Making Sense of the Giants and #4 Pick (Sorry For Length)

In reading Burying The Ghosts – The 1986 New York Giants post on BBI, I could not help but focus on the section detailing the Giants selection of six defensive players in a row in the first three rounds of the 1986 draft. As a high school senior, I remember being surprised especially after the Bears blanked the Giants in the playoffs and wondering if the Giants had enough offense to beat the Bears. However, I trusted George Young because of how right he was in retrospect when he selected Carl Banks as the 3rd pick of the 1984 draft despite already having two elite linebackers in LT and Carson along with other linebackers Andy Headen, Byron Hunt and Robbie Jones on the roster. The point is that the GM had a consistent philosophy of drafting the Best Player Available (BPA) and hardly ever deviated from this approach no matter what other needs the team had. After all, the best football teams maintain their stature in large part because of this drafting approach and do not deviate from it. Teams such as New England, Pittsburgh and Baltimore are excellent examples of this approach.

When the Giants have deviated from selecting the BPA for need, the results have not been good. Think of previous 1st round selections such as Luke Petitgout, William Joseph (the 10th DT/DE taken in the 1st round), Aaron Ross (guy was 25 years old), Justin Pugh (5th OT taken in the first 19 picks – where we learned all about short arms for an OT) and Ereck Flowers—all picks that were considered reaches but were made because it was more about need. Even George Young got burned with sacrificing BPA for need when he selected OG Eric Moore in 1988 with the 10th pick. Moore was a decent player but was not projected to go that high and his career reflected that he was not worth the 10th pick. In fairness, when the Giants have selected the BPA these past 20 years, it has been a mixed bag (success – Jeremy Shockey, Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks, JPP, OBJ, Saquon Barkley; decent: Mattias Kiwanuka; injury/disappointment: Kenny Phillips, Prince Amukamara, David Wilson, Eli Apple, Evan Engram) but that can be considered acceptable because it is a consistent approach and the team obviously had some success with these selections. Plus, we can see why they selected a player who got hurt like Phillips and wonder how good a player he may have turned out to be. Even Amukamara played productively in the league once he stayed healthy after leaving the Giants.

In 2018, Gettleman and ownership stupidly thought this team could compete with Manning and selected Barkley. Barkley is a tremendous talent but considering the lifespan of a running back (very few manage to be great in a second contract much less make it to a second contract), the value of the 2nd overall pick and a realistic take of the franchise at that time, the Barkley pick was not a prudent one. If Gettleman could go back to the 2018 NFL draft knowing what he knows now about the Giants needing a full rebuild, do you think he drafts Barkley? Not saying he drafts one of those quarterbacks but perhaps he would have drafted Bradley Chubb or traded down to select Quenton Nelson. That mistake in assessing the status of the Giants was quickly acknowledged the following offseason with the trading of Beckham (among other players) and the selecting of Daniel Jones. Jury is still out on Jones but he showed enough promise this first year. However, the Giants did compromise their 2019 draft board by selecting Jones over Josh Allen because Jones could not have been on the same tier as Allen but the Giants justified the pick by saying it was close and the need at quarterback warranted the pick.

So that takes us to this year’s draft and this General Manager’s approach to the 4th pick. Yes, the Giants have a distinct need at OT especially if they think this is Nate Solder’s last year as LT and they have no faith that Cam Fleming or Nick Gates can be starting RTs this year. However, the Giants have a distinct need for an impact defensive player. This team does not have one impact defensive player on the roster and the team is lacking in overall team speed on defense. Will they ever be able to cover a tight end?

Drafts are made of tiers and this draft is no different. It is widely viewed that the 1st Tier has Chase Young and Joe Burrow on it with Jeffrey Okudah, Isaiah Simmons, Derrick Brown and Tua Tagovailoa on the 2nd Tier. None of the four tackles (Tristan Wirfs, Mekhi Becton, Andrew Thomas and Jedrick Willis) are considered on that 2nd Tier. In fact, none of these four tackles would be on the level of the lineman taking in the top 6 in the past 5 drafts (Brandon Scherff, Ronnie Stanley, Laremy Tunsil (would have been picked in top 6 but fell for other reasons) or Nelson). Perhaps, these OTs are on the same level as Jack Conklin or Michael McGlinchey who were both picked 9th in their respective drafts but as we know, being picked 9th in a draft is much different than being picked 4th, value wise.

Here are the scenarios:

• Giants be consistent to their board (and yes, nobody knows their board) and take a player like Simmons or even Okudah/Brown, players that are widely regarded better than any of these OTs

• Giants reach at 4 and select one of these OTs

• Giants are able to find a suitable trade partner, move down and appropriately select one of these OTs at the lower draft position

I clearly would be a proponent of the first and third option. The funny thing is that if Young were to slip to 4, everybody would say that the Giants should forego the OT need and select Young because he is the best player available. Wouldn’t the same argument hold true about Simmons if the Redskins drafted Young and Simmons was available at 4? I guess people who want an OT would argue that Simmons is overrated because he is position-less or the gap between Simmons and these OTs is slim at best. It still does not change the fact that none of these OTs are worth the 4th pick.

One final note – In reviewing his past moves in order to gain some insight on how he will approach this selection, please note the following when it comes to Gettleman:

• He has never traded down. Yes, that is true but here is the other thing he has never done: he has never taken an offensive lineman in the 1st round.

• Gettleman has a history of building offensive lines in rounds 2 through 7 and undrafted free agents

• Gettleman did draft Shaq Thompson in the 1st round, a comparable hybrid player to Simmons

My hope is that Joe Judge has significant influence on this organization and his loud statements about position versatility at his press conference (i.e. Simmons) will result in the Giants not reaching for need at the 4th pick.

But these are our current Giants and the one thing that makes sense is that the Giants do not make sense when it comes to not having a consistent approach. I can still be hopeful in this difficult and crazy time.