New York Giants Mailbag: The "Futures" Edition

Welcome to another installment of our weekly mailbag. To take part in the mailbag, you can do one of three things. The first is to tweet your questions to me @Patricia_Traina with the hashtag #askPtrain.

If you have a Giants Country account (registration is free, in case you didn’t know—just hit the FOLLOW button to register for your account), you can send your question to me by clicking the DIRECT MESSAGE option found under the hamburger menu at the top left corner of the page.

Or, if you want to e-mail the question, send it to nygiantsmaven@gmail.com.

From Truthbetold1220:

I am curious about what your thoughts are about making the playoffs with a losing record versus the higher draft pick if they miss the playoffs? The team has a few too many pieces missing to make a sustained run in the postseason. This team isn't going to the Supe Bowl this year. The team can use the highest picks it can get. Is it worth a one and done playoff game to plummet down the draft board? If so, why do you feel that way?

This is a fascinating question. I think you're correct when you say that if the Giants do get into the playoffs, they probably aren't fully stocked to make a deep run just yet.

But with that said, I always say that the team views its needs differently than the rest of us. And on that note, here's what I see as the Giants' main needs: Edge rusher, Cornerback No. 2, and a legitimate No. 1 Receiver.

Now to your question. On Monday's episode of the LockedOn Giants podcast, I have Dan Shonka of Ourlad's on the program (you will not want to miss that episode as it's chock-full of great stuff), and I asked him how the draft class is shaping up in those three areas.

He confirmed what I've observed and heard that the edge rusher class doesn't have a bunch of studs. (There is some talent that early to projects as Day 2, but the Giants have Day 2 talent they're still trying to develop.)

The cornerback and receiver classes appear to be deep. If you're the Giants and you agree with the top three needs I've outlined, then I don't think it matters if the Giants don't have a top 10 pick if you concur that the cornerback and receiver classes are that deep to where you can find value later in the round and into the second round.

#askptrain Let's say the Giants win the NFC EAST, winning 4 of the next 6, but lose the first playoff game, where would they be picking in the draft? Would it be in the 20's or as a 7-9 team?
— Joseph Galiszewski (@summerman1) November 20, 2020

Joseph, that’s a hard question to answer right now. The NFL expanded the playoff field to 14 teams, but I think the final draft order between playoff teams has to do with when they are eliminated.

The other factor we have to watch for is if for some reason, the season doesn’t play out to the end, then the field expands to 16 games. Even if I were to attempt to calculate a range, all that work could quickly fly out the window if the schedule is shortened.

According to Tankathon, the projected Wild Card round losers would draft anywhere from No. 19 to 24, so I would say go with that assuming the season goes the distance and the Giants win the division (they'd be the lowest-seeded division winner, so they'd be in the Wild Card round).

But again, that could change if the season doesn't draw to a close.

Last year, Fuzz. 😊 But your point is well taken; it’s refreshing to see this team winning again.

#askPtrain, you think the Giants can re-sign both Leonard Williams and Dalvin Tomlinson, seems like was have an enormous amount of cap room after 2021, and can cut Solder and Tate and create sufficient cap space in 2021
— Jeremy M (@JeremyM84459000) November 18, 2020

Jeremy, I’m not holding out hope of that happening. If it comes down to Williams or Tomlinson, I think they go with the pass rusher, assuming Williams doesn't demand crazy money.

Yes, there will be a lot of money if they cut some guys, but also remember that the cap might drop to as low as $176 million, making things challenging.

So what did Giants investigation into Deandre Baker show that they have cut bait and have moved on to other secondary solutions? #askPtrain
— Heng-O Sowilo (@HengOSowilo) November 17, 2020

Heng, I don’t think the Giants did an in-depth investigation into Baker's situation outside of gathering information on what happened after the alleged event took place.

The decision behind cutting Baker came down to them wanting the player to straighten out his affairs without worrying about football. I also suspect they didn't want the distraction.

As far as I know, the Giants aren't going after his signing bonus, so it's not as though Baker was left with nothing (unless he blew it on frivolous spending). Baker has been given another chance courtesy of the Chiefs; it's up to him not to blow it the way he did when he was here with the Giants by trying to coast his way through things.

With all due respect to the question, it's in my best interest to be self-critical rather than be critical of others.

#askPtrain odds McKinney,tae crowder,and oshane are back next week
— NYG (@GiantsVidal1027) November 16, 2020

My guess is Crowder has the best chance of returning, perhaps as soon as the Bengals game, since his 21-day window will be coming to a close.

After that, my guess is Ximines and McKinney won't be too far behind Crowder. If I had to take a guess, I'd say Ximines is probably going to be back first.

With that said, I wouldn't be shocked if the Giants start the 21-day clock on both when they return from the bye.

#AskPtrain Parcell's used to love getting a lead and just running the clock down as much as possible, do you think this philosophy is what has been helping the Giants hold on to their double digit leads? They've lead be 10 or more in the last 6 games.
— Oscar Nieves (@nievesmartir) November 16, 2020

Hey Oscar. That would certainly make sense, wouldn't it? I didn't have time to go back and look over each of the games to see what the breakdown is, but in the two wins, I can tell you that the Giants ran the ball over 35 times in each (35 vs. Washington and 36 vs. Philadelphia).

So yes, that would support your theory that they believe in running the ball to grind out the clock.

From Jeff J:

Wayne Gallman has looked pretty good. What do you think are the chances that the Giants resign him in the off-season?

What's up, Jeff? This one is a tough one for me because I have made no secret over the fact that I like Gallman as a player, and if it were my call, I'd re-sign him.

But with that said, if you're the Giants, does it maybe make sense to draft a younger player who might come cheaper? Perhaps.

But if there isn't a market for Gallman--and I would be surprised if there wasn't--then maybe you try to get Gallman back on a one-year veteran minimum deal.

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