Creative Mock Draft Has Giants Passing on Two Offensive Playmakers

Would the New York Giants really pass on Florida tight end Kyle Pitts and Alabama receiver Devonta Smith in favor of a defender?

That’s the opinion of Mark Schofield of USA Today’s Touchdown Wire (and a regular guest of the LockedOn Giants podcast).

Schofield has made some interesting selections in his mock draft, most notably having the Giants pass on offensive playmakers Pitts and Smith in favor of selecting Michigan edge rusher Kwity Paye at No. 11, his reasoning as follows:

(Defensive coordinator) Patrick Graham relied on sub-packages and creativity to generate pressure on opponent passers this season. Now he can add an EDGE who can generate pressure by winning one-on-one opportunities. Kwity Paye is explosive and athletic, and if you have not seen the video of his three-cone drill, make sure to stop and watch it the next time it floats around on your timeline. That kind of athleticism and cornering skills gives Graham some much-needed flexibility up front for next season.

Edge rusher is believed to be a high priority for the Giants, who lack that blue-chip prospect capable of drawing double teams on the edge. While the Giants had that along their defensive interior--Dalvin Tomlinson often drew double-team blocks--New York could end up losing Tomlinson in free agency.

To add to that, it wouldn't be surprising if the Giants are wondering at this point if youngsters Lorenzo Carter and Oshane Ximines, who are entering their fourth and third seasons, respectively, are ever going to fulfill their potential.

With that said, Patrick Graham and the Giants defense finished tied for 12th with the Colts in sacks (40)—not bad for a defense that lacked that stud. That’s because, as Schofield noted, Graham was creative with his schemes that were able to generate pressure.

And even if they lose Tomlinson, one potential solution could be to move BJ Hill inside to take on Tomlinson's role as a space eater.

But on the other side of the ball, there was no generating the big-pass play regularly. A lack of explosive playmaking ability resulted in the Giants finishing 31st in scoring and offense, and that isn’t acceptable moving forward.

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If the Giants are to ever get a full read as to what they have with quarterback Daniel Jones (who, by the way, is entering a critical year in 2021 in which he need to prove without a shadow of a doubt that he is the Giants franchise quarterback), they need to put a strong supporting cast around him.

They’re off to an acceptable start with the offensive line, which should hopefully no longer be a problem with a little more fine-tuning.

But there was no hiding the glaring deficiencies of the receivers (six touchdowns between Sterling Shepard, Golden Tate, and Darius Slayton) or tight end Evan Engram (one touchdown).

Simply put, the Giants’ offense is crying out—loudly at that—for a big-time, explosive playmaker, of which Pitts, mocked to the Patriots at No. 15 and Smith, mocked to the Bears at No. 20, have been at the college level.

Let’s take a look at Schofield’s reasoning for those two players’ respective slide down the draft board.

Of Pitts to New England, Schofield writes, “(Head coach Bill) Belichick knows the value of a dangerous weapon at TE, dating back to his days with the New York Giants and Mark Bavaro, and Pitts will make life easier for their quarterback next season: Jimmy Garoppolo.”

The same could be said of Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who was spoiled for years in having Jason Witten but hasn’t come close to getting the same kind of production out of Evan Engram.

The Giants have waited patiently for Engram to step up and be that explosive playmaker, but a bad case of the yips this season combined with injuries have no doubt left them wanting more--and wondering if they're ever going to get it.

As for Smith’s slide down the board, Schofield points to his size as the potential reason, noting, “His frame is the biggest concern he faces right now. The list of elite NFL receivers measuring over six-feet tall and around 175 pounds is not exactly long, and if that is indeed where Smith is size-wise, then the organization that drafts him is betting on something of an outlier. Teams do not often do that in the first ten picks.”

Smith, the Heisman Trophy winner, is coming off two straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons, with 37 of his career 46 touchdown receptions scored. It's difficult to believe that a wiry-framed playmaker who has otherwise held up for 2,424 college snaps and who has been widely regarded as one of the best receivers in this draft class will slide as far as Schofield has predicted, but hey, stranger things have happened.

While Schofield’s mock draft doesn’t make sense for the Giants, he deserves kudos for really breaking outside the box and putting together an intriguing first-round mock draft.

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