NFL Draft

The New York Giants will eventually need to fill the pass rushing production that they lost when Jason Pierre-Paul made the switch to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and this draft could provide a chance to do just that.

However, it doesn’t look likely that the team will trade back from the second pick and take a pass rusher. If they do take a quarterback or running back at number two, the second round is where they’ll have to look for a defensive lineman.

Arden Key is a first round talent, but could fall to the Giants pick near the beginning of the second round. His draft stock has been up and down, but Key is still considered one of the best pass rushers this year despite his drop in  performance last season.

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He only recorded four sacks, compared to 11 in 2016, but played three fewer games. Still, he has the skill-set that a lot of NFL teams want. He fits the average size for the edge rusher position and has the versatility to play as a defensive end or outside linebacker.

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His inside rip move has been praised too, but he also has the speed and flexibility to beat tackles to the outside before adjusting to get to the backfield. His 2016 season had a lot of analysts talking about him as an upper first round pick, but after last year, there’s more question marks. Key’s off the field problems are a bigger deal than his statistical slowdown, and we don’t have the details on what those problems are, exactly.

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Key had to take a leave of absence from LSU and hasn’t commented publicly on the reason why. He’s told teams privately, but since the information isn’t public knowledge, it’s hard to predict if his problems from college will follow him into the NFL or not. There’s varying reports and some believe that NFL scouts have accepted his reasons, while Key has also been compared to Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory, who struggled with drug tests after Dallas took a risk on him.

Should the Giants draft Key with the first pick of the second round, if he falls that far? On one hand, Key would be a major steal if he pans out the way draft analysts thought he would in 2016. The Giants are trying to replace Jason Pierre-Paul and good pass rushers usually come at a premium price in today’s NFL.

However, it’s not so certain that Key will reach his potential.

Unless the Giants have the full details of his off the field problems, and are confident that they can be worked around, Key is a dangerous pick that could follow the same path as Randy Gregory and end up not seeing the field very much. The details aren’t out there, so we the fans will just have to wait and see how the player pans out, but there’s safer options for the Giants to take at the edge rusher position in this year’s draft, with potentially the same amount of future production.

Everyone knows that top offensive line prospect Quenton Nelson will make a big impact for whatever team drafts him, but what about the prospects that can be found in later rounds? It looks like the New York Giants will use their first pick on a quarterback or a running back, leaving them to look for an offensive line addition in a later round.

If they go for a quarterback in the first round, they may target a running back in the second. Fortunately, there’s at least one good tackle prospect that might be worth looking into as a third round steal.

You might not recognize the name Geron Christian unless you follow ACC football, but you probably know the player that he was responsible for protecting, Lamar Jackson. Christian played as both a left and right tackle for Louisville and led them in pass protection, and he has NFL size and athleticism while also showing good skill at anchoring himself against the pass rush.

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He’s big enough that most defensive ends can’t just bull rush through him, but isn’t too slow on his feet in a way that would allow rushers to beat him consistently with inside and outside moves. His experience on both sides of the field will be a benefit heading to the NFL, because he has the experience of being the main pass protector at left tackle but can also be moved to the right side to accommodate Nate Solder, who will be a starter for the Giants at left tackle next season.

However, Christian is still a player that needs time to develop. He’s not a surefire starter over Ereck Flowers at right tackle if the Giants draft him, and he doesn’t have experience playing in a pro style system. Not only are the schemes different, but he’ll be expected to block for longer as his quarterback holds onto the ball instead of making quick passes in a spread offense.

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One concern is that even while playing in the spread, Christian couldn’t protect Lamar Jackson as much as one would desire. Jackson is a scrambler who could get out of trouble sometimes, but an NFL tackle can’t expect his quarterback to run away from danger and pick up yards or avoid a loss after the pocket collapses. Still, when he’s playing well, Christian is good at blocking both strength based and technique based pass rush moves, and it looks like he has a higher ceiling than likely starter Ereck Flowers does.

He’s projected to go in the second or third round by most sources, and if he drops into the third, it’s definitely worth it for the Giants to consider drafting him and letting him learn from Nate Solder and other experienced players while fixing the flaws that he showed in college. If they do that, they could have an above average starter on their hands in the near future, when he gets more playing time.

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While quarterback is the position getting the most attention from the fans and the media, the tossup at the running back position is just as big for the New York Giants going into the 2018 season. There’s backs returning from last year, and options in both the early and later first round.

Once you throw in the possibility of the Giants drafting a sleeper outside of the first round, the position battle becomes even more of a puzzle.

So, who will lead the way in revitalizing the Giants’ running game? It makes sense to start with the players that are already on the team. Orleans Darkwa and Wayne Gallman had the majority of the rushes for the Giants last season, with 171 and 111 respectively, and Darkwa led in yards with 751. But if you go by the eye test, he wasn’t a particularly dominant back and leading in rushing last year doesn’t make him the starter this year, even if you only compare him to Gallman.

Darkwa had the higher usage at 11.4 attempts per game compared to 8.5 for his rival, but their yards per attempt was very similar. Darkwa gained 4.4 yards per attempt, Gallman gained 4.3. The statistical gap comes more from Darkwa having more usage than an actual gap in talent between the two players. Additionally, he appeared in two more games than Gallman and played in a total of 15.

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Both backs are serviceable, but they aren’t the kind of players that you want to rely upon entirely. Darkwa couldn’t reach a thousand yards and when it came to yardage, he was the 24th best back in the NFL. Again, not terrible, but not someone who you can rely on while contending for the division and the playoffs.

Besides, Darkwa is set to visit the New England Patriots and is a long-shot to rejoin the Giants.

It looks like the Giants will add an additional running back in the draft, but it’s unclear just how much they’ll spend to get a new back. If they decide that fixing the running game is the main goal, Penn States’ Saquon Barkley is the best answer on paper. Assuming he doesn’t go number one overall, of course.

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Everyone is aware by now that scouts are predicting Barkley to be historically good, because of his fast gear changes and his combination of strength and balance. Barkley is the safest option here, but that’s not to say that his ceiling isn’t high.

His low floor and very high ceiling are exactly what makes him a safe pick in this scenario. The Giants will have to pay a premium to get him, and that means using the second pick and passing on a chance to get one of the top quarterbacks or improve the offensive line with another safe prospect, offensive guard Quenton Nelson. What happens if they decide to use the second pick to improve another position, and look for a running back elsewhere?

Other options?

There’s other good prospects in this year’s draft, but none of them are as well-rounded and pro-ready as Barkley. Many consider Derrius Guice the second best back in the draft, and while he doesn’t have Barkley’s acceleration or agility, he has good power and is hard to bring down once he’s through the hole.

In college, he outplayed Leonard Fournette when the current NFL running back was out injured. After playing as LSU’s full-time starter last season, he rushed for more than a thousand yards and recorded 11 touchdowns.

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Guice is on the radar of numerous teams and could very easily get drafted in the first round, however, the Giants should keep him in mind but shouldn’t assume that he’ll last until their second round pick. If Guice is off of the board, many fans think that Georgia’s Nick Chubb would be a good fit that can be drafted in round two. Chubb also played in the tough SEC and was always in the conversation as one of the premier running backs in the conference and the entire country. His four years in college gives him some extra experience going into the NFL.

Despite being a good prospect, however, there’s more polished players available and Chubb should be around in the second round. There’s a lot of ways that the Giants backfield could develop this season. Jonathan Stewart could start, with Chubb or Guice behind him on the depth chart for now. Or Barkley could start, and split time with Gallman and Stewart. Stewart was brought in as a seasoned veteran to help develop the younger backs on the team, and his familiarity with GM Dave Gettleman certainly helped his chances.

Bringing on Stewart and the emergence of Wayne Gallman in 2017 certainly puts former 6th round pick Paul Perkins on the back-burner.

Whatever happens, it looks like the backfield won’t stay the same. After all, fixing that area is one of the first steps to recovering from last season and getting back into a position to contend for the division.