The New York Giants currently own a pair of top-10 picks, but might it be worth general manager Joe Schoen trading up in the draft later this month?
There is no denying how integral the 2022 NFL Draft is for the trajectory of the New York Giants.
With nine picks in the 2022 NFL draft, including two top seven picks, and five of the first 81, Joe Schoen and the new front office has a great opportunity to quickly turn around the franchises’ fortunes.
With limited resources and cap space to work with in free agency, thanks to the horrid resource management skills of former general manager Dave Gettleman, Schoen and crew were only able to make two real impactful signings, backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor and guard Mark Glowinski.
Though Schoen also signed multiple veterans to one-year deals, bolstering depth at integral positions on the field, including the offensive and defensive lines, the draft is the Giants‘ chance to significantly reinforce the roster, for both immediate and long-term impact.
With a ton of draft capital to work with for a franchise lacking in star power, the New York Giants must come away with at least one franchise cornerstone in the 2022 NFL draft, even if that means they might have to move up a couple of spots into the first or second round to secure those players.
Here are three players the New York Giants should consider trading up for in the NFL Draft
Evan Neal, OT, Alabama
The Achilles heel of the New York Giants, and the one position that the franchise has continually gotten wrong every season of the last decade, is the offensive line.
Schoen has taken many steps to address the offensive line issue this offseason, signing Mark Glowinski to a three-year, 20-million-dollar deal, to start at one of the guard positions, likely right guard, and also signing ex-Bill, Jon Feliciano to start at center.
Those signings are both significant upgrades over their predecessors. With Andrew Thomas blossoming into a franchise left tackle, the Giants have voids at left guard and right tackle to fill.
Alabama offensive tackle, Evan Neal, the only 6’8, 337-pound lineman with a full six-pack of abs, would be perfect to fill the longtime right tackle void.
In an ideal world, Neal would just fall into the Giants’ laps with their number five pick and trading up would not be necessary.
But, assuming two pass rushers go with the first two picks, which all indications point to, there is a decent chance the Texans and Jets, picking third and fourth respectively, both with needs at offensive line, would take Neal and/or North Carolina State standout tackle, Ikem Ekwonu.
Should the Giants front office receive intel that one or two of these tackles, who are in a class of their own, won’t be available for their number five pick, especially if that player is Neal, the Giants should call the Jets or Texans and see what it would take to move up (though it seems unlikely Schoen would trade any significant draft capital when the Giants have so many holes). Securing a franchise tackle is a desperate need for the team to be successful in the future.
There are many reasons why Neal is a necessity for the New York Giants. He is the most developed, NFL-ready tackle in this draft class. Playing in the SEC, Neal has been going up against NFL size and physicality the entirety of his college career, including in practice, where, for the last two years, he has been going up against outside linebacker, Will Anderson Jr., the likely number one pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Neal is rock solid on tape, with his physicality and technique standing out most. The best game of his college career was in 2021, against Texas A&M, where, according to PFF, he gave up zero pressures on 58 pass-rushing snaps, against a loaded Texas A&M defensive line that features potential first-round pick, DeMarvin Leal. Neal also allowed just one pressure in the entirety of the 2020 College Football Playoffs against Notre Dame and Ohio State.
Neal has a tremendous amount of versatility as well. In his three years at Alabama, Neal started one season at left guard, one season at right tackle, and one season at left tackle, earning awards for his play at all three. While Neal would likely slide in at right tackle to start for the New York Giants, his versatility would allow him to potentially slide over to left tackle and protect the Giants quarterback’s blindside, if Andrew Thomas were to miss time like he did this past year.
Bolstering the offensive line by having two bookend tackles in Neal and Thomas would allow the Giants to properly evaluate Daniel Jones and learn, once and for all, if he is their franchise quarterback.
Zion Johnson, OT, Boston College
The same reasons the New York Giants should consider trading up for Neal are the reasons the Giants should consider trading up for Zion Johnson.
In the modern-day NFL, outside of having a franchise quarterback, the most important position to have stability in is the offensive line.
To have a functioning offense, something the New York Giants have been looking to field, the quarterback needs time to operate within the pocket, making beefing up the offensive line imperative.
Johnson, a guard from Boston College, is an ideal addition to the Giants’ offensive line. Most mock drafts have Johnson projected as a late first-round pick, with a potential of falling in the early portion of the second round. PFF ranks Johnson as the number 32 overall player on their draft board.
The Giants have more than enough draft capital to trade up into the back-end of the first round with a team that may be looking to accumulate more draft picks and trade down.
In fact, there is some serious speculation that the New York Giants are looking to trade down from either pick five or pick seven, which could give them additional ammo in case they want to move their second-round pick back into the late stages of the first round.
This is similar to what the franchise did in 2019 when they moved back into the first round to take DeAndre Baker.
First-round draft picks come with four-year contracts that include team options for a fifth year, whereas second-round picks just come with four-year contracts. Contractually there is an added incentive for the Giants to explore a potential move up.
Johnson’s greatest attribute is his power and strength. At 6-foot-3 and 213 pounds, Johnson is a physical run blocker. His physicality could open up holes for Saquon Barkley, who has not seen many open spaces to run through in his four years in New York.
PFF graded Johnson with an 84.4 for the 2021 season, which was one of the tops in the country for college football offensive lineman.
An offensive line featuring Johnson and Glowinski at guard, Thomas and Neal at tackle, and Felicano at center, would instantly be the best offensive line the Giants have trotted out in the last decade.
Nakobe Dean, LB, Georgia
Although edge rusher is a massive need for the New York Giants’ defense, a notable addition to the linebacker room, specifically a middle linebacker is also essential. Blake Martinez is coming off an ACL tear, so it remains to be seen if he can return to his 2020 form, while Tae Crowder, Cam Brown, and Carter Coughlin have all played sparingly at the middle linebacker position with minimal successes.
Nakobe Dean would be a huge addition to the middle linebacker group, and a seamless fit in new Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s 3-4 defense. Dean is just 5’11, 229 pounds, which has concerned some teams and pushed him down the mock draft the past few months. This could be to the benefit of the Giants. Similar to Johnson, the Giants could target Dean if he is still on the board late in the first round.
Dean is a sideline-to-sideline linebacker, who uses his perceived weakness of size to his advantage, as his slimmer frame has enabled him to have unmatched quickness. Dean ran a 4.51, 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, showing just how explosive he can be.
Playing on the historic Georgia defense with fellow 2022 early-round draft picks, Jordan Davis, Devontae Wyatt, Travon Walker, Quay Walker, and Channing Tindall, Dean’s stats are not eye-popping, but his tape does not lie, especially in the National Championship game against Alabama where Dean was flying around the field, both in run-stopping and in coverage.
Martinez struggles in coverage but excels against the run, so Dean’s ability to drop into coverage would be integral. Dean’s quickness allows him to play both inside and outside linebacker, giving needed versatility in Martindale’s 3-4 defense. If Martinez returns to form and becomes the tackling machine he is when fully healthy, he could form quite the formidable duo with Dean.
Dean would fit in seamlessly in New York, where he could join ex-college teammates and fellow linebackers, Tae Crowder and Azeez Ojulari, as well as left tackle Andrew Thomas.