SECTION 5: NY GIANTS ROUND 1-2 PLAN
Last year we tee’d it up with all kinds of ways for the Giants to select Offensive Linemen. The chump GM took none, and said that no linemen were available when he selected. We (and anyone with an IQ over 60) called bull****. Months later, the boob GM was busy scrambling for Offensive Linemen at the end of Training Camp 2021. What a disgrace. We got 4 years of horse manure from David Gettleman. We were on record for not wanting him in December 2017, wanting him gone in December of 2019, and calling him out numerous times for his mistakes. Now it is 2022, he is finally gone, and everyone has figured out how he absolutely destroyed the franchise. The Giants are in dead last in Cap Space for the 2022 season; Schoen just restructured Adoree Jackson’s contract to free up room. But this is where we are.
How does the state of the franchise tie into this year’s Draft? You must regroup. There was only one legitimate starting Offensive Lineman on the roster. GM Joe Schoen has rapidly plugged up OL in Free Agency by getting the following players:
T Matt Gano
C/G Jon Feliciano
G Jamil Douglas
G Mark Glowinski
C Max Garcia
One would argue that the Giants don’t need to draft OL as hard, now that they have restocked the shelves. But that would be incorrect. Of those 5 new players, how many were signed to deals that were greater than 1 year? Bueller? Bueller? Try only one, Glowinski. Everyone else is stop gap. Show me. We have no idea what Gates will look like after injury. Lemieux and Bredeson are the offseason Gettleman survivors in the new regime. Do ANY of these players get you excited about the future of the Offensive Line, beyond the only player I intentionally did not mention, Andrew Thomas? None. Even Glowinski, who is the best of the bunch, is 30 years old. So Daboll and Schoen have to be thinking about getting at least 2 if not 3 credible draft picks for the OL. Me? NUKE THE #$@%^&# and draft it hard. And early. They won’t do that. But they should. If you told me they got Neal or Ekwonu, traded down for Linderbaum, and then got Green or Johnson in R2, I would be speechless. Because that is what I would do. That would give me 12 Linemen coming into camp and 4 get cut. My starting line, by the latest/midyear would be
THOMAS GLOWINSKI LINDERBAUM GREEN EKWONU
Oh. My. God. It can happen. End this 10 year drought. Protect QB.
Let’s talk some strategy. Many people are thinking to get the OT at 1.05 and Trade down with the 1.07 pick. It all depends. Does a QB get drafted really high? Does the team that wants a QB try to move up beyond 1.05? To 1.05? Either way, it would be great. Those dominoes help the siutation enormously.
Let’s say there are a total of 3 highly regarded players (EDGE + Tackle). You could trade down the 1.05 pick and take at least one of the remaining players at 1.07.
Please do not discuss taking a player other than Tackle or Edge in the top 7 picks. We discussed this in the previous post. Wasted real estate.
Can we be blunt here? Wink Martindale, the new Defensive Coordinator, needs to take a back seat in this year’s draft. I want I want I want. My scheme needs CB. Yes, I get it. Defense matters. I love Defense. But if I see another year of a stinking garbage OL, I am going to scream. Maybe we just won this battle with Bradberry not getting cut so that Wink stops asking for CB/S so that we can take care of OL.
OL OL OL
This offseason we saw this narrative come in about how you can get OL in later rounds. Yes! Yes, if your OL coach is Dante Scarnecchia or Bill Callahan. The Giants OL coach is a guy named Bobby Johnson. Johnson has 3 years experience coaching OL. Daboll knows him from Buffalo, so hopefully he can get the job done. But with 3 years experience, Scarnecchia and Callahan know more in their sleep than this guy awake. That does not mean Johnson cannot do well. But it also means that if you get this guy Round 4-7 Day 3 guys, you are likely going to continue to have the same problems we have been having for the past decade. And I do not know if I can take that kind of stuff much longer. So Wink, please be kind. Let the OL get priority here.
THOMAS GLOWINSKI LINDERBAUM GREEN EKWONU
We have Tyler Linderbaum ranked at 1.15. This is not 1980, when Centers rarely if ever got selected in Round 1. Centers are now understood for their value. So anywhere from 1.14 to 1.20 is fine.
The Giants need a TE. But this is not the Class of 2010, so calm down. The only two names who interest the UltimateNYG Draft analyst from this year’s draft are Jeremy Ruckert as a blocking TE and Greg Dulcich as a receiving TE. Do not take either before late Round 3. This means that Dulcich will likely be gone, as he is projected to go in Round 2-3. But Ruckert could be there, as he is projected to go in Round 3-5.
Running back? There are none worth fighting for early in this draft. By early, we NEVER mean Round 1. Drafting a RB in Round 1 is for neanderthals. Early for RB means the Round 2 types like King Henry or Dalvin Cook. In this year’s draft, Wonder is shocked at how many RBs are ~5’11” with great speed. So sit back, let the draft pass everyone by, and collect a credible RB in Round ~4. Plenty of players available.
There is an outside chance the Giants could and may need to trade one of their 2 first picks out of the first round entirely. This would not be an entirely bad thing. If they can amass so much value and collect an additional Round 1 pick for the 2023 Draft, that could be valuable collateral for a trade should the new GM and Head Coach choose to move on from Daniel Jones.
Summary: Go with Tackle (Neal or Ekwonu), trade down (for Linderbaum or even out of Round 1), get another Guard (Green or Johnson), and stop trying to solve OL by committee. If you love EDGE (there are 4 of them at the top of the Draft), take one of them also.
UltimateNYG 