Pro Football Focus's Extremely Bold Predictions for Giants in Latest Two-Round Mock Draft

The New York Giants still need a stud offensive tackle, right?

You know, preferably one of the "big three" candidates of Alabama's Evan Neal, Mississippi State's Charles Cross, and North Carolina State's Ikem Ekwonu?

It sure would seem that way considering that general manager Joe Schoen didn't address offensive tackle in free agency, the extent of the team's transactions being re-signing journeyman Korey Cunnigham and adding offensive tackle Matt Gono, who missed most of last season with an injury.

All these signs point to a no-brainer solution for the Giants, even though Schoen, during his time in Buffalo as the assistant general manager under Brandon Beane, was never part of a regime that drafted an offensive lineman in the first round.

In his latest two-round mock draft, Pro Football Focus's Anthony Treash believes that Schoen is once again going to resist any temptation of drafting an offensive tackle in the first round of the draft.

Instead, despite having all three top offensive tackle prospects on the board at pick No. 5, Treash's first pick for the Giants is Cincinnati cornerback Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner, of whom he wrote:

Gardner allowed just 131 yards across 14 games and 482 coverage snaps in 2021, a performance that will forever be known as one of the best seasons by a college defensive back.

Impressively, the 6-foot-3, 190-pounder did that while playing mainly on an island in press-man coverage. He closed out his three-year college career without allowing a single touchdown despite playing over 1,100 coverage snaps. New defensive coordinator Wink Martindale will be able to trust him to win on an island sooner rather than later.

(Yeah, but can he play offensive tackle?)

With the sixth pick in the draft, Treash mocks Cross to the Panthers, leaving both Ekwonu and Cross on the board.

Instead of mocking one of those two to the Giants at No. 7, Treash went with Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean, of whom he wrote:

With the Giants welcoming in Wink Martindale as the new DC, this Giants defense will be aggressive and could look to add more pressure. Creative pressure packages are key to Martindale's defensive success, and Dean comes from a system with the same philosophy. The Georgia off-ball linebacker was one of the best blitzers in college football last season.

Not only was Dean the highest-graded off-ball linebacker of 2021, but he's the only linebacker in the PFF College era to earn a 90.0-plus PFF grade in coverage and as a pass-rusher.

The Georgia product racked up 31 pressures and 15 passing stops in 2021, both of which ranked top-10 among Power Five linebackers. He also ranked sixth in the Power Five in pass-rush win rate (22.3%), allowed a first down at the lowest rate among linebackers (13.5%), and didn’t surrender a single touchdown.

Ignore the size concerns with the 5-foot-11, 231-pounder. Dean is the real deal.

(Yeah, but can he play offensive tackle?)

Okay, all kidding aside--and before moving on to Treash's pick for the Giants in the second round--let's look at his first two projections.

A cornerback in the first round isn't necessarily a bad move, especially if the Giants are planning to move on from James Bradberry (and as of this writing, that appears to be far from a done deal unless someone gets desperate for a cornerback).

The selection of Gardner isn't one I necessarily hate, and I can see a case for taking him over Stingley, who, after posting a solid rookie season, struggled with injuries and a performance drop-off his last two seasons. If Schoen subscribes to the

Stingley, like Gardner, has good height and length, but he's played in ten games over the last two seasons, raising serious questions about his durability--questions that would no doubt be a catalyst for him falling down a draft board.

But Gardner over one of the three offensive tackles at No. 5? That's a tough pill to swallow because the Giants have Adoree' Jackson, Rodarius Williams, Aaron Robinson, and Darnay Holmes under contract through 2023.

And if, by chance, defensive coordinator Don Martindale wants to retain Bradberry (we can't rule that possibility out since Martindale has yet to speak publicly to reporters about what his Giants defense might look like), the addition of Gardner at that spot doesn't seem wise when there is such a glaring hole at right tackle.

Now let's discuss the selection of Dean. Again, I wouldn't necessarily hate seeing Dean on the Giants. I could see a case for him being made since the Giants inside linebacker situation is, shall we say, far from being settled, what with Blake Martinez coming off a torn ACL and with the Giants not having a two-way threat capable of stopping the run and delivering the goods in coverage.

Sounds good on paper, but I personally can't get past not addressing the offensive line with at least one of their top two draft picks, not when much is riding on this year regarding Daniel Jones's success.

Schoen has made encouraging progress in restocking the offensive line. While he could get a tackle in the later rounds, why delay the inevitable when you have a potential impact and Day 1 plug-and-play player right there for the taking?

But fear not because there is always the second round of the draft, and there should still be plenty of good players on the board, including a solid offensive line prospect, right?

Sort of.

With Pick No. 36, Treash mocks Boston College guard Zion Johnson to the Giants, of whom he writes:

Johnson earned an 80.0-plus grade as both a pass- and run-blocker last season, recording just one penalty en route to an honorable mention PFF All-American honors.

As lead draft analyst Mike Renner highlighted in the 2022 PFF Draft Guide, there are a few cons to his game. He’s a polished and stout performer and didn’t lose a single pass-blocking rep during Senior Bowl week.

(And yeah, he has played tackle, having done so in college; however, just about every projection out there, including PFF's, has him as a guard.)

The cons that Treash references, in case anyone was wondering, include:

Most downgrades are awareness related when picking up stunts/blitzes.
Average get-off and quickness for a guard.
Bit of a late bloomer, grading didn't take off until Year 5.

Again, I understand the logic behind the pick. The Giants might have loaded up on interior linemen in this draft, but other than for Mark Glowinski, no one is signed beyond this coming season, so it makes sense to add some young players into an otherwise dried-up pipeline and start developing them.

At the same time, would it make more sense to want your first- and second-round draft picks to hit the ground running on Day 1 in some capacity?

This intriguing draft process in which the Giants' selection of players will offer even more insight into what the coaching staff is planning. In less than three weeks, the speculation will end--as will the seemingly endless and creative mock drafts.

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