By the time all seven rounds of the 2012 NFL Draft in April came to pass the Giants wound up walking away with a grand total of 0 DEs. Although they did draft a defensive cog for the middle of the D-Line in N.C. State DT Markus Khun.

Now that the 2012 NFL Draft is in the books and Reese didn’t take a DE some 2013 MFL mock drafts have already started talking about how Reese will look to make up for not drafting a DE in this past draft and take one in the upcoming NFL Draft. And that’s something this week’s edition of ‘This Week In Mock Drafts’ addresses.

According to Walter over at walterfootball.com who has already come out with a couple of 2013 NFL mock drafts where in each one of them he has the Giants selecting a DE. Walter’s mock draft order is based on his 2012 NFL Power Rankings, where he has the Giants at the top of ranks, thanks in part to their Super Bowl win, and that means Walter has the Giants picking once again at the bottom of the first round

In his earlier 2013 mock he had the Giants taking DE Jackson Jeffcoat out of Texas with the 32 overall pick and his updated mock draft from May 15 has the GMEN going in the same direction but with a different player. So, with Jeffcoat being the previous pick for the Giants who does Walt have them drafting in his most recent mock?

Well, that would Michigan State DE William Gholston. The name Gholston should be familiar to NFL fans, as William is cousin to former top ten NFL Draft pick and bust Vernon Gholston. Let’s hope that the only similarities the two share are their freakish athletic abilities and that Vernon’s negative attitude towards playing hard and his lack of toughness doesn’t transfer to William once he becomes a pro in the NFL.

October 1, 2011; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Joe Bauserman (14) tries to get a pass around Michigan State Spartans linebacker William Gholston (2) at Ohio Stadium. Michigan State won the game 10-7. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-US PRESSWIRE

In his quick write-up for Gholston being mocked to the Giants Walt had the following to say:

“I imagine that Jerry Reese is crying in his sleep right now because he didn’t get to add a pass-rusher in the 2012 NFL Draft. I’m sure he’ll make amends next April.”

By taking a look at some of the profiles on Gholston it’s easy to be drawn into him with his physical attributes. What NFL fan wouldn’t want their team to draft a 6’7, 280-pound D-Lineman that can physically impose their will against offensive linemen? You wouldn’t hear any complaints from me; until Gholston didn’t produce, that is.

But produce he has so far in his short Spartan career where he has recorded 83 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. A couple of stat lines during his 2011 sophomore season immediately stand out while looking at his numbers, as he had back to back games in October against Nebraska and Minnesota where he recorded 15 and 14 tackles, respectively!

The former five-star high school recruit has used his physical tools quite effectively at the collegiate level where he has been named to the All-Big Ten second team by both coaches and the media, the Yahoo! Sports All-Big Ten, the CollegeFootballNews.com’s All-Sophomore second team and he has also won the Danzinger Award for defense, which is awarded to the Spartan’s most outstanding player from the Detroit area.

While it’s no guarantee that Gholston will come out after his junior season if he does some have projected him to be a top-15 pick but he’ll have to compete with what could be a potentially deep DE draft class with the likes of Florid State’s Brandon Jenkins and LSU’s pass rushing duo of Sam Montgomery and Barkevious Mingo.

For now Gholston still has at least one more year to go at Michigan State but he is a name to possibly remember, if all goes according to his plans, or someone we’ll forget about just as quickly as cousin. What do you GMEN HQ fans say? Is Gholston the type of player you’d like to see line up on the D-Line for the Giants? Let us know in the comments section.

Ah, yes, the good old 2013 NFL mock drafts have been circulating the internet pretty much since the last pick in the 2012 NFL Draft was announced and they’re going to keep on coming out right up until draft night for the 2013 NFL Draft.

As long as that keeps happening I’ll still have material for this column and today is no different, as we have Peter Schrager of FOXSports.com chiming in with his first mock draft of the season. This isn’t the first time Schrager has been featured in the pages of GMEN HQ and if you were to go back into the archives of our site you’d find a TWIMD written all the way back in June of last year where we covered Schrager’s first mock draft for the 2012 NFL Draft.

Back then Schrager had the Giants slated to pick 19^th overall where they would miss the playoffs completely and he mocked Boise State OT Nate Potter to the GMEN. Fast forward to the year 2012 and the Giants didn’t pick in the #19 spot (actual pick was 32^nd overall) or miss the playoffs (they won the Super Bowl!!!) and Nate Potter didn’t go to the Giants (he was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals); nor did Potter get picked in the first round (he went in the 7^th round, pick #221). Add that all up and you have the NFL equivalent of a three and out, punt on 4^th down, only to have it returned by the opposing team to the house for a touchdown.

So, let’s see what Schrager has cooking for the Giants and his 2012 NFL mock draft from May 1^st, 2012 where he states early on that:

“Yes, I know. Constructing a 2013 Mock Draft in April of 2012 is beyond absurd. It’s ridiculous. Hell, it’s borderline pathetic.

But as football fans and true NFL diehards, we are all very sick, sick people. Let’s be sick together.”

Onto the madness then… Just like Potter, an offensive tackle, being taken by the Giants last year in his first mock draft for the 2012 NFL Draft, Schrager once again goes down that well and selects an offensive tackle for the Giants in the 2013 NFL Draft. Except this year he has the Giants selecting an OT at 29 overall instead of 19 overall. In his write up for the Giants selection in his 2013 mock draft Schrager says the Giants will win the NFC East, take out the Atlanta Falcons in the playoffs but don’t repeat as Super Bowl Champs, as he has the Packers taking home the Lombardi Trophy. We’ll see how that prediction goes once next season is played out but let’s get back to the mock.

Oct, 15, 2011; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Miami Hurricanes offensive linesman Seantrel Henderson (77) in the third quarter at Kenan Stadium. The Hurricanes defeated the Tar Heels 30-24. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-US PRESSWIRE

With the 29^th pick in the 2013 NFL Draft Schrager has OT Seantrel Henderson from Miami going to the Giants. Henderson comes in at 6’8, weighing 345 pounds and he used to be a #1 high school football recruit who was also the first offensive lineman ever to win the USA Today High School Offensive Player of the Year award. Henderson’s name was in the news a while back and not for a good reason either, as he was suspended for the Hurricanes’ opening weekend spring practice back in March for violating team rules.

Henderson’s Hurricane career hasn’t gotten off to the greatest of starts either. His freshman season was okay and saw him start nine games, then his sophomore season took a dip due to a season opener suspension and three games were missed later on because of back surgery in the offseason. Even with those negatives on his resume for the 2011 NCAA Football season Henderson did manage to play in eight games, starting two of them, and allowed zero sacks while only registering one penalty against. Not bad stats for an O-Line and something Henderson can build on that could see him garner daft attention if he decides to leave school early.

Right now, Henderson doesn’t seem like a bad pick by Schrager for the Giants, as their O-Line could use the help, but again, it’s May of 2012 and we still have a whole season of college football to be played where Henderson could play poorly, get suspended for a good chunk of the season, suffer a brutal injury, or not even declare for the draft in 2013.

What say you GMEN HQ readers? Is Henderson a player that intrigues you? Would you like to see him on the Giants’ roster at some point? Do you think he’ll have a good college football season this year? Let us know in the comments section.

Anything can happen when a mock draft is released that early and pretty much everything did. Looking back at his first 2012 mock draft here were a few highlights:

• The Giants were picking 20^th overall
• Andrew Luck went 1^st overall… to the Buffalo Bills
• Landry Jones and Matt Barkley went in the top 5; neither entered the draft
• Vontaze Burfict was selected 28^th overall by Browns; he went undrafted

It’s easy to fault Perloff for all his mistakes but that’d be no fun. He knew as well as anyone reading his mock draft that producing a way too early mock draft wouldn’t stand the test of the time but he did one anyway. If you want to check out each of his picks from his first 2012 mock draft then go on right ahead.

Since I enjoyed reading Perloff’s mock draft so much last year I went looking to see if he had typed one up for the upcoming 2013 NFL Draft, and to my joy he did! So, how about we have at it and see what Perloff’s 2013 crystal ball has in store for the GMEN in regards to next year’s draft?

Before we delve in though let me forward you Perloff’s note about how his draft is: “ordered by predicted finish in 2012. Picks 1-20 are based on standings, while picks 21-32 are based on order of elimination from playoffs.”

Now that the Surgeon General’s warnings are out of the way let’s talk about where Perloff projects the Giants and that’s at the 20^th overall spot in the first round, which is the exact same spot he had the GMEN picking last year and which also means he sees the Giants yet again missing the playoffs. Of course the Giants didn’t miss the playoffs and actually ended up winning the Super Bowl so maybe this is a good sign.

Who does Perloff see the Giants taking with the 20^th overall pick? Last year it was Ohio State offensive tackle Mike Adams, who ended up being selected in the 2^nd round of the 2012 NFL Draft that just passed. This year Perloff has the Giants taking an offensive tackle again and this time it’s Ricky Wagner from Wisconsin; here’s what Perloff had to say about him in his mock draft:

“The Giants go best player available and continue to rework their line with the next breakout offensive line star from Wisconsin.”

Just like drafting an offensive lineman last year made sense to most mock drafters, including Perloff, it makes just as much sense this year. The tackle positions will be up for grabs this year and it’s no lock that Will Beatty will be given his starter’s spot back after being put on the I.R. last year due to an eye injury. Beatty, David Diehl, former 4^th-round pick James Brewer and incoming rookies Brandon Mosley and Matt McCants will be in the mix for the tackle spots and nothing will be settled when it comes to the Giants’ O-line until the end of the pre-season.

Sep 17, 2011; Chicago, IL, USA; Wisconsin Badgers offensive tackle Ricky Wagner (58) blocks during the game against the Northern Illinois Huskies at Soldier Field. Wisconsin defeated Illinois 49-7. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE

So, projecting an offensive lineman is the safe route to take by Perloff, as the Giants will eventually have to address their O-line weakness early in the draft at some point so why not 2013?

If you want to know more about Ricky Wagner we can tell you that he’s 6’6, 322 pounds, is a redshirt Senior, was an All-Big Ten consensus honorable mention back-to-back years and was a left tackle starter for all of the Badgers’ 14 games in 2011. The Badgers saw a couple of their key cogs on the O-Line drafted in the 2012 NFL Draft with guard Kevin Zeitler going to the Bengals at 27^th overall in the first round and center Peter Konz being taken by the Falcons in the second round. Wagner could have followed their footsteps and entered the 2012 NFL Draft, where he probably would have been taken pretty high but he chose to return for one more year of college football.

Wisconsin has provided the NFL with some quality offensive linemen in recent years such as Gabe Carimi (drafted in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft), Kraig Urbik (3^rd round, 2009), and (Joe Thomas, 3^rd overall pick, 2007). Wagner might be next in the line of Badger O-linemen to play and start in the NFL and he might even see his name called in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft; perhaps even higher than 20^th overall.

However, we still need to remember that it’s May of 2012 and the 2013 NFL Draft isn’t until April of next year. Who knows what can happen between now and then and it’s best not to think about Wagner in a Giants uniform just yet, even if he would be a nice addition.

What do you think GMEN HQ readers? Would you like to see Wagner suit up in a Giants uniform one day? If not Wagner who do you have your eyes set on for the 2013 NFL Draft? Is it too early to start talking about the 2013 NFL Draft? Let us know in the comments section.