Option 3: CB Jeff Okudah Ohio State
The NY Giants’ shopping list this offseason includes a pass rusher, offensive lineman, cornerback, safety, and a wide receiver -which seems like a tall order for an organization with limited draft capital after the first two rounds.
Their 7 remaining draft picks; a compensatory pick at the end of round three for losing Landon Collins, one each in rounds four, five, and six, and 3 in the seventh round remain after trading away their original third-round pick to the New York Jets to acquire Leonard Williams this past trade deadline.
While this year’s draft pool seems to be deep in wide receivers (a pick the Giants could use to kickstart their lackluster receiving corps), it is also stacked with defensive playmakers, which the Giants need in abundance and, unlike receivers, will be targeted early on in the first round.
In last year’s draft, Gettleman spent his first, fourth, and sixth-round picks on cornerbacks; and while CB Julian Love, CB Corey Ballentine, and CB DeAndre Baker have all showed signs of promise in 2019, it remains that help is still needed – even with a new defensive program instituted under new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
The fact that there are still weaknesses in their defensive coverage downfield is problematic for three obvious reasons – and they’re each so named as last year’s first, fourth and sixth-round picks!
However, when talent like this is available – you capitalize on it, and CB Jeff Okudah would constitute as a sensible option, and one that would fill the gap in star power the NY Giants need to muscle their way up from the bottom of league-rankings defensively.
Considered to be one of the top-three overall players available in this year’s draft regardless of position, Okudah’s sophisticated ability to read the receiver’s motion and anticipate where the ball is going to be thrown is accentuated by his fast-break ability on the ball and strength to deliver big hits when needed.
This junior out of Ohio State is on a higher talent level than all other cornerbacks in this draft, and brings with him a skill-set that NFL analysts have promoted as comparable to Los Angeles Rams CB Jalen Ramsey. Plus, adding him to the current group of young players on the NY Giants roster in turn might boost each of them up and speed up their develop.
We’ll have to wait until the combine to know more about these prospects – and then it’s full steam ahead to April 23.