ESPN’s Todd McShay Makes a Bold Call for Giants in Latest Two-Round Mock Draft

The New York Giants trade down in the first round?

Hey, there’s a first time for everything, and ESPN’s draft analyst Todd McShay offers up a bold prediction type of scenario for the Giants in the first round of this month’s draft.

McShay projects the Giants and Patriots engaging in a trade by where New England, at No. 15, moves up to the Giants’ spot at No. 11, and the Giants drop to No. 15 (it’s unclear what the rest of the trade entailed).

In this scenario, the Patriots land Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, and the Giants land Notre Dame’ inside linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. Of the Giants’ pick, McShay wrote:

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Giants look at USC guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, but they just took three linemen in the first five rounds last year, including Andrew Thomas at No. 4 overall. And while the defense was stellar last season, getting defensive coordinator Patrick Graham a versatile, rangy, fast, instinctive linebacker like Owusu-Koramoah will help keep it that way.

In this scenario, had the Giants stayed at No. 11, their choices would have included offensive linemen Rashawn Slater (Northwestern) and Penei Sewell (Oregon) and linebacker Micah Parsons (Penn State)—three prospects that were off the board by the time the Giants were on the clock at No. 15—and offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker (USC), who was still on the board.

So why did McShay go in this direction, especially with a Giants team that, as of right now, has some question marks regarding who their starting guards and right tackle?

The draft is as much about the present as it is about the future. Down the line, the Giants could be looking at having to replace guard Will Hernandez and offensive tackle Nate Solder, among others, given their contract statuses.

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The idea with a first-round pick is to get him on the field as of Day 1. If a first-round draft pick is going to be on the field to help protect Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (who needs that offensive line to be like the walls of Fort Knox), then why not invest in either Sewell or Slater, and work Matt Peart, last year’s third-round pick, in at guard?

McShay’s pick for the Giants in the second round is more of a safe pick—edge rusher Carlos Basham Jr of Wake Forest, of whom he wrote:

Maybe the Giants go offensive line here -- Texas' Samuel Cosmi or Wisconsin-Whitewater's Quinn Meinerz could fit -- but their biggest need is on the edge. Basham is powerful and disruptive.

There’s no question the Giants need a stud pass rusher. Much as they did for years with the offensive line, the Giants haven’t been able to devote a first- or second-round draft pick on an edge rusher since 2010, when they plucked defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul out of South Florida in the first round.

I’ve noted in the past that the Giants’ four Super Bowl-winning teams all had one thing in common: a solid and deep group of pass rushers. Sadly, pass rushers don’t grow on trees.

So in a draft class that, although it lacks a generational type of prospect (think Chase Young or Joey Bosa), is still otherwise one of the better quality classes in some time, the Giants need to focus on adding to their edge-rushing arsenal as early in the draft as possible.

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