The New York Giants are faced with the matter of choosing from a wide selection of players with their number four overall pick in this year’s draft, ranging from outside linebackers to offensive tackles, but if some rumors hold true the team may not spend the pick at all and could instead send it to a team looking for a quarterback.
The question remains of who the Giants will draft lower in the first round if they do trade back, but it looks like they may have found their man. According to Matt Lombardo, of NJ Advance Media, the Giants are serious about the idea of going for Auburn’s Derrick Brown.
After speaking to multiple #NFL sources in Indianapolis this week, strong sense from executives and evaluators is Dave Gettleman is “very serious” about trading back in the #NFLDraft. The #Giants’ target: Derrick Brown. @ZackBlatt w/more on #Auburn DL: https://t.co/0p3oAQwQpM
— Matt Lombardo ? (@MattLombardoNFL) February 28, 2020
Brown showed good athleticism and put up good numbers last year in his senior season at Auburn – 54 total tackles and 11.5 tackles for a loss with 4 sacks, to be specific – but the potential selection still seems somewhat odd. The Giants could use help at defensive end or outside linebacker, which is the reason why Isaiah Simmons has been listed as one of the best fits for them on defense by a lot of sources. Brown, however, is a defensive tackle.
The decision would also leave the Giants without top quality help at the offensive tackle position from this draft, likely leaving them to look for someone to come in during free agency to fill that role.
Is focusing on a defensive tackle in the draft and upgrading the line through free agency the best idea? That still remains to be seen, but right now there’s a buzz building around the idea of Brown going to the Giants – still, this is the time of pre-draft predictions, and for every correct prediction, there’s usually plenty of wrong ones.
Only time will show if there’s truth to this or if it’s simply pre-draft hype.