Merry Christmas mock: Over the past few weeks we’ve received a number of emails from Giants’ fans asking whether we thought it was worth it for the team to win make the playoffs, but at the cost of dropping down into the second half of the opening round of the 2021 draft (which for those keeping track of these things is just 127 days away). For now, the simple answer is that the question is somewhat moot. The past few weeks have been a fun run for the Giants, but truth be told, they’ll need a whole lot of stuff to go right to make this year’s playoffs.
Of course, if the Giants do somehow manage to pull a few rabbits out of the hat and make the playoffs, we’ll revisit the question. However, for now it looks like the Giants will be picking somewhere between the 5th and tenth picks. What’s interesting about their current draft situation is that it appears they could end up considering pretty much the same players we had them looking at back earlier in the season when they were buried up at the very top of the selection order.
Indeed, because it appears there could very well be a real run on QBs early in this year’s opening round teams picking in, say, the 8-to-10 range will still have at least a shot at one or more of this blue-chip positional prospects including WRs DeVonta Smith of Alabama and LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase, Miami DE Greg Rousseau, Penn State LB Micah Parsons, Alabama CB Patrick Surtain and Florida TE Kyle Pitts.
In our latest 2021 opening round projection, for example, we have the Giants taking Miami’s Rousseau with the 10th pick. In fact, we have a suspicion that the Giants might actually prefer one of WRs Smith or Chase and we would have taken either one if they had still been on the board at #10 (or the Giants had picked a couple of spots earlier), but Rousseau, a dynamic edge rusher in the mode of former Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul, would be a nice consolation prize.
The other thought we had in putting that mock together is that if any of the top QBs were still available – we had four going in the top ten, but didn’t incorporate trades in the projection – that it is possible, if not likely, that there would be a line-up of teams needing QBs looking to leap frog each in order to move up get one of those remaining passers such that were some legitimate trade down options at that spot. At the same time, we won’t be holding our breath given the fact that the Giants have literally never traded down in the opening round ever, but it’s likely the option could be there!
And if the Giants didn’t get a receiver in the opening round, they’ll likely have some pretty intriguing options on the second day as WR may be the deepest position in this year’s draft. Indeed, guy’s that could be available around the 40th pick include RonDale Moore of Purdue, LSU’s Terrace Marshall, USC’s Amon-Ra St. Brown and maybe even Rashod Bateman of Minnesota. Meanwhile, 3rd receiver prospects are almost as good including Tylan Wallace of Oklahoma State, Elijah Moore of Ole Miss, Amari Rogers of Clemson, Seth Williams of Auburn and Sage Surratt of Wake Forest.
In fact, one reason we kind of like an edge rusher Like Rousseau in the first is that the chances of getting a really good edge-rushing prospect outside the top 15-20 picks aren’t all that good, whereas, as noted, the WR position is loaded with decent prospects who could quite literally be available into the early part of the third day.
Coach Judge commits to Jones … Giants head coach Joe Judge made a few headlines earlier today when he publicly committed to Daniel Jones for 2021. Said Judge “Daniel Jones is our QB!’ when asked directly: ‘If you get a second to think about next year, is he your quarterback?’ To which we say ‘Duh!’ Danny Jones was never going anywhere, at least not this year. Which isn’t to say that if given the chance to draft an elite QB prospect like Trevor Lawrence or Zack Wilson, the Giants wouldn’t take it. But the fact is getting a shot at a Lawrence or a Wilson was always going to be a long shot. The Giants have an investment in Jones and now need to get him some weapons to see exactly what they have in #8. as I have noted in a couple of earlier reports, its our sense that right now Jones is in a similar situation to where Buffalo’s Josh Allen was at this time last year in his second season. This is just not the time to be cutting bait so let’s move on!
Bradberry and Engram make pro bowl; Williams doesn’t … In a testament to the fact that the roster may in fact slowly turning around, two Giants – CB James Bradberry and TE evan Engram – were named to the NFC pro bowl team. Of course, it’s no surprise that Bradberry, who has been a rock in the Giants secondary all fall, was named to the all-star game. However, there are probably more than a few Giants fans scratching their heads over the Engram selection. In fact, the most surprised guy in the entire Giants community over his pro bowl selection may have been Engram himself. Who would be the first to admit that he’s had at best an inconsistent season. It certainly didn’t hurt his chances that a number of top NFC TEs missed all or part of the season with injuries; but Engram indeed put up numbers that were at least comparable with just about every other TE in the conference.
Which will probably come as something of a shock to most Giants’ fans as Engram has become their absolute favorite whipping boy this fall. Indeed, I swear that if a Giants’ QB put a pass ten feet in front of Engram the fan collective would almost instinctively start screaming that he’d run the wrong route, or some such!
In fact, there may be a couple of lessons to be learned here. One is that whereas fans tend to focus on misplays – and Engram certainly has had his share this year – the bigger question that football people ask themselves is what can the guy do for us more than what can’t he do? And whether fans will admit it or not, Engram is one of the few Giants with big-play potential on a team starved for guys who can make plays downfield. As such, I don’t think he’s going anywhere this off-season, although if he were to return I’d really like to see the Giants scheme to get him downfield way more often next year.
While Bradberry and Engram made the pro bowl, one of the biggest snubs was Giants’ defensive lineman Leonard Williams. In the end, we figure that because Williams is something of DE/DT tweener he may have gotten votes at both positions, just not enough at either. That has started us thinking a little bit about where Williams fits going down the road. The last few weeks he’s been playing almost exclusively at DE in both 3-4 and 4-2 sets. And while it may cost them a few bucks at the negotiating table, it may be wise for the Giants to start to think of a Williams as a full-time DE, although they might like for him to drop a few pounds to improve his quickness.
And given what we mentioned above that really good DEs are really hard to find, if the Giants could get a guy like Rousseau in the draft, then pairing him with Williams could give them an interesting complimentary book-end DEs. Certainly, it has to be a little frustrating for Williams who has faced almost constant double-teaming the past month and it would be nice to see someone who could legitimately take some of the pressure off. Time will tell!!
Merry Christmas … We would be remiss if we didn’t wish all our Giant fans friends and their families all the best of the holiday season as well as a happy New Year with the wish that we never have to go through another year like 2020.
As I sit back and think about the year, though, it has occurred to me one of the very few redeeming characteristics of 2020 has been that, for the most part, the Giants’ season has actually been kind of fun! With a couple of exceptions, they’ve been in just about every game so far this year and while the division race comes with the asterix that nobody’s very good, playing meaningful games this late in the season has been an unexpected bonus. I find myself not only looking forward to Sunday’s Giants’ game, but I have been glued to the TV when the other divisional teams play. Good job guys!! Now just keep it up!!
