New York Giants Final 7-Round Mock Draft
The homework has been done, the team draft boards are set and all that remains before the NFL draft commences Thursday at 8 p.m. ET is to see whether there is any movement by teams looking to trade up or down.
It's also officially the end of the annual mock draft season. New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese, who has set the organization up to have flexibility in the direction they can pursue in each round, recently said they're not planning to deviate from "best player available" when it comes their time to draft, but it will still be interesting to see just how closely "best available" matches up with need.
On that note, here is a final 2017 New York Giants mock draft, one in which an attempt has been made to marry best available to need.
Mock away!
Round 1: LB Jarrad Davis
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That no Giants linebacker outside of second-year man B.J. Goodson is signed beyond this season likely means New York is going to slowly revamp what has been an underperforming linebacker position for several years.
But first, let's talk about the production. While sacks aren't the end-all statistic, in looking at the Giants' 2016 regular-season sacks, the linebackers were credited with 2.5 sacks, one of which, by Devon Kennard, came when he lined up at defensive tackle.
By comparison, the Giants' defensive backs recorded 8.0 sacks last year.
The Giants need better production—not just in the pass rush but in having guys who can fill holes and who can cover.
Florida's Jarrad Davis (6'1", 238 pounds), someone ESPN Mel Kiper Jr. said is NFL-ready and "a heck of a football player" during a conference call with reporters recently, could fit the bill.
Obviously, there has to be some concern with Davis' recent injury history—he had an ankle injury during the combine and he had a lower-leg injury last year—but he bounced back with a strong showing at his pro day workout.
Per Dan Mathews of Gridiron Now, Davis' impressive pro day showing included a 4.56 timed 40-yard dash, a 38.5 vertical jump and a 10'9" broad jump in addition to 23 reps in the bench press.
"That's enough right there for a guy who obviously had some injury issues this year," Kiper said. "He was still second on the team in tackles, a guy who's productive. You talk about coming back a couple of weeks later after he was hurt with an ankle, he comes back against Georgia, and he leads the team with seven tackles. This guy is resilient. He's got a great attitude, great character. He's versatile. He's a guaranteed first-round pick."
Lance Zierlein of NFL.com agrees with Kiper's assessment, adding that the prospect offers tremendous football and personal character to go along with his athletic gifts.
Davis, who played in a 3-4 in college, still needs some polish to clean up some issues such as taking better angles to the ball. According to Pro Football Focus, he recorded double-digit missed tackles in each of the past two seasons, but Zierlein concludes that Davis should be able to compete for a starting job as a 4-3 outside linebacker.
Round 2: OT Taylor Moton, Western Michigan
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Yes, the Giants need an offensive tackle.
However, if you're hoping for an offensive tackle to arrive in the first round to replace what they are projected to have this year as their starters, that's probably where we're going to differ in our opinions.
First, it has been made clear by co-owner John Mara—most recently at the league's owners meetings at the end of March—that no one on the team has given up on left tackle Ereck Flowers, who has struggled in his first two seasons as a starter.
Meanwhile, Reese, in a press conference with reporters ahead of the draft, expressed hope that D.J. Fluker, a first-round pick in 2013 by the then-San Diego Chargers who has also struggled as a pro, might finally be able to show everyone why he was first-round worthy.
While there is lots of optimism within the walls of the QDTC, the Giants still need to protect themselves in case Flowers and Fluker don't pan out—and also in case they have concluded Bobby Hart's NFL future is not at right tackle.
Western Michigan's Taylor Moton (6'5", 319 pounds) is a name to watch for in the second round. Moton, who played guard earlier in his college career but who was last year at right tackle, had the third-best overall grade out of all draft-eligible tackles who played at least 75 percent of their team's snaps on PFF.
Out of the top-three graded offensive tackles, the other two being Ryan Ramczyk of Wisconsin and Robert Leff of Auburn—Moton allowed the fewest quarterback disruptions (eight) despite playing the most snaps (1,005) out of that group in 2016.
Moton has a lot of upside that could be reached with a year of technique training to smooth out those glitches. Dane Brugler, in the 2017 NFL Draft Guide, noted that one of Moton's biggest issues is his hand placement and timing, resulting in him hugging his opponents and losing his balance.
However, Moton's size, length, sheer power and durability are hard to ignore. Zierlein projects Moton as a guard, but the Giants, remember, like their offensive linemen to be versatile. If he were to come to New York, he would likely train at both guard and tackle with an eye toward being ready to start somewhere by 2018.
Round 3: TE Gerald Everett, South Alabama
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It's no great secret that the Giants tight ends' pass-game production has left much to be desired.
Per Inside Football, neither Jerell Adams nor Will Tye averaged more than 4.5 yards after the catch, with 26 tight ends having a higher YAC average (based on 10 receptions) in 2016.
In terms of scoring, New York's tight ends combined to record the lowest number of touchdowns in the NFC East (three).
Simply put, the Giants need better production from the position, especially in the passing game.
Where they find that production is another story. O.J. Howard would be the perfect fit for the Giants, but it would be shocking if he falls to the Giants at No. 23 (assuming they stay at that spot).
If that doesn't happen, the Giants might look to wait until Day 2 before adding another tight end from a class that draft analysts widely regard as one of the deepest in years.
A potential third-round prospect is South Alabama's Gerald Everett, who's 6'3" and 239 pounds. Per Brugler's draft guide, Everett, a two-year starter, is built more like jumbo wide receiver capable of lining up in-line, wing and in the slot.
While at South Alabama, he was good for at least 40 receptions and 575 yards per season, saving his career highs for last year, when he finished with 717 yards on 49 catches (but also saw his touchdown total of eight in 2015 halved in 2016).
If the Giants are looking to add a tight end in the mold of Rob Gronkowski or Jordan Reed to their offense, Everett, if he's there in the third round, appears to be the way to go.
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Round 4: RB Marlon Mack, South Florida
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Regardless of whether the Giants end up signing unrestricted free agent LeGarrette Blount, someone Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported could be "a potential match before the draft," the Giants should still draft a running back.
Shane Vereen and Orleans Darkwa, both on the roster, are coming off season-ending injuries. Neither is signed beyond this season.
If the Giants were to sign the 30-year-old Blount, it would probably be on a short-term deal of two years at the most, similar in concept to what they did with Brandon Marshall.
While Blount would provide firepower for the short term, the Giants will probably want to add a younger piece to the puzzle to complement second-year man Paul Perkins for the long term.
Enter South Florida's Marlon Mack. A smallish (5'11", 213 pounds) but powerful runner who recorded three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons at an average of 6.2 yards per carry over his career, Mack holds over a dozen USF school records, including the all-time career leading rusher (3,609 yards), career touchdown leader (33) and 100-yard rushing games (20).
The downside? Mack doesn't appear to be the ideal guy, at least right now, to call on when it comes to running the ball up the gut.
According to Brugler's 2017 NFL Draft Guide, the runner doesn't always show the patience in letting his blocks develop and tends to freelance a bit.
The silver lining to that, as Brugler points out, is that Mack—who, by the way, has 12 fumbles over the past three years—has made a habit of turning nothing into something.
If he lands with the Giants, he'll likely have the time to further hone his ball security and blocking skills to the point he could step in to share the workload with Perkins.
Round 5: DT Ryan Glasgow, Michigan
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The Giants' free-agency loss of defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins punched a hole in the depth at the position.
Enter Michigan's Ryan Glasgow, 6'3" and 302 pounds, as a potential solution. Glasgow, an All-Big Ten standout, was a Swiss Army knife along the defensive interior at Michigan, experience that he could transfer to either position along New York's defensive line as a backup.
Per Brugler, Glasgow has a competitive streak that's hard to miss out there. Tied for Pro Football Focus’s sixth-best interior defensive lineman (out of the 183 who played in 60 percent or more of their respective teams' defensive snaps), Glasgow recorded 77 career tackles (13.5 for a loss) and four sacks in his four-year career with the Wolverines.
While not necessarily a pass-rushing specialist, according to Zierlein—he's probably more suited to the role played by Damon Harrison on the Giants defensive line—Glasgow is able to do just enough to plug up the interior running lanes for a defense that places a premium on shutting down the run.
Brugler noted that if Glasgow can learn to be patient and disciplined, he could increase his production at the next level.
Round 6: CB Jalen Myrick, Minnesota
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One thing that Giants fans no doubt want to erase from their memories is how badly the defensive secondary struggled in last year's playoff game after slot cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie went down early in that meeting with the Green Bay Packers with an injury.
Rodgers-Cromartie is presumably 100 percent these days. But after getting burned by a lack of solid depth behind the veteran cornerback, who has had to deal with more than his fair share of bumps and bruises, New York needs to make sure it adds some depth for the slot.
Minnesota's Jalen Myrick, 5'10", 200 pounds, might be worth considering for this role. Per Zierlein, Myrick has allowed a completion rate of 39 percent over the past two years.
That was mainly achieved as an outside cornerback. When it comes to the NFL, Myrick's lack of height will likely see him try to carve out a niche in the slot, where Zierlein thinks he'd be a good fit given his foot quickness and athleticism.
On the downside, Myrick does need to improve his tackling—per Pro Football Focus, he missed 10 tackles last year alone and 18 over the past three years. Myrick, as with many of the Day 3 prospects, needs some coaching to refine his skills, but the potential is there—as is the fact he can return kickoffs.
S Xavier Woods, Louisiana Tech
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The Giants are optimistic they'll have Darian Thompson on the field this year after losing their new starting free safety to a foot injury as a rookie.
Still, there are significant question marks at this position that might just warrant some reinforcement.
Mykkele Thompson and Nat Berhe have each lost most of the past two years because of injuries—Thompson to two lower-body injuries and Berhe to a calf ailment and, last year, two concussions.
If the Giants have concerns regarding those two players moving forward, a prospect who might be a fit, albeit a little undersized, is Louisiana Tech's Xavier Woods (5'11", 197 pounds).
Woods' impressive four-year career includes a whopping 272 total tackles (20.5 for a loss), four sacks and 14 interceptions. Woods could offer an NFL team two important features: durability and versatility—he was asked to fill multiple assignments for the Bulldogs defense throughout his career.
Per Brugler, Woods, who projects as free safety and potential slot cornerback at the next level, does a good job of seeing routes develop and in getting into position to make a play on the ball. On the flip side, he doesn't have the closing speed needed if a receiver gains a lot of ground against him.
Zierlein also cautions that despite Woods' production, at times he played with the occasional lack of discipline, which cost his team. That being said, Zierlein and Brugler both believe that despite the holes in his game, Woods has enough pedigree to find success at the NFL level.
All draft prospects' measurables are via NFL.com.
Patricia Traina covers the New York Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced.
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