One more installment of ‘This Week In Mock Drafts’ means we’re another week closer to the 2012 NFL Draft and I for one, mock draftniks, can not wait! This week’s edition of TWIMD brings a familiar name to sports readers, especially those of you who consume the content provided by Sports Illustrated and their website on a daily basis, and that would be one Mr. Don Banks.
Sports Illustrated has given the reigns of the website’s main mock drafting duties to Banks and it’s always a good day when I see he’s released his mock draft predictions/throw-names-on-a-dart-board-and-hope-one-sticks mock predictions. His latest mock draft, which was released last week on April 4th, and that you can read by clicking on this link, is his 4th 2012 NFL mock draft and he plans to do three more until the start of the draft for a total of 7!
So, how about we take a run down to see who he has slated going to the Giants as of April 4th and just how that pick has differentiated over time since his first 2012 NFL mock draft back on January 27.
With Bank’s mock draft version 4.0 he has the Giants selecting OT Bobby Massie from Eli Manning’s Alma Mater Ole Miss. The 6’6, 316 pound offensive lineman is the same player Banks mocked to the Giants in his mock draft version 3.0. The only time Banks didn’t go with an OT for the Giants’ draft pick was his second mock draft, where he went with Stanford’s tight end Coby Fleener. In his very first 2012 NFL mock draft Banks went with an OT from Florida State in Zebrie Sanders.
So, to recap, four mock drafts, three times an offensive tackle was picked and then a tight end the other time. Tight ends and offensive line have been running themes when it comes to mock drafts and the Giants and it would be a surprise if the Giants didn’t come away from the draft with at least one of those positions, if not both, filled. But is Massie the man? Last week in TWIMD I featured one of my favourite mock draft writers Scott Wright, who runs the excellent website Draft Countdown and he had the Giants picking an OT that didn’t really excite me much. Going back to his mock I looked for Massie’s name and saw that Wright had him going in the second round of the draft, 54th overall to the Lions.
So, one mock has Massie at 32 while another has him at 54. Interesting so I checked out some more mock drafts. Mel Kiper over at ESPN Insider has Massie being taken by the Jets at 47 overall in the 2nd round and Mike Chiari of the Bleacher Report has him going to the 49ers in the first round at 30th overall. Plus Massie was already mentioned in this feature as a possible Giants first round pick, 23rd overall to be exact, back in August of last year and you can check out the analysis of that mock draft by clicking here.
From the scouting reports and the analysis these mocks have provided it looks like to me that Massie has the potential to be a first round talent offensive tackle but still needs some work to develop his skills, which makes him a good value pick in the 2nd round but a little bit of a reach if taken in the first round. That assessment also seems to jibe with the scouting report from withthefirstpick.com where they project Massie going anywhere from the late 2nd round to the early 4th round and in one of their team mock draft articles have him going to the Dolphins at 42nd overall in the second round.
As a first round pick I think Massie would be a solid but not great pickup but as a 2nd round pick I would call it a great selection. See how fickle drafting in the NFL is and just how fine the line between boom and bust is? That’s just one of the reasons why going over mock drafts is so much; you never know what is going to happen and the only thing I can fully predict with 100% certainty is that Andrew Luck and RGIII will be the first two players, in some order, taken later this month.
Until then I’ll keep mock draft talking here at GMEN HQ and hope some of you readers decide to jump in on the fun. For now what do you all think about Massie? First round talent? Should the Giants take him? Sound off in the comments section below.