Giants Must Use 2015 NFL Draft to Bolster, Extend Eli Manning Era in New York

The New York Giants are entering dangerous territory with quarterback Eli Manning.

At 34 years old, Manning is entering the twilight of his career. He has just one year left on his current contract, a contract the Giants don't appear set to extend anytime soon. Jerry Reese and Tom Coughlin are unlikely to stick around if the franchise moves on from Manning after this season.

Therefore, Reese and Coughlin should be making decisions with the immediate future in mind rather than the long-term.

When you peruse the Giants' current roster, you'll see a few obvious flaws that could prove fatal in their current situation. The team doesn't appear to have any kind of free safety, and it could do with upgrades at multiple linebacker spots and the other safety spot.

No matter how the league evolves, it's always important to have a strong spine for your defense to rely on.

Directly addressing these areas seems like a smart strategy to improve the team, but for short-term impact, it may not be the best route. Impact safeties simply aren't available in a league starved for quality players at the position, and off-ball linebackers typically don't carry as much impact as players at other positions.

With that in mind, the best strategy for the Giants is one that will indirectly ease the pressure on those spots. To do that, they must focus their efforts during the draft on acquiring offensive pieces to better complement Manning.

Drafting Odell Beckham and Weston Richburg early in last year's draft while also bringing in new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo rescued Manning from a supporting cast that was hindering his production.

After making moves to give Manning a viable supporting cast, the Giants must now continue to build on it so they can elevate his production closer to the top of the league. According to Football Outsiders' efficiency metric, DVOA, the Giants were an average offense last year.

It's important to note that they were actually an above-average passing offense but a below-average running team.

This suggests that the Giants should look to add more pieces to improve the running game, but even that doesn't seem like a necessity. By simply keeping Rashad Jennings and Geoff Schwartz healthy and moving Richburg to center, the Giants should be able to get more production from their running game.

Although Shane Vereen is primarily a receiving back, his addition should also give the Giants more quality when running the ball from the shotgun.

To really elevate Manning's supporting cast, the Giants should be looking at two specific areas. The first is the second receiver position. The second is finding a fifth offensive lineman to solidify the unit. In the first and second rounds of the draft, the Giants should attempt to do both.

Adding a second receiver doesn't necessarily mean selecting a wide receiver to partner with Beckham. The Giants could take a wide receiver or a tight end who would immediately make an impact for the team.

In a perfect world, West Virginia's Kevin White would be available for them to select with the ninth overall pick. White would offer the Giants a receiver who could perfectly complement Beckham while allowing a hopefully healthy Victor Cruz to stay in the slot.

White will be 22 years of age for his rookie season. He had limited success in college, but his skill set is such that he should be able to have an immediate impact in the NFL.

Credit: Draftbreakdown.com

Much like Beckham, White would offer Manning a receiver who could dominate his opponents at the catch point. He understands how to adjust to the ball in the air and make receptions away from his body with cornerbacks in tight coverage.

That tight coverage rarely bothers White because of his athletic 6'3" and 215-pound frame.

Although their body types are different, White would likely be able to replicate what Alshon Jeffery has done early in his career for the Chicago Bears. Jeffery didn't have a wide skill set, but he excelled in specific ways.

White will be able to replicate that kind of success if he is used on deep routes and screen passes to complement the rest of the Giants offense. 

Even though the Giants already gave a significant amount of money to Dwayne Harris this offseason, he simply doesn't offer the same kind of talent that others atop this draft class do. Harris, Rueben Randle, Preston Parker and Kevin Ogletree could all compete for Cruz's snaps if he isn't back to 100 percent in time for the season.

To gauge how the Giants draft could go with a receiver investment in the first round, I used the Fanspeak simulator. 

Mocking the Draft	Matt Miller	Optimum Scouting
1. Kevin White, WR	1. Kevin White, WR	1. Kevin White, WR
2. D.J. Humphries, OT	2. A.J. Cann, G	2. Ereck Flowers, OT
3. Gerod Holliman, FS	3. Jaquiski Tartt, SS	3. Kevin Johnson, CB
4. Eric Rowe, SS	4. Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, FS	4. Tevin McDonald, S

Draft boards from Mocking the Draft, B/R's Matt Miller and Eric Galko offered us a variety of different prospects who could be available in drafts that went four rounds deep. In each of these drafts, I addressed the receiver role in the first round and the offensive line in the second.

After that, it was simply about bringing in the best defensive players possible.

This year's safety class isn't impressive. Landon Collins is the only player at the position who is likely to go in the top 20 of the first round. Yet, even though the safety class lacks top-end talent, there are players who should be available in latter rounds who offer intriguing skill sets.

By taking White and an offensive lineman in the first two rounds, the Giants are passing on better options on the defensive side, but an improved offense should put the defense in better position to succeed.

Something that will undoubtedly stand out from those drafts is that the second round features different offensive linemen who play different positions.

That is because the Giants can add either a starting left guard or right tackle to their offensive line to round it out, which works because Justin Pugh may actually be a better player if he moves inside to guard from his right tackle position.

With Pugh, Schwartz, Will Beatty, Richburg and a first- or second-round offensive lineman, the Giants would have made significant investments in each of their starting options. Four of the five would have been picked in the first two rounds of the draft while the fifth, Schwartz, was a priority free agent.

The Giants sit in a good spot in the draft. With all of the top edge-rushers and both quarterbacks expected to go before they pick, one or two of White, La'el Collins or Brandon Scherff are likely to be available.

Drafting for need exclusively is often a bad decision. However, this isn't what the Giants would be doing if they undertook this strategy. Instead, they would be matching the value available to areas of their roster that could have the biggest impact.

Fortunately for the Giants, the draft is set to fall in such a way that will allow them to extend Manning's career and build one of the better offenses in the league.