Mock Compilation: Predicting the Giants' First Round Pick

"With the 15th pick in the NFL Draft, the New York Giants select...Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain ."

Last year for SNY's Giants Football Blog, I compiled over 40 mock drafts from all across the internet, including those from "professional experts" and bloggers.

According to those mock drafts, the consensus pick was North Carolina wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, who turned out to be the player the Giants selected.

Now, I'm not saying that this exercise will work out this well every time, but maybe something can be learned from looking at all of these mock drafts.  Or maybe its just a case of a broken clock being right twice a day.

Either way, this year I compiled over 50 mock drafts, and the consensus pick was Rolando McClain in a landslide.

While I would be all for this selection, part of me believes that the fact that so many mock drafts have him falling to the Giants is just wishful thinking.

With the Giants' biggest hole being middle linebacker, McClain just seems like the perfect fit.  But I find it hard to believe he'll be around when they select.

The next most popular picks were linebacker Sean Weatherspoon and running back CJ Spiller. Weatherspoon is an ultimate need  pick, while Spiller would be a classic best player available/ value  pick.

38% of the mock drafts had the Giants taking a middle linebacker (McClain or Weatherspoon), while 24% had them taking a defensive lineman.  41 of the 58 mock drafts (71%) had the Giants drafting a defensive player.

Here, in order, are who the mock drafts have the Giants selecting, with the amount of selections each player received over 58 mock drafts:

MLB Rolando McClain- 15

MLB Sean Weatherspoon- 7

RB CJ Spiller- 7

DE Derrick Morgan- 6

OG Mike Iupati- 5

DE Jason Pierre Paul- 4

OT Anthony Davis- 3

S Earl Thomas- 3

DT Dan Williams-2

DT Jared Odrick- 2

CB Joe Haden- 1

OT Bruce Campbell- 1

CB Wilson Kyle- 1

OT Charles Brown- 1

Positional Breakdown:

MLB- 38% (22)

DE- 17% (10)

RB- 12% (7)

OT- 8% (5)

OG- 8% (5)

DT- 7% (4)

S- 5% (3)

CB- 4% (2)

*Please note that this does not take into account the possibility of the Giants trading up or down in the draft.

This is intended more for fun and not to accurately predict who the Giants will actually select.

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NFL Mock Draft 2010 Database:

http://www.draftcountdown.com/sub/Mock-Draft-A.php

Rutgers OT Anthony Davis

http://www.draftsite.com/nfl/index.php?page=1

Maryland OT Bruce Campbell

http://newnfldraft.com/archives/1123

Tennessee DT Dan Williams

http://newsportdraft.com/2009/09/20/2010-nfl-mock-draft-picks-13-22/

Tennessee DT Dan Williams

http://walterfootball.com/draft2010.php

Clemson RB CJ Spiller

http://www.fftoolbox.com/nfl_draft/2010/2010-nfl-mock-draft.cfm?writer=19&page=2

Missouri MLB Sean Weatherspoon

http://www.fftoolbox.com/nfl_draft/2010/2010-nfl-mock-draft.cfm?writer=44

Idaho OG Mike Iupati

http://www.mynfldraft.com/NFL-Mock-Draft

Idaho OG Mike Iupati

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/nfl-mock-draft-version-5

Missouri MLB Sean Weatherspoon

http://www.xtrapointfootball.com/20100419318/2010-archives/april/2010-nfl-mock-draft-30.html

Georgia Tech DE Derrick Morgan

http://www.sbnation.com/2010/4/19/1430421/2010-nfl-mock-draft-two-round

Georgia Tech DE Derrick Morgan

http://www.freep.com/article/20100418/SPORTS01/4180604/1049/sports01/Nicholas-J.-Cotsonikas-NFL-mock-draft

Florida CB Joe Haden

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/04/17/1883286/the-stars-nfl-mock-draft-take.html

Alabama MLB Rolando McClain

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=922733&category=SPORTS

Alabama MLB Rolando McClain

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/article/2010-04-18/nfl-mock-draft-sn-correspondents-make-their-picks

Idaho OG Mike Iupati

http://www.twincities.com/ci_14906410?source=most_viewed&nclick_check=1

Alabama MLB Rolando McClain

http://www.gcobb.com/2010/04/16/gcobb-com-2010-nfl-mock-draft-number-11/

Alabama MLB Rolando McClain

http://www.squidoo.com/2010_NFL_Mock_Draft

Missouri MLB Sean Weatherspoon

http://qisports.com/nfldraft.html

USF DE Jason Pierre-Paul

http://jugmongers.blogspot.com/2010/04/judd-jugmongers-nfl-draft-picks-2010.html

Alabama MLB Rolando McClain

http://phinphanatic.com/2010/04/17/three-round-mock-41710/

Alabama MLB Rolando McClain

http://www.pewterreport.com/articles/view/6920

Alabama MLB Rolando McClain

http://www.fantasyfootballjungle.com/2010_nfl_mock_draft/Tyler_Ogden/3476/1a

Boise State CB Wilson Kyle

http://www.fantasyfootballxtreme.com/nfl-draft-info/nfl-mock-draft/

Georgia Tech DE Derrick Morgan

http://terennab.wordpress.com/nfl-mock-draft-round-1-2-0/

Georgia Tech DE Derrick Morgan

http://draftboard.com/mockdraft/

Clemson RB CJ Spiller

http://guysnfldraftlockerroom.com/roundone

Texas S Earl Thomas

http://www.nepatriotsdraft.com/2009/10/djs-2010-nfl-mock-draft.html

Texas S Earl Thomas

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/mock

(4 Drafts)

Alabama MLB Rolando McClain

Penn State DT Jared Odrick

Alabama MLB Rolando McClain

Penn State DT Jared Odrick

http://www.footballdialogue.blogspot.com/

USF DE Jason Pierre Paul

http://www.footballfanspot.com/nflmockdrafts2010.htm

Clemson RB CJ Spiller

http://cdsdraft.com/mocks/round-1.html

Missouri MLB Sean Weatherspoon

http://www.patsdraft.com/Draft_10.html

Idaho OG Mike Iupati

http://www.nfldraftspecialist.com/

Texas S Earl Thomas

http://www.eastcoastsportsnews.com/2010Draft.html

USF DE Jason Pierre-Paul

http://www.ultimatemockdraft.com/

USF DE Jason Pierre-Paul

http://rothsteinsports.com/untitled3.html

Georgia Tech DE Derrick Morgan

http://draftman2009.blogspot.com/

Clemson RB CJ Spiller

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/rgosselin/stories/041810dnspogoosemock.33ea398.html

Alabama MLB Rolando McClain

http://www.sundaykickoff.com/

Idaho OG Mike Iupati

http://www.emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=28399

Alabama MLB Rolando McClain

http://www.nfltouchdown.com/2010-nfl-mock-draft/

Missouri MLB Sean Weatherspoon

http://www.thefootballexpert.com/bures2010mockdraft.html

Alabama MLB Rolando McClain

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/don_banks/04/07/mock.draft.2/index.html

Missouri MLB Sean Weatherspoon

http://www.nbcdfw.com/blogs/blue-star/Newdawgs-NFL-Mock-Draft-2010-91572374.html

Missouri MLB Sean Weatherspoon

http://12thmanrising.com/2010/04/20/my-2010-nfl-mock-drafts-first-draft/

Alabama MLB Rolando McClain

http://nflmocks.com/2010/04/15/mock-draft-2-0/2/

Rutgers OT Anthony Davis

http://www.nflsmackdown.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1282&Itemid=31

USC OT Charles Brown

http:// nfldraft.webs.com/

Clemson RB CJ Spiller

http://www.sidelinescouting.net/mock/

Clemson RB CJ Spiller

http://fwgnfl.com/?page_id=5

Clemson RB CJ Spiller

http://nflmockdraftking.com/

Alabama RB Rolando McClain

http://cippinonsports.com/2010/04/15/2010-nfl-draft-2-0/

Rutgers OT Anthony Davis

Via ESPN on TV:

Todd McShay

Georgia Tech DE Derrick Morgan

Mel Kiper

Alabama MLB Rolando McClain