The New York Giants are almost certainly either going to take an offensive lineman or a player on the defensive front with their first round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft – trade or no trade. Those are the two biggest positions of need for the team, the former because the Giants have invested heavily in quarterback Daniel Jones and the latter because the defense has struggled in the sacks department for years. However, there’s few leads yet on just which way the Giants are leaning.
They have one pick in the first round and no matter what they select, there’s still likely going to be a large gap in the team that needs to be filled somehow before the Giants can start winning.
According to Jordan Raanan, though, the Giants are looking at the offensive line positions closely when evaluating draft prospects in the final buildup to the draft itself.
The Giants are certainly putting their time and attention toward the top offensive tackles during the pre-draft process, according to sources. They have scheduled video call sessions in the coming weeks with the top tackles, which include Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs and Georgia’s Andrew Thomas. Louisville’s Mekhi Becton and Alabama’s Jedrick Wills are also expected to be in that mix. The Giants were also supposed to have dinner with the prospects before their pro days, which were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. So there seems to be little doubt the Giants are contemplating a tackle with their top pick.
The Giants drafting any one of these players would almost certainly mean missing out on a premier defensive player at the outside linebacker or the edge rusher position, which are both needs of the Giants. Chase Young was, for much of the season, the player linked to the Giants. Now that it looks like the team is out of the position where they could draft him, Isaiah Simmons is the top defensive player mocked to the Giants.
But on the other hand, the team has learned the problems of having a bad offensive line through multiple failed roster additions that haven’t picked up the quality on the line to the required standard. It’s been a number of years that the Giants have had this problem and at some point, the team is going to have to spend a high draft pick or spend big in free agency for one or more players on the line to help in stepping up.
It’s true that the Giants need sacks but it’s also true that the Giants are heavily invested in Daniel Jones, and Jones’ success is directly tied to having proper protection. Could this be the reasoning for the Giants focusing this much on the tackle position? Based on the team’s plans for meetings, that may very well be the case.