I won't be diving too deep in to prediction posts until April - when I start posting the position previews and grades - but the little I do get on here right now I see most talk revolving around Okudah / Simmons / Young / OTs. All very good prospects...but does the current NYG DT situation cause a reason to stay away from a player that could very much end up being the highest graded player in the entire class?
Derrick Brown would have been top 15 last year - and his 2019 tape was on a completely different level. He lost some weight and played with as much twitch and explosion as any DT in the class. He is the definition of an every down threat. A guy that can get you 8-10 sacks per year, 16-20 pressures per year, while providing top shelf run defense.
Dexter Lawrence + Derrick Brown + Dalvin Tomlinson + (maybe) Leonard Williams gives NYG a rotation of DL that very few in the NFL could match. And the thing about getting a DL like that - it makes other players better. The LBs, CBs, edge guys...they get elevated with a dominant front.
If NYG didn't want to re-sign Williams - they could go get a top shelf edge rusher or cornerback with the money and the DL still has a dominant outlook.
In no way and I saying this will happen - but I don't think the possibility is being discussed enough. He has a good chance at being the top, or number 2, graded player in the class and he should be there at 4.
We seem to have a ton of beef up front and not enough twitchy edge speed guys.
So, who knows but he is a top 5 player.
Giants cannot continue to ignore the tackle position, edge rusher, and dynamic defensive talent (whether thats at LB/CB/S). So while it would be nice to pick the B/A player giants just simply aren't in a position to use a pick on an interior defensive lineman because of the amount of assets they have already pumped into the position (a position that usually also doesn't disrupt games enough).
So how good could Brown be, really?
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Ha! I got murdered one time for suggesting that Tomlinson ought to be traded.
do the Giants defy convention and just keep stocking up the DLine?
He plays End and coverage sometimes and seems to play well in space when he does that.
But Brown's career high in sacks was 4.5 at Auburn. Donald had 11 sacks at Pittsburgh 2X. So I just don't see the finishing ability we desperately need...
But as bullet posted above, D-line investments at this point really need to be Edge investments with assumption Leonard Williams is coming on board.
Contrary to popular opinion, drafting is NOT about getting the best players available every year because that can lead to gross positional imbalance, and because even the best players are not typically way, way better than the guys that they are going up against. Or in other words, Lawrence Taylor only comes along once in a generation.
Drafting IS all about getting the RIGHT MIX of the best players available to build a winning TEAM.
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Unless Brown comes in and has a Aaron Donald type impact the value just isn't there for a couple reasons.
I think the whole point is that some regard him as having Aaron Donald type talent, ergo his consideration with a top five pick.
I understand the thought process behind it. But it would just be too difficult an assumption to make IMO to peg someone as a generational interior pass rusher. He simply can't just be stout on the run to be a top 5 pick at that position. He would literally need to avg 8-10 sacks a season to make him worthy of a pick that high because of the position he plays.
It's how you build a roster because guy who are any good at certain positions don't make it to FA. QB, LT, and edge rusher. Those are why those positions get invested to early in drafts.
If you are picking interior offensive or defensive lineman they have to be way and above the rest of the field due to the impact and $$$ it cost to commit to those positions. The same goes for RB and WR. You can make the argument that its much easier to build a team around an very giidoffensive line and find good skill position players than it is to continue to build around elite skill position players and a mediocre to poor offensive line.
Same can be used for interior DL vs edge rushers. I think its better to find good to very good edge rushers...then bank on drafting a generational interior DL because if that guy isn't generational the value and $$$ committed to him just aren't worth it.
+ we we be devaluing a position we already have invested a lot of draft equity in.
If he is head and shoulders above the rest then yes make the pick because the goal is to get better but at some point we have to fill the rest of the roster.
If we dont sign LW then I think this option becomes more viable but 2 years in a row on a 1st round DT is a lot of stock for a team with so many needs.
R.J. McIntosh ragdolled Quenton Nelson pretty well and look where their careers have gone. I don't know that you can make a definitive case based on a single game, though Wills is obviously a very good prospect in his own right.
This year I think Brown is the top Defensive player in this class. Better than Young and Okudah
BTW. We also discussed Becton a few months ago
I do think he’s the best LT in this class
...very interesting comments regarding Derrick Brown.
I've watched every video I could find about this young man and I come away with the following impressions:
(1) His build reminds me so much of #70 Leonard Marshall -- the same thick-set physique, but even larger. A lot larger;
(2) He has an unstoppable bull rush -- sometimes it just seems unfair to the O-Lineman;
(3) But he so much more than a bull-rusher. He has got so many tricks in his bag, starting with the ability to extend his arms, neutralizing his opponent at the snap. And, then, he pretends he's just dancing until he sees where the play is going and then he tosses lineman aside like a bean bag;
(4) And just when you think he's coming at you square up in close quarters, he takes a lightning half step to one side, slicing through the hole before the lineman can latch on;
(5) When Derrick Brown arrives at the ball, it is over. Quickly. To paraphrase from the 1960 hit-song, "Alley Oop," he's a "mean motor scooter and a bad go-getter."
Derrick Brown is one scary dude. A house-wrecker. I've got no problem taking him at #4!
Sure, interior isn't as valuable as edge but it's right up there.
Dexter Lawrence and Derrick Brown would be the best DT combo in the league. It should be easy to fill in the defense behind them.
Sign me up.
Building the defense around Lawrence and Brown — two powerful guys who also have movement ability — may have a great impact on other defensive positions — maybe will allow them to play faster, more agile edge guys and linebackers and out DTs can plug AND chase.
If they draft him with the other players that should be available, that means the Giants absolutely love him. Despite Gettleman's mistakes, he has been right about his high draft picks.
The difference is the 49ers had some more passrushers in the mix. The Giants getting Brown is a lot different than a Chase Young or a Bosa.
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Assuming Brown would be in the picture...
I'd rather eat the draft picks and let LW walk, draft Brown, and re-sign Golden and sign Quinn.
which is why i want Simmons
His character is unquestionable, as he is very well respected in the community here. I would be more than happy to see him on the Giants.
The problem with that, IMV, is there is a very good chance Brown is better over the C than DL. So you wouldn't be optimizing Brown and putting DL in the wrong spot.
If you want to keep LW, which I don't, I'd rather draft Javon Kinlaw.
or you go 4-3 more often and blitz more often
or you put a 340 pound Lawrence out wide on some plays to force keeping a TE in.
or you make it ridiculously hard for Dallas to run or send their TE out. Be fun to beat those guys
any player that combines to make an asymmetrical difference is a potential pick at 4
our own Fletcher Cox for a few years ? Ok I can watch that.
Imo, this only becomes possible with a FA center and OT
Offensive Tackle needs a solution and if this is not addressed this offseason (free agency and/or draft) then the next decade of NY Giant football will kick off much like the last decade ended.
But Brown's career high in sacks was 4.5 at Auburn. Donald had 11 sacks at Pittsburgh 2X. So I just don't see the finishing ability we desperately need...
This is my take as well especially if we resign Williams. That unit is one of the few strong ones on the team and way too many other pressing needs starting with potentially getting a stud LT for DJ and Barkley.
I think their regional assignments were Northeast and Southwest. Although they can't have been much worse than their predecessors who scouted Jay Bromley and Owa Odighizuwa.
In any case, they'd have been unrelated to any scouting on Brown, I would think.