NFL Draft: An Early Look at Some Potential Prospects

With the college football season more than halfway through, here is a very, very early look at some 2020 NFL draft prospects who could draw the Giants' attention.

Conventional wisdom is that you use early first-round picks on certain positions like quarterback, receiver, edge rushers, and cornerbacks and that you take the occasional gamble on a franchise left tackle or a stud inside linebacker if one is available and it fills your team’s most significant need.

That wisdom also says you pay attention to the positional salary scale when selecting players at the top of the first round, taking care not to make them amongst the very highest-paid players at their position before a snap has even been taken as it makes re-signing them at the end of their rookie contracts that much more difficult.

However, if you haven’t noticed by now, Giants general manager Dave Gettleman doesn’t follow conventional wisdom.

When it comes to the NFL Draft, he takes the best player that fits in with the team culture, and he doesn’t give a damn what anyone else outside the organization--and perhaps even some within--think about it.

That’s why he ignored the future salary cap ramifications that will come thanks to him taking running back Saquon Barkley with the No. 2 overall pick in 2018. That’s also why he selected quarterback Daniel Jones with the No. 6 overall pick in 2019 despite many detractors who thought Jones could be had in the middle of the first round, where the Giants had pick No. 17 overall.

That’s why he chose interior defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence with the 17th-overall pick despite the widely held belief that two-down run stuffers were becoming obsolete in the modern era of pro football.

Barkley, of course, is the cornerstone of the franchise--a player so good he’s the focus of game plans.

Jones is the future franchise quarterback, or at least the Giants are banking on him becoming one after handing him the reins after two games this year.

Lawrence has proven to be anything but a two-down run stuffer and has been seeing more snaps in recent games than anyone else on the defensive line. Well that, and he’s already in the upper tier at his position. He has turned in some nice efforts as a pass rusher as well as stuffing the run, and looks like he’ll be a top player for a long while.

Gettleman has shown so far to have a pretty good eye for talent, but let’s keep that quiet lest he reminds us once again that he has a pretty good resume building championship teams and that those on the outside of the NFL looking in, simply don’t.

Not only does he know “what it should look like, what it should smell like, what it should taste like,” he’s been to seven Super Bowls, so he has the pelts on the wall to prove it.

Perhaps we should just trust his judgment rather than rush to ours in the future?

At the midway point in the Giants season, the remit I was given was to pick out some players who have caught my eye as potential future Giants this college season but not just to concentrate on those likely to be taken in the first round.

The positions chosen below are either still clearly in need of talent upgrades or ones that could well become a priority need if the Giants are unable to re-sign unrestricted free agent edge Markus Golden, and either can’t re-sign (or wish to upgrade) starting right tackle Mike Remmers.

The Giants may also decide that center Jon Halapio, who will be a restricted free agent, isn’t the long-term starter in the pivot after all. They could also conclude that, although rookie receiver Darius Slayton looks promising, having a legitimate No. 1 receiver would aid Daniel Jones’ development a lot more.

As we’ve also seen, Gettleman will back his judgment, so his draft picks will get a chance to show what they can (or can’t do) before he looks to draft over them.

As such, though it may be a strong year for cornerbacks in the 2020 Draft, don’t expect to see one taken by the guy who has already selected Sam Beal, DeAndre Baker, Julian Love (whose future may be at free safety) and Corey Ballentine in the past two years.

The great unknown, of course, is where the Giants will be slotted in the draft order. Those of us with rose-tinted glasses on are still holding out hope for a playoff berth considering the records of the underachieving Eagles and Cowboys.

Those with more of an even keel consider that a run of wins could easily be strung together considering the Giants’ schedule and offensive firepower (when healthy) but that they’d still end up picking somewhere in the teens at best.

And let us not forget the “woe-is-me” brigade who consider a top-10 pick – sorry, top-5 – a near certainty because the team just flat out stinks and they won’t hear a word said to the contrary no matter the evidence laid before them.

So, what positions could we see as priorities, and who do I believe would fit?

Wide Receiver

Alabama wide receiver Jerry Jeudy

Butch Dill-USA TODAY Sports

Jerry Jeudy, Alabama: Since the 2020 mock drafts began--and they started the day after the 2019 NFL Draft wrapped up--Jeudy is the offensive player most commonly linked to the Giants in the first round of the 2020 draft.

The stud prospect, a junior who is unlikely to return for his senior season since he doesn’t have much more to prove, is among a group of star receivers on the most consistent college football team in the land.

He has delivered big play after big play since he stepped foot on the field as a freshman. He can beat double coverage deep or turn a short pattern into a touchdown from anywhere on the field.

I have long preferred route-running skills over superior size and believe he’d be an excellent fit for the offense on the perimeter.

Tylan Wallace, Oklahoma State: This guy isn’t on the national radar, but I have loved watching him play for the past two years.

A sublime route runner who leaves defenders stuck in their backpedal when he’s on the way out of his break or turns them around completely as he makes his fakes and cuts, he has both the smooth type of speed to burn and the leaping ability to make plays against bigger opponents.

Inside Linebacker

Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons

Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Isaiah Simmons, Clemson: Simmons is a genuine “new age” inside linebacker who, like Myles Jack in his UCLA days, doesn’t have a defined position but is best listed as “playmaker.”

Lining up at inside or outside linebacker, at the line of scrimmage, over the slot receiver, or as a safety (he’s even lined up in deep centerfield), Simmons gets to the ball in a hurry and is a terror on the blitz.

Noted SEC commentator Cole Cubelic once called him, “The closest thing to Karlos Dansby I’ve seen in college football,” and that is high praise indeed.

Simmons would fit defensive coordinator James Bettcher’s defensive scheme to a “T.” Would the coaches consider him to have an “NFL body?” Most inside linebackers are shorter, less long-limbed, and thicker in build, which enables them to take on blockers in the box more easily or stop a runner in their tracks head-on.

Simmons doesn’t fit that mold, but molds are meant to be broken, as is the Giants record of 35 years without a first-round draft pick devoted to linebacker.

Keith Murray, Oklahoma: This is a guy with more of a traditional inside linebacker build for the position.

Previously, he took himself out of position to make tackles by misdiagnosing plays as he did a year ago, and he missed many tackles because of it.

This year he is a fast, violent tackler making good on his athletic promise. He’s nowhere near as good in coverage as Simmons--and I’ve yet to see him make a single play on the ball in the air--but he’s progressing enough to suggest that it will come, possibly before the end of this season.

Offensive Line

Georgia offensive lineman Andrew Thomas

Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports

LT Andrew Thomas, Georgia: He’s come a long way in a couple of years from the true freshman right tackle who struggled to compete in the regular season Auburn game to the oft-dominant player he is now at left tackle two years on.

I wouldn’t say he’s entirely faultless, but the athletic ability he has combined with a strong punch and ease of movement suggests he’s still scratching the surface and will continue to improve.

I love the way he finishes when he gets the opportunity, whether that is in pass protection or launching himself forward when down blocking on the goal line to open holes for the runners.

He’s able to kick out and block on the edge in space with consummate ease, and he’d open many an opportunity for a back like Saquon Barkley. He could serve a year’s internship at right tackle if the Giants aren’t prepared to move Nate Solder over, or move on from him altogether.

LT Austin Jackson, USC: One of the things I like to do with players is determine how they match up with common opponents whose ability is established to pit their worth against one another on level terms.

I had the opportunity to do so with Jackson against Notre Dame after I’d seen Georgia play against them a few weeks earlier. He passed the eyeball test with his play, just as he did a couple of weeks earlier against Stanford (when he also showed off his power and athletic ability by blocking a field goal, the second block of his career).

How does he fit in with the Giants’ culture? Well, let’s just say he ticked the “selfless” box off in summer when a month before USC’s fall football camp, he underwent a painful operation to become a bone marrow donor for his sister. It sounds like the sort of guy who would fit right in with the Giants offensive line doesn’t he?

A true junior who still has some growing into his body to do and who lost some development time this past summer I can’t imagine there’s any way he won’t look to enter the pros early to help his family financially.

C Tyler Biadasz, Wisconsin: Come April, his detractors will undoubtedly point out that, in the shorts and T-shirt competition known as the NFL Combine, he did not show the top-notch athletic ability of many the top NFL interior players at the position.

I remember them saying the same thing about Cowboys center Travis Frederick when he was considered a surprise late first-round pick. Still, just as was the case with Frederick in his Badgers heyday, there can be no doubting that Biadasz is a quality football player who is consistent, technically sound, powerful and a leader of men.

Sure, a center isn’t going to float many people’s boats, but if the Giants were to combine Biadasz with guards Will Hernandez and Kevin Zeitler, running back Saquon Barkley could be unstoppable up the middle.

Defensive Line

Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown

Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Derrick Brown, Auburn: Surely another defensive interior lineman would be madness, right?

As legendary college football announcer Lee Corso says, “Not so fast, my friend!” Gettleman loves a hog mollie, and a rotation of Dexter Lawrence, Dalvin Tomlinson, B.J. Hill, and Brown would surely have him salivating and opposing offensive linemen begging for mercy.

Last fall, I had Brown on my wish-list for the Giants in the first round even though it was apparent early on they would end up with a top 10 pick.

He surprisingly chose to stay in school to maximize his draft stock. Still, if you’ve caught even the highlights of Brown’s recent games against Texas A&M and Florida, you’d have seen him assert his physical dominance play after play, series after series both against the run and on the pass rush.

Playing all over a 3-man front and either interior position on a 4-man line, he’d fit like a glove. He wouldn’t be a betting favorite for the Giants’ top selection, but if the draft were to fall a certain way and the best player at other positions were to be gone, would Gettleman look a gift horse in the mouth and select a lesser player?

Pass Rushers

Chase Young, Ohio State: As with Jeudy on the offensive side of the ball, Young has been the player most linked with the Giants on the defensive side of the ball since the first mock drafts came out.

This season, he’s a bit like watching the Bosa boys all over again with perfectly honed hand technique on his pass rush moves; strength to anchor against bigger players; dynamic playmaking skills; and tremendous production against both run and pass.

Sadly, barring a catastrophic collapse down the stretch, the Giants aren’t going to have a shot at him as the Top 5 is where, barring a Jachai Polite type of free-fall over the Combine and interview process, he’s all but certain to be selected.

A trade-up isn’t out of the question considering Gettleman’s penchant for moving up and the Giants having established a fair bit of draft capital with several critical pieces already in place (providing Daniel Jones works out). But the Giants will likely be selecting too low to make it implausible.

Giants Maven Weekly Fan Friday Mailbag

Want to participate in our Friday Fan Day mailbag? Send your questions to us at nygiantsmaven@gmail.com.

Giants Maven Social Media

Follow Patricia on Twitter @Patricia_Traina and don’t forget to check out and like our Facebook page.

Sign up for our free newsletter

Sign up for our free newsletter and get breaking Giants news, notes, and more delivered to your inbox!

Can’t get enough Big Blue news and analysis?

Subscribe to the FREE LockedOn Giants podcast, your daily podcast featuring all things New York Giants, available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, FM Player and wherever else podcasts are offered.