Ranking the New York Giants' 2023 Draft Needs
Ask any NFL general manager, and he'll probably tell you it's unwise to "shop hungry" regarding the NFL draft.
But we all know that while teams generally stress "best available" when they go on the clock, there are times when need trumps best available, especially if the grades are only off by a point or two.
That said, let's run down the Giants' positions and rank them in terms of draft need on a scale of 1 (low-can probably get by with an undrafted free agent) to 5 (gotta have)
Quarterback
The Giants committed a four-year contract to starter Daniel Jones, a deal that will run for at least two years, given how it's set up. They also have backup Tyrod Taylor under contract this year, but beyond those two, the cupboard is bare after Davis Webb's retirement.
With Taylor only signed for one more season, it would be a surprise if the Giants don't add a young developmental prospect in this draft.
The only question is whether they spend one of their draft picks on a developmental prospect or if they look to add one after the draft, either a rookie or a veteran.
General manager Joe Schoen, who said the team is happy with Tyrod Taylor, the current backup to Jones, did shed some light on the team's thinking about a possible replacement for Webb.
"We'll continue to look whether it's a veteran free agent or somebody in the draft or post-draft, whoever it may be," he said. "Yeah, we'll have three quarterbacks in camp."
Need Level: 1
Running Back
Schoen deferred any questions about whether Saquon Barkley plans to eventually report this season to the player. Still, despite the contract impasse with the team, it would be a major upset if Barkley decided to skip the upcoming season.
Regardless of what happens with Barkley beyond this year, it would behoove the Giants to add another running back to a group that has Matt Breida for another year and youngsters Gary Brightwell and Jashaun Corbin.
Roster building, remember, is a multiyear process. To that end, no one would fault Giants general manager Joe Schoen if he has a contingency plan for a possible life without Barkley after the 2023 season.
Assuming Barkley plays on the franchise tag this year--and there is hope that the running back realizes that a multiyear deal with more guaranteed money than the franchise tag is his best bet--the Giants could very well tag him again next year, absent a new deal being reached.
However, the availability of the tag depends on what ends up happening with Leonard Williams and Xavier McKinney, two players who will likely be up for new contracts at the end of this season and who might draw consideration for the tag.
In other words, the tag might not be available for Barkley if they have to use it again next year. That's why it might not be a bad idea for the Giants to dip into a very deep running backs class now to get a potential replacement ready, just in case.
And if things do work out with Barkley, it still would behoove the Giants to add some young talent to a position that generally has a short shelf life.
Need Level: 2.5
Tight End
The Giants' addition of Darren Waller via trade offers a big clue into what the offense is hoping to look like in 2023. That is, Waller will be the guy who draws the attention up the middle, thereby leaving the flats and areas outside the numbers free for all these shorter receivers with YAC ability to do their thing.
Daniel Bellinger will get a few of those snaps as well, while newcomer Tommy Sweeney will compete to be the blocking tight end that this team needed last year for the run game. However, Sweeney's roster spot is probably not a lock, but it's probably safe to say that Waller and Bellinger are locks, barring injury.
So would the Giants consider drafting a tight end from a very deep class? I could see it happening because, again, one has to look at the roster picture beyond the current year.
While the Giants have Waller in place, Waller doesn't have any guaranteed money owed to him after this year, and the Giants could exit the deal after 2024 when the cap savings exceeds the dead money hit (and when Waller will be approaching his 33rd birthday).
The other factor here is Waller's recent injury history. If he goes down, how nice would it be to have a guy on board who could step in and not create a drop-off when paired with Bellinger?
I don't necessarily think the Giants will draft tight end on Day 1 of the draft, which FMIA's Peter King has done in his latest mock draft. But would the Giants consider taking a tight end ahead of a receiver, perhaps even as early as Day 2? That wouldn't surprise me.
Need Level: 3.5
Wide Receiver
The common opinion seems to be that the Giants must add a receiver, perhaps as soon as the first round, and it's not hard to see why people would think this.
Of those currently on the roster, only Darius Slayton and Wan'Dale Robinson are signed beyond this year. Also of note is that Robinson, Sterling Shepard, and Colin Johnson are all coming off season-ending injuries.
But here's what the Giants, who finished last in big-play passes last season, need to determine. Can the offense improve with mostly the same guys they had on the receiving end last year?
That could hinge on Daniel Jones and the offensive line. Still, the receivers, who combined for 30 drops last season, tying Jones for fifth among quarterbacks whose receivers had the most drops, certainly played a big role in the offensive struggles to where adding a sure-handed receiver to be around beyond this year might not be such a bad idea.
"Yeah, it's a good group of receivers at the top of the draft, depending how you have them ranked," Schoen said. "Everybody's got different strengths and weaknesses, and again I think there's a lot of talented players in the draft. Every year I think there are 20-plus receivers drafted, and how many truly go on to have success, you know, that's what we're trying to figure out."
Schoen's point is well taken as the experts think very few receivers in this draft are sure-fire types. Pro Football Focus's Big Boad has three receivers in the first round: Ohio State's Jaxon Smith-Njigba, USC's Jordan Addison, and TCU's Quentin Johnston. If none of them are there for the Giants at No. 25, then it's hard to fathom the Giants reaching for a receiver in the first round.
"If you have got a guy that can take the top off and throw the ball down the field and goes up and gets it like a Randy Moss, then you'd love to have that; or if it's Steve Smith in Carolina, you throw a slant, and he can take it 80," Schoen said.
"Any time you can generate yards after a catch, that helps you. You don't have to do the 15, 16-play drives. Maybe now it's six because a guy had a 50-yarder in there. I think all those things are important when looking at the receiver."
The Giants added speed to their receiver corps. Of course, it doesn't mean anything if these guys, all of whom have recent injury histories, can't stay on the field.
Need Level: 3
Offensive Line
It's been said before and will be said again. A team can have all the best skill position players in the world, but if the blocking isn't there, then what good does it do?
So remember how, earlier in this piece, I mentioned the receivers and the lack of explosive plays? Was that a result of a lack of top talent, or was it more the doing of an offensive line that finished 26th in pass-blocking efficiency (82.8), according to Pro Football Focus?
If you're in the camp of it being the latter, then you'll probably agree with the assigned ranking. The Giants do appear to be set at tackle with Andrew Thomas and Evan Neal (though they probably could use another depth player).
The interior, though, is where there are questions despite Schoen's statement that he's comfortable with what the team has at that spot. Although the team signed veteran center J.C. Hassenauer, it would probably behoove them to get a young center with whom Daniel Jones, who has yet to have the same starting center on opening day since entering the NFL in 2019, can grow old.
Meanwhile, figure Joshua Ezeudu will enter the spring period as the leading contender at left guard, with Ben Bredeson, last year's incumbent, also in the mix. Over at right guard, Mark Glowinski has another year with guaranteed money due (2023), but does the team have a replacement waiting in the wings among Jack Anderson, Marcus McKethan, and maybe even Tyre Phillips?
Need Level: 5 (interior, center), 2 (tackle)
Defensive Line
I'm all in favor of the Giants adding to the defensive line, particularly if they don’t get something done with Leonard Williams regarding an extension—and as of this writing, there has been no movement on that whatsoever, nor has there been much indication of plans to pursue a contract extension.
Again, drafting is not just about this year; one must look ahead. And even if the Giants and Williams were to strike a deal on an extension—and we’re starting to wonder if both sides want that right now—it probably wouldn’t be for more than two years.
There is one other factor that needs to be considered:: Williams’ neck issue. Although he gutted out a painful neck/shoulder issue at the end of last season, we can’t help but wonder if the Giants are waiting to see how well he's come through his rehab (via rest) before making any further investment in him.
The Giants lessened the need for an interior defensive lineman with the signing of Rakeem Nunez-Roches. However, that appears to be more of a short-term solution allowing them to give Dexter Lawrence II the occasional rest while not worrying about a drop-off.
But here’s the thing. There are some good interior defensive linemen in this class. And while we’re not suggesting that the Giants move on from Lawrence in favor of someone on a cheaper rookie deal, what we are suggesting is that all too often last season, the Giants defensive front lost the battle in the pit as they just didn't have the depth to hold up all game long and through injuries.
To our thinking, this unit needs more firepower. They have Ryder Anderson and are getting D.J. Davidson back from a season-ending ACL injury. But we really would like the Giants to add more depth to this unit so that they always have a well-stocked set of options.
Adding to the defensive front is a key component of the future and something that I wouldn't be surprised to see addressed in the first three rounds.
Need Level: 4
Inside Linebacker
Many still believe that the Giants need to address the inside linebacker position.
I'm not sure I'm totally on board with that sentiment. The addition of Bobby Okereke on a four-year contract tells us that he will be the centerpiece of that level in the defense.
In case you haven’t noticed, Schoen hasn’t been handing out many multiyear deals in his two years at the helm. For those to whom he does give the longer contracts, they are usually part of the team for the long term, which again would suggest that Okereke is going to be here a while.
But what about behind him? The Giants re-signed Jarrad Davis, a guy they poached off the Lions practice squad last year after weeks of trying to bring him to East Rutherford. Davis might not have been ultra-impressive to the naked eye in the playoff run last year, but it needs to be remembered that he was thrust into the pool's deep end and had to hit the ground running with no time to learn the fine details of the defense.
People also forget about Darrian Beavers, the promising sixth-rounder from last year who lost his rookie season to a torn ACL. Beavers was developing into quite the thumper before his injury, but the good news is that it happened early enough in the year to where he should be fully healthy again.
That final spot at this position projects to come down to one of Micah McFadden and Carter Coughlin, with whoever excels more on specials getting the nod.
Could the Giants add a player late in the draft? Sure. But early in the draft? That might be a stretch unless Drew Sanders, Trenton Simpson, or Jack Campbell are sitting there on Day 2 when the Giants go on the clock.
Need Level: 2.5
Edge Rusher
Edge rusher is, without question in my mind at least, a sneaky need for this Giants team. Yes, they have Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari as their projected starters. Still, as we saw when they were absent from the lineup due to injuries, the Giants didn’t get much else on the pass rush—just 14 total sacks from the edge group combined, which, to put into perspective, Haason Reddick of the Eagles had more than that all by himself.
The team has moved on from Oshane Ximines (another third-round pick in a string of Giants third-rounders who haven’t worked out long-term). They still don’t know what they have in Elerson Smith, who can’t seem to stay on the field and who, at this point, hasn’t played a full football season since 2019.
Tomon Fox is intriguing, but right now, it's probably fair to say he doesn't pose a huge concern for opposing offensive coordinators’ hearts at this point in his career.
As former general manager Ernie Accorsi once said, you can never have too many pass rushers. With a defensive coordinator like Wink Martindale, we can only imagine how creative he can get with multiple pass rushers available to deploy.
Need Level: 4
Safety
Although the Giants signed veteran Bobby McCain to (presumably) fill the void left by Julian Love's departure, it's worth noting that McCain is only signed to a one-year deal.
It's also worth noting that Xavier McKinney is entering the final year of his deal. However, at this point, it's hard to imagine the Giants not attempting to re-sign him, assuming that his injured hand is indeed 100 percent, as he recently declared it to be.
The Giants have some young talent they like at the position, namely Jason Pinnock and Dane Belton, who contributed last year on defense. But if the Giants truly want to close the gap between themselves and the Eagles and Cowboys, they need a heavy infusion of talent on the back end of their defense to keep up with the speed of the rest of the NFC East.
Given his versatility and production, should defensive back Brian Branch (Alabama) fall to the Giants at No. 25, he would be hard to pass up for the long-term outlook of that defensive backfield. If Branch isn't there, the good news for the Giants is that the safety class is relatively deep enough with good talent to where if they want to add to the group--and I think they will--there will be options to do so well into Day 3.
Need Level: 4
Cornerback
If center is the "gotta have" on the offensive side of the ball, then cornerback is its defensive equivalent.
As noted above, one of the largest gaps between the Giants and the Eagles, and Dallas is the lack of speed on the back end of the defense to keep up with the CeeDee Lambs, the A.J. Browns, and the DeVotna Smiths (and for good measure, the Terry McLaurin's in Washington).
Currently, the Giants have Adoree' Jackson under contract for one more year, and it seems unlikely they will extend him beyond. On the other side, the team was hoping for Aaron Robinson, who was primarily a slot cornerback in college, to step in as James Bradberry's replacement on the outside, but Robinson again fell victim to the injury bug.
The team drafted Cor'Dale Flott, and he did well in a small sample size. But he, too, fell victim to the injury bug. Nick McCloud, Zyon Gilbert, Darnay Holmes, and Rodarius Williams round out the cornerback group that has experience, but if lack of speed was an issue last year, what makes anyone think this group will be any faster this year?
The bottom line is that sooner rather than later, the starting cornerbacks will undergo a change, especially if the team moves on from Jackson as is anticipated. Again, if the Giants want to keep up with their division opponents, they need to add speedy man-press corners to that defense to help get it to the next level, and this year's draft class is loaded with such prospects.
Need Level: 5
