2020 Draft Wire Mock Has New York Giants Trade Down For Tackle

New York Giants, Andrew Thomas, Georgia Bulldogs
Nov 2, 2019; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Georgia Bulldogs offensive lineman Andrew Thomas (71) during the first quarter at TIAA Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Who will the New York Giants spend the fourth overall pick on in the NFL Draft? It’s one of the major questions now that the team has a staff and the offseason is continuing – there’s a number of positions in contention for the Giants’ pick right now, including tackles, wide receivers, and the linebacker position which hasn’t seen serious upgrade in a while. However, according to one prediction, the Giants may end up not spending that pick at all.

Trading down is a possibility which has been discussed ever since the Giants found out that thanks to their results towards the end of the season, they wouldn’t have the second pick and therefore a chance to take Ohio State’s Chase Young, the top defensive prospect in the draft. It’s also the scenario that Draft Wire sees playing out in their latest 2020 mock draft.

In this case, it’s the Carolina Panthers that would be the potential trading partner. The Panthers have a new head coach in former Giants candidate Matt Rhule and this mock sees them potentially starting out a new era in quarterbacking also, with the selection of Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert. Herbert, of course, was heavily linked to the Giants at one point… Before his play became more underwhelming and experts moved him out of the conversation for being a top three pick.

Of course, this still assumes that Herbet goes pretty high up, at number four overall, but being selected at that spot would make him the third selected quarterback overall behind Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa if the mock is accurate.

The Giants would trade down to number seven in exchange for their pick and this is what Draft Wire has to say about their selection, which is said to be Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas:

Another dream scenario for a team trading down, as the Giants get additional picks to move down three spots and still have their pick of this year’s top offensive tackle prospects. Other names have been challenging Thomas in recent weeks, but at the end of the process, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s still the first tackle off the board.

Tackle isn’t the flashiest position to take but it is one of need after the performances of Nate Solder could see him traded or switching positions over the offseason – regardless of what happens, it doesn’t seem likely for him to return to his current position as the starting left tackle, meaning the Giants may bite the bullet and give drafting a tackle high up another chance. The last time they did that, of course, they ended up with Ereck Flowers.

Should the Giants make such a deal? Or is there someone worth taking higher up, a few spots higher at number four? We’ll see in the coming months just which option the franchise considers better.