NY Giants not in position to go fishing for OL help at pick #99 and beyond

The NY Giants’ offensive line unit has been in shambles for far too long for the team to attempt to go fishing for OL help to fix the underwhelming unit at pick #99 and beyond.

NFL mock draft season is heavily upon us – even more so than in recent years when the entire world wasn’t under quarantine – and one be of the most increasingly popular scenarios has included the NY Giants skipping out on taking an offensive lineman with its first two selections altogether.

Due to the abysmal Leonard Williams trade, that would leave Big Blue fishing to attempt to fic one of the worst unit s in the league with picks #99 and beyond — something that’s been almost always proven to fail. To optimal strategy remains to pick a premier offensive tackle in round one (preferably with a trade down) and then pairing that tackle with a center in either round two or three.

The smarter of the analyst/fan groups seem to think the best course of action would be double-dipping in rounds one and two in such an inoffensive line heavy draft to make really drastic action rather than continue to put band-aids on the shaggy group.

More and more mock drafts, such as Todd McShay’s most recent mock draft have the team evading the offensive line position overall, as the ESPN analyst has the NY Giants selecting Clemson LB Isaiah Simmons at #4 and Baylor WR Denzel Mims at #36.

While I actually love the players, their fits and their values, this would be a dismal course of action that has almost no long-term (or many short-term) options at the heart of their football team. Offensive tackle and center seem to have a ‘core four’ of elite prospects at each position in this 2020 draft, and coming away with one of each of them would set this franchise up for years to come.

One of the most worrisome facts amongst this whole conversation is that GM Dave Gettleman has never selected an offensive lineman with any of his nine career first-round draft picks. And, that’s with touting “Hog Mollies” ad nauseam to NY Giants fans over the years.

After investing heavily in quarterback and runningback in the last two drafts, Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones need big men upfront that can protect them, open up holes and get the best of out of them to have this roster function at its peak.

So while adding a tantalizing receiver or defensive playmaker sure is enticing, GM Dave Gettleman needs to stick to his guns and build from the inside out to complete the rebuild the right way.

We all have our favorites – mine being Georiga OT Andrew Thomas and LSU C Lloyd Cushenberry – but coming away with any of the top 8 offensive line prospects would set this franchise up for years to come.

Offensive tackle, in particular, has proven to have the highest success rate when picking in the first round, even more specifically at the top of the first round. Fishing for offensive line talent late in the draft as the team would have to do after the Leonard Williams trade would be swinging for the fences at best and something that has proven to work out far less than it does.

So, its time for this franchise to finally bite the bullet and ignore the tantalizing talent that will be in every draft until the end of time. This draft is rich in offensive line talent at the top of the draft and we need offensive line talent in the worst way.

It’s really not that complicated.