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NFL.com Daniel Jeremiah Thinks Giants Will Go on the Offense in First Round

NFL.com's draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah outlines why he thinks the Giants will draft either a receiver or offensive lineman at No. 11.

NFL.com draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah thinks the world might see a right turn in a NASCAR race before we see the New York Giants trading down in a draft.

Speaking to reporters on a national conference call ahead of next week’s draft, Jeremiah was answering a question about the Giants' options at No. 11.

But even Jeremiah, who also likes Gregory Rousseau of Miami as a prospect, has doubts about the Giants taking an edge rusher at No. 11. “It might be too early for some teams to (draft an edge rusher at No. 11),” Jeremiah said. 

“Maybe that's a trade back, which I saw Gettleman did say the other day that was a possibility. I'm not buying it. I think we'll see a right turn in a NASCAR race before we see Dave Gettleman trade back, so I don't see that happening.”

Jeremiah also was asked which of the two Alabama receivers, Jaylen Waddle or Devonta Smith, he thought was a better fit for the Giants.

“For me, when you start with the wide outs of who would fit better there, it's splitting hairs,” he said. “I have Waddle over Devonta Smith, but you could say, ‘Okay, well, they've got -- with (Darius) Slayton, he can kind of stretch the field a little bit. I think Devonta Smith would give you that pure route runner that's going to be able to uncover and win on third downs and be kind of Daniel Jones' best friend.”

Gettleman, who prior to becoming the Giants general manager was with the Carolina Panthers, has only drafted a wide receiver in the first round once in eight drafts, that being Kelvin Benjamin whom the Panthers selected in 2014. Gettleman has, however, drafted either an offensive or defensive lineman in the first two rounds of seven of his last eight drafts, according to NFL Research

Jeremiah did agree with Gettleman’s stance about letting the young offensive linemen play, but he didn’t sound as high on second-year tackle Matt Peart as Gettleman did when he gushed about him before the start of free agency.

“Matt Peart is like a swing tackle to me, like that's kind of where his value is,” Jeremiah said. “I know (Nate) Solder is back in the mix, but I'm not going to rely on that all that much. If (North western OL Rashawn) Slater is there I would pick him. If (Oregon OL Penei) Sewell was somehow there, I would take him. Outside of that I don't think it's something they need to force.”

Jeremiah said it’s important that the Giants, who added play-makers at receiver (Kenny Golladay and John Ross) and tight end (Kyle Rudolph), continue supplementing the offense so they can figure out what they have with quarterback Daniel Jones, who enters his third season this year. 

To that end, Jeremiah thinks the Giants will go offense in the first round.

“They've got to identify who and what their quarterback is this year,” he said. “So with Daniel Jones, to me that first pick, even though they have some defensive needs, I still think at the end of the day they do something to help him, whether it's the offensive line or one of those big receivers.”

Check out the video above in which host Kim Becker discusses with yours truly where the Giants stand with one week to go before the draft.


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