Crafting the Ideal Giants Draft: Round 4 of 5

We continue our five-part look at crafting the ideal Giants draft scenarios. In this installment, Nick Falato tackles the fourth round of the draft.

RELATED: Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3

Fourth Round, 110th Selection

Tackle Alex Taylor, South Carolina State

At 6-foot-8, 308 pounds, Taylor has imposing size and physical measurables. 36⅛” arms and 11¼” hands, which rank in the 97th and 98th percentile, respectively.

Taylor also has smooth movement skills and good athletic ability: quick feet, lower body flexion, explosiveness, and balanced lateral movement.

The reason he may be available at No. 110 is his strength; he doesn’t generate a lot of movement in the run game, and his anchor needs some work.

He allows his pad level to get too high and will typically lose the leverage battle against bull-rushing defensive players. Taylor would be an excellent developmental prospect for Marc Colombo.

His combination of size and athletic ability is rare, but it’ll be a work in progress until he sees the football field.

EDGE Alton Robinson, Syracuse

Robinson had a steller 2018 season with 36 tackles, 17 for a loss, and ten sacks, but struggled to live up to those numbers in 2019 where he posted 46 tackles, 9 for a loss, and four sacks.

Offensive coordinators put a heavier focus on him, which made sense. Robinson has some bend, though, and can get around the outside part of tackles' hips while bending through contact to corner into the pocket, simple traits that are pivotal to playing edge.

Robinson had a different path than most prospects; he ended up at Syracuse after a stint with Northeastern Oklahoma A&M.

He had Power 5 offers coming out of high school, but some off the field issues relegated him to the smaller school.

By all accounts, Robinson has redeemed himself and turned his life around, which earned him the right to transfer to Syracuse, where he has since seemed to have squelched those earlier off-field concerns.

As for the field, he could use more pass-rushing moves and be stronger at the point of attack, especially when moving laterally, but he’s a solid player that possesses the necessary quickness to play on 3rd down right away.

Linebacker Logan Wilson, Wyoming

Wilson is one of the more underrated linebackers in this draft class. The new flavor of the position is the athletic prototype that is very important, but I feel Wilson is miscast and labeled as just a 2-down run stuffer.

He doesn’t excel in man coverage, but he has enough functional athletic ability not to be a liability in this area.

His football IQ and spatial awareness suggest he could be a very solid zone defender as well. Wilson had 99 or more tackles in his last three seasons at Wyoming, along with 27 tackles for a loss, four sacks, and seven interceptions.

In 2019, Wilson had 105 tackles, 8.5 for a loss, a sack, four picks, and seven passes defensed. He tested well at the Combine with a 4.63 40, 10 foot broad, and a 4.27 shuttle, while weighing 241 pounds at 6’2.

Someone may be getting a steal on Day 3 if Wilson falls. He would be the perfect backup to Ryan Connelly and Blake Martinez, while being able to spell them, and would be an absolute ace on special teams.

In Patrick Graham’s base 3-4 defense, Wilson could fit into an inside linebacker role and excel, if something were to happen to Connelly or Martinez.

Safety K’Von Wallace, Clemson

Wallace can play in a robber role (think of Cover 1 assignments when the strong safety drops down into the hole) and cover the slot.

He has the athletic traits to play single-high safety. He must be spun up on the nuances and the mental aspect of handling the latter responsibility.

His ability to move and click and close on underneath routes are fun to watch. Wallace had a nose for the football in 2019; he had two interceptions and ten passes defensed while recording over 70 tackles.

Wallace would be a fine addition to the defensive secondary, especially if Giants defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson feels he can coach Wallace into a single-high role.

The athletic traits suggest he may be able to handle that, but it’s not a guarantee. Nevertheless, Wallace’s versatility and football ability are still valuable.

Is it redundant to Julian Love’s skill set? Yes, but I always say draft good football players, and good things will happen. At this point in the draft, that makes sense.

Wide Receiver Van Jefferson, Florida

A small Jones fracture in his foot halted Jefferson's ability to test at the combine, which may inevitably cause him to slide to No. 110 for the Giants.

Jefferson had an excellent Senior Bowl week, catching nearly everything and showed nuanced route running. He was beating press coverage from the boundary and the slot while looking so smooth with his route running.

At 6-foot-1, 200 pounds with just under 33” arms, Jefferson was able to haul in 49 catches, for 657 yards, and six touchdowns in 2019.

My affinity for route running and release at the line of scrimmage force me to value players like Jefferson.

He doesn’t have that elite size, but he does have enough size, and his athletic ability is solid. When you have those baseline traits, it’s an excellent start, but one thing is always translatable: route running. Master that part of the game and a player can have an immediate impact.

As long as Jefferson recovered from the Jones fracture, which is a nasty injury, then he should be effective in Year 1.

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