NFL Draft 2012: New York Giants First Round Candidate Kelechi Osemele

Its been just over a month now since the New York Giants won Super Bowl XLVI against the Patriots.

With the impeding NFL free agency period almost here, it's never too early to see who can help the Giants for the 2012 season.

The first hole the Giants will need to address is the offensive line, which is something we all said during the regular season.

Both David Diehl and Kareem McKenzie are getting up in age and might not be on the team in 2012, plus the Giants need to get younger on the line.

In the last draft story, I talked about Matt Reynolds from Brigham Young, an offensive tackle who some thought was better suited for the third, fourth or fifth round in the draft.

Now, we're going to talk about another potential draft pick who could help the Giants on the line in 2012; Kelechi Osemele.

Osemele is a senior guard from Iowa State and he's a big dude; 6;6" and 347 pounds with a mean streak in him as a guy who loves to run people over.

He played both tackle and guard at Iowa State, which could be beneficial for any team who drafts him because it would give them extra depth at different positions.

He's extremely strong, very athletic and has long arms, which helps him with blocking.

According to his scouting report, the one weakness he has is his technique and at times, not setting his feet properly or extending his arms to make contact just relying on pure strength to get him by in situations.

In the NFL, a really good, veteran defensive lineman would shred him up unless he learned better technique, which is where a guy like Giants offensive line coach Pat Flaherty would come into play.

Flaherty is one of the best line coaches in the game and would have to really work with Osemele to improve that technique, so he's not getting Eli Manning killed in certain spots.

He's extremely good as a run blocker, which would be good news for Ahmad Bradshaw, who can benefit from having younger and stronger guys on the line.

I think Osemele will make the transition into the NFL just fine, as he is a big, strong and physical player, but he has the smarts as well, both on and off the field.

At Iowa State, Osemele made the Academic Honor Roll three times, which says to me he's not just the "dumb football player" type and is actually a very intelligent person. So, I think learning a playbook and a team's offense wouldn't be an issue with him.

In some mock drafts, he's been taken with the 23rd pick by the Lions, and in others, he dropped all the way down to the second round.

With the Giants need for lineman, given his size, strength, mean streak and intelligence, this may be a guy they can't pass up if he's still around at number 32.

He did play at guard in Iowa State, but a lot of scouts say he might be best suited to play right tackle in the NFL, which I think would be fine if the Giants put him there.

McKenzie is a free agent anyway, and likely isn't coming back. So, if the Giants were to draft Osemele to be the right tackle of the future it could be the right pick for them.

But will Osemele be available at the end of the first night when the Giants are picking at the number 32 spot?

And if he is, will Jerry Reese take him?

The last time Reese picked offense first, he took Hakeem Nicks in 2009, a pick that has worked wonders for the Giants, especially in winning the Super Bowl a month ago.

I think Osemele could be a solid pick for the Giants if he fell to them.