3 reasons the New York Giants will draft Charles Cross

New York Giants: 1. Immediate Impact

Cross should be able to step in and impact the Giants’ protection of Daniel Jones from week one of the season. When asked about Cross on “Mock Draft Live” earlier this month, Lance Zierlein said he believes cross is “more game ready” than Ikem Ekwonu, another potential target for Joe Schoen in round one.

For any team, it is beneficial for their first-round pick to step in and play well immediately – for the Giants, however, it may be essential. The franchise has had a difficult time evaluating now fourth-year Jones in his Giants career so far. He has seriously lacked weapons in the passing game, as well as playing behind one of the league’s worst offensive lines.

With not long left on his rookie contract, Schoen and the new front office would benefit from being able to evaluate Jones based on his play behind an adequate offensive line, particularly in the passing game.

When you add to that the fact the franchise will also be evaluating running back Saquon Barkley on similar merits, the improvement Cross immediately brings to this offensive line represents a critical step in the rebuild in New York.

Fortunately for Schoen and the Giants, roster evaluation alone does not need to be a reason to draft a prospect. Instead, it will come as a positive side-effect of taking what could be the best tackle in the draft.

At the end of the day, even if the team moves on from both Jones and Barkley after 2022, they will have a young tackle pairing in Cross and Thomas who can protect skill players for the best part of a decade together in East Rutherford – or at least the Giants will hope.