All New York Giants draft picks from 7-round 32-team media NFL mock draft
By Matt Clark
RD 1 (6th): Isaiah Simmons – LB, Clemson
I’ll be honest with you, I was torn between going with Isaiah Simmons here and going with one of the elite tackles in the draft. I actually attempted to trade back again but was unable to find a trade return that was worth giving up on a top-three talent in the draft.
While I feel it is imperative to vastly improve the offensive line for the New York Giants in front of both Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley, I felt that the tackle position is deep in this draft and felt I could perhaps trade back up into the first round to get one of the top four tackles or find a solid tackle prospect early in the second round.
The idea of adding a difference-maker on defense was ultimately too much for me to pass on and I drafted Isaiah Simmons out of Clemson University. The move marks the first time since 1984 that the Giants drafted a linebacker in the first round of the draft, that linebacker was Carl Banks and it worked out well.
I’m hoping that the GMEN are able to utilize the freak athletic ability and versatility of Simmons to allow him to be the game-changing defensive talent that the New York defense has lacked in recent times. Pairing him with the recent additions of Blake Martinez, Kyler Fackrell, and James Bradberry suddenly makes the Giants defense look a lot more dangerous.
After selecting Simmons, I tried hard to move back up to the middle of the first round to select one of Jedrick Wills, Andrew Thomas, Tristan Wirfs, or Mekhi Becton without mortgaging a lot of the valuable draft capital I had remaining.
Unfortunately, I was unable to find a draft partner to allow me to fill the two largest needs for the Giants by selecting both Isaiah Simmons and one of the top-four tackles. Doing so would have been a coup and I would have been ecstatic. Instead, I was forced to wait until the second round to fill my offensive line needs.
With the 36th overall selection in the NFL Draft, the New York Giants selected: