The New York Giants have ample holes to fill in the upcoming NFL Draft, but one thing is for sure, it will be challenging to crucify the 4th overall pick. With the exception of Dave Gettleman drafting Derrick Brown, the Giants are in line to gain a defensive playmaker or a top offensive tackle.
Here’s a crazy two-round mock draft:
Round One: 4th overall
The Giants can’t pass on Isaiah Simmons, can they? A player who racked up 8.0 sacks and 16.5 tackles for a loss in addition to quality coverage stats and run-stopping abilities. Gettleman can’t pass on his highest-graded player on the board and elects to inject him into the Giants’ defense.
With defensive coordinator Patrick Graham preparing to institute a creative scheme, Simmons fits right in and can play multiple positions — slot, linebacker, outside linebacker, safety, you name it, and he can do it. Simmons is a self-proclaimed “defender” and not linebacker, opening up his versatility. At just 20-years-old, the Giants are getting a staple on defense who will overhaul their playmaking abilities. Paired with Jabrill Peppers, Big Blue might have one of the best young duos in football.
Round Two: 36th overall
The Giants take a huge risk here, trading away their 2021 first-round pick and a 2020 mid-rounder to move up into the first round substantially where they can land a young tackle to reinforce Daniel Jones. This sounds crazy, but the reality is, the Giants can kill two birds with one stone in the first round. Solidifying the offensive front with a player like Mekhi Becton (latter portion of tier-one OLs) and landing Simmons is a dream come true, and it just fast forwards the Giants’ overall plan at the end of the day.
With Nate Solder likely on the move in 2021, the Giants were going to have to supplement him regardless, moving the process up one year allows them to be competitive when most are convinced they will be a mediocre team.
While I wouldn’t necessarily advocate for this idea, it makes sense if they want to lock down two positions of need in one draft with top-tier talent.