The offseason always has a lot of predictions about the NFL Draft, from both fans and talking heads, and sometimes these predictions are right and other times not – the New York Giants, however, are at the center of more predictions than usual this season. They hold the number four overall pick, and there’s a lot of speculation about what the team will do with it.
Some say that the Giants will trade down and get more picks while taking a dark horse prospect like Derrick Brown in the first round. Others say that the Giants will spend the pick to take one of the highly valued offensive tackles that will likely go in the top ten of this year’s draft.
In the case of NFL analyst Daniel Jeremiah’s latest mock draft, the prediction doesn’t differ far from the most supported narrative – that the Giants are looking for protection for Daniel Jones. A quarterback, after all, can’t play well for long without at least average protection. And last season helped to show that the answer likely isn’t Nate Solder for the left tackle position.
It’s Tristan Wirfs from Iowa that Jeremiah sees the Giants taking in this scenario.
The Giants have needs all over their defense, but I still believe protecting Daniel Jones is the top priority.
Wifs has picked up a reputation from the combine as one of the most athletic tackles in the draft, and has moved up in the rankings for many analysts since that performance. The real question, however, is whether or not Wirfs is better than Jedrick Wills, Mekhi Becton, and Andrew Thomas – the other highest rated tackles in the draft. Jeremiah has Wills and Becton going at eight and nine respectively while Thomas would fall out of the top ten to Tom Brady’s Bucs.
It’s a change of the narrative from when Thomas was competing to be known as the best tackle in the draft and was mocked to the Giants at number four in a lot of mock drafts. Will that change hold? We’ll have to see in the coming weeks until draft day in late April.