Big Blue Draft Review: Final Exam

Yeah, that’s a big ol’ NYC pretzel up there. And that’s how I kinda felt during this draft. I’ve taken a few days to get over the initial reactions and to digest what happened. I’ll start with this: I recognize that I am not a GM, I do not know more about college players than GM’s or scouts, or sports TV pundits, and even West Coast Ace. If I did know know what the heck I was talking about, I’d be a GM, or a scout, or Mel Kiper. But I’m not. However, what I do have is 40+ years of being a Giants fan. I’ve seen plenty of drafts with great picks and busts. I also watch all of the Giant’s games. I see what happens on the field week after week and get a pretty good sense of who they are each year and what they need to improve. So that all being said, what the heck happened during the draft for the Giants.

1. We saw the emergence of Davey Day-Trader v2.0. I liked most of Gettleman’s moves up and down the draft board. I especially like that they have the Bear’s 1st round pick next year. Let’s hope the Bears suck this season shall we. Net net though the Giants added 3 picks to next year’s loaded draft. And it showed some guts and class by Gettleman to sacrifice the now in what could be his last year. So overall for me, he definitely added back some previously lost (Danny at #6) respect in my book.
2. The hated Eagles struck again! This time easily making the connection that Mara’s pre-Draft comments about needing to add an offensive weapon, might mean a WR named DeVonta Smith. So they moved right on up and got him. I’m going to cringe every time he gets behind the Giant’s secondary for the next 7 years.
3. As a counterstrike to the Eagles’ dastardly moves, the Giants added a human joystick in Kadarius Toney. He should be fun to watch in the slot and on special teams.
4. We saw an absolute steal in the 2nd round when the Giants got Azeez Ojulari after moving down. He’s 1st round material if that knee holds up.
5. The Giants felt that the value of selecting Aaron Robinson at #50 outweighed the offensive linemen on the board at that time. Robinson adds to a crowded secondary. But in this NFL, you need as many as you can get.
6. Speaking of, I was initially pretty pissed that the Giants did not draft a single offensive lineman. I then learned that they targeted the o-line in the 2nd and third rounds but couldn’t get who they wanted. Now with the way Davey was trading, could they have moved around and gotten one if they really wanted to, I believe so yes. But maybe not. The Giants later said that they are satisfied with their current offensive line. Are they though? They did target the line in the 2nd and 3rd rounds and added two linemen after the draft. So maybe their actions say otherwise no? But it is what it is. Let’s hope for development across the Giants o-line and that Danny has time to get the ball to his new and returning weapons.
7. Looking at all the Draft Grades given by the professionals out there, you’ll see a lot of A’s and B+ type of grades. It’s hard to argue with them overall. Nevertheless, I can spend all day talking about how the Giants should have gotten this player instead of that player and why didn’t they do this instead of that and blah blah blah. But, it’s time to focus on the current squad and hope for a return to the playoffs! I am much Excite!