2012 NFL Mock Draft New York Giants 7 Rounder

I thought since we’re almost at the halfway point of the N.F.L. season I’d throw out my first New York Giants 7 round mock draft.

Let me know what you think Giants fans. Obviously this is all in fun because so much will change between now and then.

We’ll say the Giants are picking 32nd.

All right, fine 20th.

1st round-David Decastro, G, Stanford

I’ll continue to maintain that I think the Giants should go the route of cornerback again because Terrell Thomas is a free agent and coming off a second A.C.L. injury, as is Aaron Ross (a free agent) and the Giants depth is really poor. If they bring back a healthy Terrel Thomas and Ross can find some consistency than they have a good cornerback group, but those could be long shots. I also think with the depth of the cornerback class: Kirkpatrick, Claiborne, Gilmore, Hosley (not a Giants type of pick..not enough size), and Dennard it’s also likely that cornerback could be best player available On top of that the Giants have spent a lot of early picks on the secondary so it’s a distinct possibility.

With that being said the Giants showed a lot of interest in Mike Pouncey this year (Ipuati apparently the year before) and seem to want to add some youth and talent to the interior of their offensive line. Decastro is a very nice guard prospect and could be the Giants pick.

2nd round-Ray Ray Armstrong, the University of Miami

Deon Grant has really shown his age this year, and Tyler Sash is an unknown. A really smart player who could be a career special teamer because he lacks dynamic athleticism, but is very savvy and could eventually mature into a starter, but he might not. The Giants also will possibly (perhaps likely) never see Chad Jones play. If not, they could really use the safety depth, Deon Grant won’t be back which leaves them only with Phillips and Antrel Rolle. The C.C. Brown experience has taught them that safety depth is of the utmost importance. I think secondary will be addressed in the first two rounds of this draft.

3rd round Michael Egnew, TE, Missouri

Not really sure what to do with the Giants here. Defensive line is a possibility, cornerback again is another possibility, but I think tight end could be a steal here too. I think ultimately it will be a player that falls down the board (Mario Manningham, Chad Jones, and Jerel Jernigan were all considered 2nd round prospects that fell for one reason ro another). Egnew is very physically gifted and has the frame to morph into a two way tight end. Look out for a true value with this pick.

4th round-Derek Powe, DT, Cincinnati

This is the round where the Giants like to attack their needs (James Brewer OT, Phillip Dillard, LB, Bryan Kehl LB) and will even reach to do so (Dillard for sure), so that’s a possibility here. I think the fact that James Brewer was a good value pick in the last draft had to do more with teams possible concerns about his health issues than the Giants moving away from their philosophy. This pick largely depends on what the Giants believe the Giants immediate needs are: Offensive line, WR depth, Cornerback talent, and OL depth are all possibilities.

I think the Giants though will believe that Defensive tackle is their biggest need (SAM linebacker and MLB are also possibilities, but no more 4th round linebackers).

Wolfe has good size and athleticism and could intrigue the Giants here.

5th round-Leonard Johnson, CB, Iowa State

The Giants have really knocked it out of the park with their fifth round picks (Kevin Boss, Jonathan Goff, Mitch Petrus-to be determined) so they hope that happens here. While the team is scouting Iowa State because of guard Kelechi Osemele they could pick up on Leonard Johnson and scoop him up in the fifth round. They should address cornerback at some point.

6th round E.J. Manuel, QB, Florida State

A bit of a surprising pick, but the Giants have been trying to find a long term backup for Eli Manning since he was drafted in 2004, but have been unsucesful, but that doesn’t mean they won’t eventually get it right. Manuel is very talented, but has had a down year. If this kind of talent is available in the 6th round the Giants could take the risk

7th round: Tarvarres King, WR, Georgia

the Giants could use more depth at wide receivers. They have Nicks, cruz, Manningham, Jernigan, but after that it’s question marks. Will Barden show enough to make the Giants give him another chance? Will Manningham be a long term solution for the Giants, or will they grow weary of his wrong routes. Will Jernigan become the kick returner they drafted him to be? In any case, King is talented and is a player who has pretty good size and pretty good speed and could be an option for them here.

Conclussion

This would really be a very unsexy draft for the drafts which seems unlikely. I also didn’t grab a SAM linebacker, but after the first two rounds the Giants should just bypass the position because they already have young players to develop into those positions like Mark Herzlich and Greg Jones. The Giants don’t like to use high draft picks on offensive line or linebacker, but this could finally be the year they do so.

I also think this draft will change a lot between now and the real draft, especially hinging on whether or not Coughlin and the Giants struggle down the stretch. A really poor performance down the stretch could make the team consider firing Coughlin and if that happens the offensive and defensive systems could go over-hauls throwing this completely in flux.

I’ll also offer up with big contract signing of Kevin Boss, and Steve Smith and the limited free agency activity perpetrated by the Giants I believe they could end up with a pretty high compensatory pick (thank you Raiders again-it was their large offer to Gibril Wilson that most likely netted them their last 3rd round compensatory pick). Though because it is a safely guarded secret like KFC’s secret recipe that’s something no one will know until the draft approaches.

Thoughts? What direction would you Giants fans like to see the Giants take?

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