The New York Giants have a glaring hole on offense. In 2021, Evan Engram was the team’s starting tight end with Kyle Rudolph playing as the second man in the lineup. Behind Rudolph and Engram was Kaden Smith. All three of these tight ends are no longer on the New York Giants roster. The Giants need to draft a tight end in the upcoming 2022 NFL Draft. But how early should the Giants consider drafting a tight end?
How early should the New York Giants consider drafting a tight end?
The Giants have greater needs than the tight end position in the 2022 NFL Draft. New York needs to add talent to their offensive line and pass-rushing department, first and foremost. But with the nine draft picks that the Giants possess across the seven rounds of the 2022 NFL Draft, they need to target a tight end. There are a number of talented tight end prospects available in the middle rounds of this year’s draft class.
There are not many high-end tight end prospects in this year’s class (not that the Giants need to target a high-end prospect at that position). Only two tight end prospects rank in PFF’s top-100 on their Big Board this year. The Draft Network has five tight ends ranked in their top-100 prospects. But in all likelihood, the Giants will consider it to be too rich to draft a tight end with a pick inside the top-100.
The Giants are likely to wait until the middle-to-late rounds of the 2022 NFL Draft to draft a tight end. Joe Schoen helped the Buffalo Bills find Dawson Knox in the 2019 NFL Draft. The Buffalo Bills’ roster was in a similar position to that of the Giants’ current roster. Schoen and the Bills fixed their tight end problem by drafting Dawson Knox in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Knox has been the starter ever since, catching 9 touchdown passes in 2021.
When the Giants decide to draft a tight end, it will likely be in round three or later. Some prospects that they could target include the likes of Jeremy Ruckert (Ohio State), Trey McBride (Colorado State), and Charlie Kolar (Iowa State). All of these prospects are projected to be drafted in the middle rounds. Keep an eye on them when the New York Giants are on the clock.