about OLbs; a couple to watch might be Christian Kirksey of Iowa who has nice quickness, while Jordan Tripp of Montana is a good outside pass rusher. Another tweener sleeper type to watch is Howard Jones of Shepherd who also van really run.
Rich: As I noted above if the Giants go OL I would expect it would be in the 2nd, although they'll also have a ton of options at other positions. If they do go there then certainly Bitonio and Richburg could be in play because I don't think either is going to last to the 3rd. Bitoni who is kind of a poor man's Zack Martin would be especially interesting.
732: Absolutely with guys like Jordan Matthews Davante Adams and Allen Robinson in play in the 2nd and in the 3rd you’d hope that one of guys like Moncrief, Paul Richardson, Martavis Bryant were there.
Hope I am getting to everyone's ?s if I don't hang in there and I'll try and get to em all
Hey Mike ... Fun winter eh!! You hate to say never and this is certainly a good year for interior linemen, but my guess is the Giants still sign a couple of vet G/Cs later in free agency. The one thing I suspect you would not want to do is have an unproven rookie one twisted ankle away from starting. As relate to the OL generally. You can't do everything in one draft and ny sense is that the Giants want to address the DL AND upgrade the speed etc at the skill positions which you can do in this draft and have guys come in and contribute right away.
If I knew who the biggest busts out there would be I'd be selling the info to the NFL and making some real money off this but the one guy that would scare me a little is Anthony Barr; very quick and explosive when he's got space but struggles to get off blocks.
Samian: The 64K question for the Giants. Talk to people around the NFL and they are stll struggling to get a handle on the QBs. Bortles is a lock to go top 10 and I believe so is Bridgewater, although there are rumblings that his stock has fallen after a so-sopro day but I've heard for example that Minnesota is thrilled about that figuring he might now be available at #8. Meanwhile, there are rumblngs that both Cleveland and Oakland like Carr but just maybe not in the top 5, but where else. And Manziel looked great at his pro day and even if he never plays a down he'll sell a ton of jerseys forsomeone! Bottom line its hard not to see at least 3 guys going top 10 and maybe 4 but QB often falls outside the BPA rules so it just really hard to know. Obviously if 3-4 did goop 10, and with 5 blue chip locks - Clowney, Watkins, Robinson, Matthews and Mack it means somebody has to fall to #12. Time will tell.
Yat: There should be some decent DT types in the 4-5 area including Jones along with Kelcey Quarles, Ego Ferguson and Justin Ellis who we mentioned earlier. The oter guy to watch, especially is pass rush is a factor is Caraun Reid of Princeton who needs to get a little stronger but he's very quick with a great motor.
NJM: The Niklas type TE would have been a great fit in Tom Coughlin's old offense, but every sense I have is that the Giants brought in McAdoo to install a 21st century offense and one of the key to those is a TE who can run, stretch defenses and force other teams to cover them with a DB. And that's what an Ebron and to a lesser extent an Amaro will do for you and a Niklas won't . He's still an interesting guy because of his size and his ability to get into the seam n occasion, but I dont really see him as being what the Giants are likely looking for. What will be interesting to see if the Giants don't an Ebron early whether they simply force a pick at TE because they need a TE. One of things I would be doing if I were to channel my inner McAdoo is considering not using a TE at all but going with 2 slot receivers- Victor and JJ - as my base offense if I didn't have the kind of TE I wanted. Bet that's what someone like Belichek would do if he had the Giants personnel
If the Giants are looking to improve their pass rush Â
Jay and Big Blue ... Borland would be a great fit with the Giants D however he's likely going late 3rd early 4th and I just don't see the Giants using that high a pick on a MLB at this time. Too bad. (PS Jay you got to come back up to Ott sooner rather than later - we'd could get together with MikeN and Bob B and have a pop!!)
Giants 84 ... I really like Z Martin and think he'd be a great fit, but I expect there will be better options at #12. Plus I think there are better C values than M Martin such as Richburg and Swanson.
Mike - to me the most interesting sleeper type of sorts out there is Bloomsburg DE Larry Webster who most probably know but as a TE; he's an old basketball player with very good hands and really good speed such that more than one team is looking at him as a TE.
Archer: The Giants don't have a 7th so aren't going to go that route with a Lyerla. I guess you might look at him in FA but he's a mess and unless one got a sense that maybe he was close to cleaning up his act maybe you take a chance because he has some real talent but my guess is he isn'tworth the bother.
Rick: Great question; I have been thinking that IF both Evans and Ebron are gone and they aren't sold on Donald AND weren't that excited by either (say) Barr or Martin at that point that indeed they might think about moving down at that point and maybe targeting someone like Ealy. Less so Tuitt who is more a 3-4 whose stock is down b/c of health issues. Obsiously you would need someone to trade with but there is almost always someone out there who wants something. Bears watching. The corollary is that if the two guys on the Giants short list are in fact Evans and Ebron and one comes off the board do you consider moving up to get at least one. Wouldn't be popular here but may actually be more likely than a move down.
Bill T: Somebody else asked about Clarke via e-mail (along with RB sims) and here was my answer: Larry: Both guys are good solid players both of whom look like late second or early third day picks. I would also think that both would get some looks by the Giants especially Sims. The Giants would probably like to add one more back probably and there will be some quality in the 3-4 round area including Sims who is a good all-around back; he’s a tough runner but can block and is a good receiver. Same for Clarke if they don’t get a DE earlier; he’s built like a Giants DE with good length and better than advertised athleticism.
Reb: Everybody's got a bust factor; because it tends to be a little higher with WRs (who have to be able todo things in the pros that they were never asked to do in college) but he also has a major upside. Its part of the game
Colin, I know the Giants seem set at CB but would that stop them from picking a CB that they rated a premium pick but was still on the boards mid round? I guess I'm asking BPA vs need.
For example, I really love McGill out of Utah if he was still available 3rd round would the Giants be interested?
I received a few questions via e-mail earlier today and expected those guys to ask their questions live again here but I guess they were too shy so here in rough draft are those Q and As:
Sir-Yes-Sir: It doesn’t matter why I think but the senseI get from talking o folks I know around the league that Ebron is definitely worthy of 12th pick? In fact there probably was some growing concern on the part of the Giants that there were indications that teams like Buffalo were starting to look at him seriously as a top 10 guy so maybe the fact that he didn’t wow at his pro day wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened.
My sense going into the draft is that the Giants would probably like to accomplish two things: 1) juice the pass rush and 2) significantly increase the speed, athleticism and big-play ability of their skill position people on offense. And in particular what
I would think Amaro would be good value in the second round; not as athletic as Ebron but a very smooth underneath receiver who is surprisingly tough after the catch. Talent-wise Serafin-Jenkins would be another second round value but not with his injury and off-field history.
And who are the sleepers, guys round 3 or later that you believe could make an immediate impact? The interesting sleeper guy at TE may be Bloomsburg DE Larry Webster who is an old basketball player with very good hands and really good speed such that more than one team is looking at him as a TE.
2. I'm sure you'll get this question a lot, even though there's no denying how effective Aaron Donald has been as a player at Pitt, do you believe he can continue that level of success when regularly facing 6"6', 325 pound interior lineman at the NFL level?
3. if the Giants do not go OT in round 1, who are the guys in rounds 2-3 you believe could challenge for a starting role right away? Does anyone stand out from this group?
--Billy Turner
--Morgan Moses
--Joel Bitonio
--Antonio Richardson
--Jack Mewhort
First, Beatty and Pugh are the starting OTs and I really don’t see anyone coming and challenging for one of those two spots. Guys like Bitonio and Richardson though could move inside and be in the mix at RG.
4. Who are the later round running backs you could see fitting into the Giants plans? I would especially like to hear your thoughts on Terrence West from Towson. There is a ton of depth at RB in this draft and there should be as many as a half dozen decent backs available in the 4-5 area and West would certainly be one of them; he is a really good runner, but is still unproven as a receiver and pass blocker; others who might be in the mix include Sims of WVU (good blocker and receiver) and Seastrunk of Baylor who can be explosive; then’s there’s Gaffney of Stanford, another solid alla-round blue collar type and Willams of BC who is tough instinctive runner but isn’t much of a receiver.
5. At corner, I've been quite impressed by Ross Cockrell form Duke and Rashard Reynolds from Oregon State...Do you see a potential starter in one or both of these kids, or are they just roster fillers in your view... Neither is going to start right away and both look like they may be more comfortable working the slot than outside but both are good players; Reynolds looks like a 4th rounder, while Cockrell may be a more a 5-6 type and given the Giants FA pick ups might be really nice value say with their comp pick.
KO: For starters I wouldn’t be betting on Watkins falling to #12 as it ain‘t gonna happen. As interesting as the Giants #1 pick could be the second could be even more intriguing. And certainly if they don‘t get a WR (Evans) in the opening round then one would think the position would be very much in play in the 2nd with guys Matthews and Adams and Allen Robinson; the in the 3rd you’d hope that one of guys like Moncrief, Paul Richardson, Martavis Bryant were there.
Danbury Joe from BBI, thanks for taking my questions... I suspect that Evans is very much on the Giants short list, but I fear he will be gone before they get on the clock; on the other hand Martin is almost certain to be there and if, and it’s a huge IF the Giants did go into the draft with the priority goal of upgrading the OL (hich I doubt very much they do) then Martin becomes a real possibility. He isn’t quite the athlete that Lewan is say, but he’s so technically solid; versatile (and could start out in the mix to start at RG); and productive on tape.
Ty: Benjamin bulking up to TE … That’s an interesting question and I have heard that some teams have posed the question. However, given that the TE is already evolving more into a big WR anyway, my suspicion is that most teams will keep him exactly as he is which is a big physical wideout especially given that he can’t block a lick. What teams like to see though is that he would catch the ball better in traffic because that’s where he’ll have to make a living at the next level.
Thanks Colin. If you had to pick Evans vs. Ebron Â
Really good ? Mason: We also like McGill and have had the Giants taking him in the 3rd in a couple of our mocks. However that was before signing RDC and Thurmond so adding yet another CB unless he was a guy they really liked would seem to be a bit of overkill. That said it wouldn't surprise me to see the Giants add a corner with one of their 3rd day picks like an EJ Gaines or Reynolds in the 4th or the other Gaines, Cockrell, Ricardo Allen, Terrance Mitchell with one of their two 5ths.
Mike: Tough call: Evans is probably the better prospect per se, but the Giants will get some pretty good looks at some other pretty good WRs in later rounds. On the other hand, Ebron may be the kind of big-play threat at TE who only comes along once every few years so I might lean that way.
Dunedin: One hates to say never about a guy like Ealy at #12 (and Rob Rang a guy I really respect has him at #10 overall) as he has some intriguing tools but he strikes me as being still something of a project and a potential reach that early. Don't want to scoop myself but we will have the Giants taking Kareem Marin in the 2nd in our updated mock which should be out next Tuesday. That's April Fools day by the way said without comment!!!
Man time flies when you've got good duty! Great questions guys! Makes my job easy. Just a heads up but Dave Sy and I have tentatively scheduled with Eric a 'Great Giants Draft Debate' for April 17. Still working on the details but it should be fun. In fact if Peter S is listening can you send me an e-mail at clindsc555@rogers.com. In the meantime, anybody has any Giants draft questions or thoughts please give me a shout at the above. Always love to talk Giants draft!!
Thanks Colin for your time and great input into Giants possible picks Â
Man time flies when you've got good duty! Great questions guys! Makes my job easy. Just a heads up but Dave Sy and I have tentatively scheduled with Eric a 'Great Giants Draft Debate' for April 17. Still working on the details but it should be fun. In fact if Peter S is listening can you send me an e-mail at clindsc555@rogers.com. In the meantime, anybody has any Giants draft questions or thoughts please give me a shout at the above. Always love to talk Giants draft!!
Awesome! That's definitely going to be must-listen. Great stuff today, Colin
You have connections to other draft guys, right Eric? I remember Scott Wright of Draft Countdown used to post a few things here and there on BBI.
much of it light years over my head and about half the guys mentioned i've never even heard of. the guy is definitely smart AND tuned in.
i wonder, however, if it isn't easy to get seduced with the calculus of trying to outthink the next guy. certainly mcadoo was brought in to be a new force (and head coach in waiting) but this year's offense will be a hybrid. coach c isn't about to give up the reins just yet and will almost certainly fall back on his experience (and biases) as to what constitutes a good team. as far as i have heard, he still has the last word. i think reese has some flexibility but he doesn't want to throw the baby out with the bath water. plus, has there been any implication that remotely suggests the d will be materially different this year? bluster aside, this is a pretty risk averse business. if so, do you end up doing what you know?
due respect, what Kelvin Benjamin DOES the best is catch the ball in traffic. What he doesn't do is always concentrate on the easy catches, usually uncontested.
Do you think Ebron's stock was affected by his pro day? I have a suspicion he's our man.
So my question is, which positions do you see the greatest gap between the top guys available and the next tier?
Couple of intro points. If I can hammer anything home today its for guys when they think draft think players and not so much positions. Certainly I expect that heading into this draft that the Giants are primarily looking to add impact players with their premium picks as to just filling holes in the roster. The latter is what free agency is for. Indeed, one of the things I suspect teams like the Giants want to try and do with their premium picks is get things they can't get elsewhere in the later rounds or free agency (or at least is much harder to get).
And heading into this draft I would expect the Giants to have a couple of general goals in mind: 1) to juice the pass rush and 2) perhaps even more acutely in this draft significantly increase the speed, athleticism and big-play ability of their skill position people on offense.
Thanks!
That said if the impact guys the Giants are likely targeting are off the board and there is no pass rusher worth the 12th pick (and both are real possibilities) then I really like Zach Martin who is just so technically solid as well as versatile. Could come in figure in the mix at RG right away and provide an extra security blanket at OT down the road.
Last year I asked you about Peter Lalich, because he was the QB at my old high school. As incredible as this sounds, so was Bryn Renner. I see him as a late round pick.
Also, what do you think of Ju'Wuan James as a second round pick, and Justin Ellis as a fourth round pick? Thanks. I think Evans or Ebron are the most likely first round picks for the Giants.
Thanks as always for your time.
Thanks again!
Semi-pro - the one position with a big drop-off is TE. As noted, = I would suspect the Giants would like to get is a new-age TE that can run, can stretch defenses and most importantly will force defense to account for him with a DB. Once you do that you have a chance to get them out of their comfort zone and force them to really start to scramble to match-up. And while Ebron isn’t quite as fast as say Vernon Davis was when he came out he is the only true TE big-play threat among this year’s TE prospects. There are other guys the Giants may look at in later rounds but none comes close to Ebron’s explosiveness.
Klaatu: One never knows but I wouldn't necessarily expect, although it is a good at C. I do think the Giants will probably look to add a developmental OT in the mid rounds, but G/Cs are a dime a dozen in free agency.
Kevin: Both guys are really good prospects; Watkins is more explosive and smooth, while Evans has an amazing size, speed ratio; given the success he had with Plax maybe a guy like Evans would give Eli a little more of a comfort zone. I'd take either but i fear the Giants won't get a shot at either
Zach Martin in Rd 1 or Marcus Martin in Rd 2
For example, not much talk about us taking Pugh last year yet it turned out to be a great pick. I am still concerned about the O-line, especially at center. Fact is, the reports on Walton are not very positive even if he remains healthy. With not re-signing Boothe, do you think the Giants address the center position at some point in the draft?
Kevin: If the Giants go LB in this draft they'll be looking for someone who can run and Smallwood is very slow. Mark asked about OLbs; a couple to watch might be Christian Kirksey of Iowa who has nice quickness, while Jordan Tripp of Montana is a good outside pass rusher. Another tweener sleeper type to watch is Howard Jones of Shepherd who also van really run.
732: Absolutely with guys like Jordan Matthews Davante Adams and Allen Robinson in play in the 2nd and in the 3rd you’d hope that one of guys like Moncrief, Paul Richardson, Martavis Bryant were there.
You're welcome, yatqb!
Hey Mike ... Fun winter eh!! You hate to say never and this is certainly a good year for interior linemen, but my guess is the Giants still sign a couple of vet G/Cs later in free agency. The one thing I suspect you would not want to do is have an unproven rookie one twisted ankle away from starting. As relate to the OL generally. You can't do everything in one draft and ny sense is that the Giants want to address the DL AND upgrade the speed etc at the skill positions which you can do in this draft and have guys come in and contribute right away.
If I knew who the biggest busts out there would be I'd be selling the info to the NFL and making some real money off this but the one guy that would scare me a little is Anthony Barr; very quick and explosive when he's got space but struggles to get off blocks.
Where do you think Borland will go and could he be a good match for the Giants?
NJM: The Niklas type TE would have been a great fit in Tom Coughlin's old offense, but every sense I have is that the Giants brought in McAdoo to install a 21st century offense and one of the key to those is a TE who can run, stretch defenses and force other teams to cover them with a DB. And that's what an Ebron and to a lesser extent an Amaro will do for you and a Niklas won't . He's still an interesting guy because of his size and his ability to get into the seam n occasion, but I dont really see him as being what the Giants are likely looking for. What will be interesting to see if the Giants don't an Ebron early whether they simply force a pick at TE because they need a TE. One of things I would be doing if I were to channel my inner McAdoo is considering not using a TE at all but going with 2 slot receivers- Victor and JJ - as my base offense if I didn't have the kind of TE I wanted. Bet that's what someone like Belichek would do if he had the Giants personnel
What is your opinion of Colt Lyerla?
Is he worth considering in the Seventh Round?
Mike - to me the most interesting sleeper type of sorts out there is Bloomsburg DE Larry Webster who most probably know but as a TE; he's an old basketball player with very good hands and really good speed such that more than one team is looking at him as a TE.
Reb: Everybody's got a bust factor; because it tends to be a little higher with WRs (who have to be able todo things in the pros that they were never asked to do in college) but he also has a major upside. Its part of the game
For example, I really love McGill out of Utah if he was still available 3rd round would the Giants be interested?
Sir-Yes-Sir: It doesn’t matter why I think but the senseI get from talking o folks I know around the league that Ebron is definitely worthy of 12th pick? In fact there probably was some growing concern on the part of the Giants that there were indications that teams like Buffalo were starting to look at him seriously as a top 10 guy so maybe the fact that he didn’t wow at his pro day wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened.
My sense going into the draft is that the Giants would probably like to accomplish two things: 1) juice the pass rush and 2) significantly increase the speed, athleticism and big-play ability of their skill position people on offense. And in particular what
I would think Amaro would be good value in the second round; not as athletic as Ebron but a very smooth underneath receiver who is surprisingly tough after the catch. Talent-wise Serafin-Jenkins would be another second round value but not with his injury and off-field history.
And who are the sleepers, guys round 3 or later that you believe could make an immediate impact? The interesting sleeper guy at TE may be Bloomsburg DE Larry Webster who is an old basketball player with very good hands and really good speed such that more than one team is looking at him as a TE.
2. I'm sure you'll get this question a lot, even though there's no denying how effective Aaron Donald has been as a player at Pitt, do you believe he can continue that level of success when regularly facing 6"6', 325 pound interior lineman at the NFL level?
3. if the Giants do not go OT in round 1, who are the guys in rounds 2-3 you believe could challenge for a starting role right away? Does anyone stand out from this group?
--Billy Turner
--Morgan Moses
--Joel Bitonio
--Antonio Richardson
--Jack Mewhort
First, Beatty and Pugh are the starting OTs and I really don’t see anyone coming and challenging for one of those two spots. Guys like Bitonio and Richardson though could move inside and be in the mix at RG.
4. Who are the later round running backs you could see fitting into the Giants plans? I would especially like to hear your thoughts on Terrence West from Towson. There is a ton of depth at RB in this draft and there should be as many as a half dozen decent backs available in the 4-5 area and West would certainly be one of them; he is a really good runner, but is still unproven as a receiver and pass blocker; others who might be in the mix include Sims of WVU (good blocker and receiver) and Seastrunk of Baylor who can be explosive; then’s there’s Gaffney of Stanford, another solid alla-round blue collar type and Willams of BC who is tough instinctive runner but isn’t much of a receiver.
5. At corner, I've been quite impressed by Ross Cockrell form Duke and Rashard Reynolds from Oregon State...Do you see a potential starter in one or both of these kids, or are they just roster fillers in your view... Neither is going to start right away and both look like they may be more comfortable working the slot than outside but both are good players; Reynolds looks like a 4th rounder, while Cockrell may be a more a 5-6 type and given the Giants FA pick ups might be really nice value say with their comp pick.
KO: For starters I wouldn’t be betting on Watkins falling to #12 as it ain‘t gonna happen. As interesting as the Giants #1 pick could be the second could be even more intriguing. And certainly if they don‘t get a WR (Evans) in the opening round then one would think the position would be very much in play in the 2nd with guys Matthews and Adams and Allen Robinson; the in the 3rd you’d hope that one of guys like Moncrief, Paul Richardson, Martavis Bryant were there.
Danbury Joe from BBI, thanks for taking my questions... I suspect that Evans is very much on the Giants short list, but I fear he will be gone before they get on the clock; on the other hand Martin is almost certain to be there and if, and it’s a huge IF the Giants did go into the draft with the priority goal of upgrading the OL (hich I doubt very much they do) then Martin becomes a real possibility. He isn’t quite the athlete that Lewan is say, but he’s so technically solid; versatile (and could start out in the mix to start at RG); and productive on tape.
Ty: Benjamin bulking up to TE … That’s an interesting question and I have heard that some teams have posed the question. However, given that the TE is already evolving more into a big WR anyway, my suspicion is that most teams will keep him exactly as he is which is a big physical wideout especially given that he can’t block a lick. What teams like to see though is that he would catch the ball better in traffic because that’s where he’ll have to make a living at the next level.
I was stuck in meetings all afternoon but now I have some reading material for my nightly commute!
Awesome! That's definitely going to be must-listen. Great stuff today, Colin
You have connections to other draft guys, right Eric? I remember Scott Wright of Draft Countdown used to post a few things here and there on BBI.
i wonder, however, if it isn't easy to get seduced with the calculus of trying to outthink the next guy. certainly mcadoo was brought in to be a new force (and head coach in waiting) but this year's offense will be a hybrid. coach c isn't about to give up the reins just yet and will almost certainly fall back on his experience (and biases) as to what constitutes a good team. as far as i have heard, he still has the last word. i think reese has some flexibility but he doesn't want to throw the baby out with the bath water. plus, has there been any implication that remotely suggests the d will be materially different this year? bluster aside, this is a pretty risk averse business. if so, do you end up doing what you know?
it is indeed a bit of a mystery, isn't it?
1. Eric Ebron 250 4.60 North Carolina JR #1TE
2. 10.Joe Bitonio 6-4, 302 4.97 Nevada #10OT
3. Martavis Bryant 6-3.5, 211 Clemson JR. #13WR
4. Charles Sims 5-11,214 4.48 West Virginia #6 RB
5. Larry Webster 6-5.5, 252 4.58 Bloomberg St. #19DE=TE
5. Caraun Reid 6-2, 302 4.91 Princeton #12DT
6.