On the upside, Tight End James Hanna for Oklahoma made a great impression at the NFL Combine  yesterday, thus making the position of Tight End that much deeper.  His 40 time was the fastest of the group at 4.49, a tremendous time for a Tight End.  His Three Cone Drill time was second among the group at 6.76, and his vertical jump was also second in the group at 36 inches.  He finished third in the Broad Jump at 10’2″.  Hanna showed good hands in all the other on-field drill and is listed at 6’4″ and 243 lbs.  He is a converted Wide Receiver who has the size, strength and athleticism to make the move inside.

The position of Tight End has become more valuable in the new NFL, and a pick at #32 would not be a reach, but as GM Jerry Reese said Saturday on the NFL Network, it’s about sticking to your plan.  In 2008, after winning the Super Bowl,  having the last pick in each round the Giants were able to get Kenny Phillips, Terrell Thomas, and Mario Manningham.  Pretty good for such a poor s;ot on the draft.  Best Available Athlete will still be the mantra for the Giants come late April.

So, get out the soda pops, potato chips, and seedless watermelons and dig into this week’s ‘This Week In Mock Drafts.’

The next contestant on ‘This Week In Mock Drafts’ for the week of July 4, 2011, is Reggie McColgan from NFLMocks.com. Just to get this out of the way so no one accuses me of blatant homerism, NFL Mocks is a part of the FanSided network of sports blogs, which is the very same network that GMEN HQ calls home.

The mock draft that I’ll be taking a look that McColgan mocked up is from June 29, so kind of a recent one. Most of the mocks I’ve been featuring here in this column were written all the way back in May; ancient by today’s mock draft musings standards.

The order of McColgan’s 2012 NFL mock draft is based on what he describes as, “upon situation and observation on my part.” He also says to enjoy them, as do I!

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