2015 Offseason Recap and Draft Preview

In only a few days, representatives from all thirty-two teams from the NFL will congregate in Chicago, much to the dismay of angry Jets’ fans everywhere, with the hopes to draft a bunch of twenty-one year old kids who could make their teams instantly better. Well, that's the idea, anyway.

And in this year’s draft, the New York Giants will try to rebuild their dilapidated house of a team. Unfortunately, it would probably take a super powered lovechild of Bob Vila and Al Borland to rebuild this team into playoff ready condition in one year. That’s a lot of beard, and a lot of flannel.

But, before we dive into the draft, let’s talk briefly about free agency. For the most part, the time between the end of the regular season was as drawn out an uneventful as Eli’s post game interviews.

A huge hole for the G-Men if their offensive line, and they certainly left no stone unturned when they signed a center from the Calgary Stampeders named Brett Jones. I know what you’re thinking, “A guy from Calgary named Bret(t)? He must be the excellence of execution!”
Well, he comes to the Giants off the heels of a very successful season. His team won the Grey Cup, he was an all-star, and he won the league’s Most Outstanding Lineman Award. I know Jones won’t be the best there is, was, and ever will be. The competition in the CFL is nowhere near the caliber of the competition in the NFL. But the best in an inferior league probably equates to good in a superior league, right?

Hopefully our new lineman will give his sunglasses away to young kids in the front row when he's leaving the tunnel.

With losing two big defensive players in Antrel Rolle and Mathias Kiwanuka, the Giants tried to revamp their defense a bit through free agency. Big Blue gave it a shot, I guess, by signing linebackers Jonathan Casillas, and J.T. Thomas. They also signed defensive tackle Kenrick Ellis.

The biggest free agent acquisition for the Giants this off-season has to be Shane Vereen. The former Patriot really excels as a pass catching running back, which is perfect for Ben McAdoo’s system. Especially since Rashad Jennings can have trouble staying healthy, and Andre Williams takes to the passing game like Dracula takes to sunbathing.

So after this period of relative free agency sleepwalking, the Giants still have a lot of holes to fill. Luckily, the Giants have the unfortunate fortune of having the ninth pick in this year’s draft. Because when you lose enough games to obtain a top ten pick, chances are you aren’t exactly playing with the ’92 Dream Team.

Yeah, they were pretty good at basketball, but NOBODY could touch them in the hula-hoop event.

Now, I’m not a draft expert for ESPN. I don’t look like Count Von Count, or the douchey frat boy spawn of Craig Kilborn, so nobody will take my opinion seriously. I mean, the son of Kilborn had the Giants taking Todd Gurley with their first pick in a recent mock draft. That’s the kind of outside-the-box thinking that earns you the title “Draft Expert”, because if there’s one thing the Giants need, it’s four running backs.
In all honesty, I would’ve probably said the same thing last year about the Giants’ draft needs. I was blown away, and let’s face it, annoyed, when the Giants took Odell Beckham over Zack Martin last year. I didn't think that wide receiver was a big enough priority for the G-Men. Although Martin turned out to be a great lineman for the Cowboys, I don’t regret the Giants picking ODB for a second. Regardless, Gurley is an absurd prediction, and it will never happen.

From everything that I’ve watched last season and this off-season, the three position needs where Big Blue’s first pick would be put to great use are offensive line, defensive line, and linebacker. Let’s take a look at possible candidates for this pick.

"Is the pass rush gone yet?"

It seems that the most popular pick is Brandon Scherff, the offensive guard from Iowa. This pick makes a ton of sense. There were times last year when Eli didn’t even have time to make bad decisions in the pocket. Sometimes, all he could do was drop to the ground and play dead like Woody in Toy Story when Andy was running to his room. Other times, running backs trying to run through holes that offensive line was like trying to make your way through Hampton’s traffic 4th of July weekend.
In 2014, Scherff was the Big Ten Lineman of the Year, and a consensus first team All-American. He can play both guard and tackle, which is useful for how the Giants mix and match their offensive line.
Other potential players include Ereck Flowers, and Andrus Peat.

For the other side of the trench, USC Leonard Williams will most likely be off the board before nine. So it looks like the most common pick is Washington’s defensive tackle  Danny Shelton. All you have to look at to know the Giants need defensive line help desperately is the game against the Cowboys in late November. Most people will remember that game as the Odell catch game, but I sometimes think that's the game where Tony Romo had centuries to throw the game winning touchdown pass. Romo’s pass to Dez Bryant was a direct result of the defensive line giving Dallas five seconds to make that play happen. You cannot give Romo that kind of time in the pocket, and it’s impossible to cover Dez for five seconds.
Shelton has a lot of raw, natural talent. Now that usually equates to someone who is just a physical beast that just runs around aimlessly causing havoc, like a drunk Godzilla (see Pierre-Paul, Jason). But, he is an academic All-American. That means he is wicked smaht. The idea of Danny Shelton teaming up with Steve Spagnuolo, along with his nipple-high pants, is something to be really exited about.
Other potential players include Shane Ray. 
Update: Shane Ray will not be drafted by the Giants considering that he doesn’t know how to act like a grown up and stop smoking weed while getting ready to be a professional football player. Good job, dummy.

The line backing position hasn’t really had any consistent play makers since Antonio Pierce was at the helm. Jon Beason has been great for the Giants, unfortunately, the man just can’t stay healthy. The emergence of Devon Kennard last year gives Giants’ fans a glimmer of hope for the future of this position. In this years draft, there are two edge rushers that look like they can make an immediate impact. One is Dante Fowler, Jr. from Florida, and the other is Vic Beasley from Clemson. I think the Giants have very little chance to get Fowler. Let me clarify for emphasis, Jon Beason has a better chance of avoiding an MRI machine this year than the Giants do of getting Fowler. There is a better chance of Beasley getting scooped up by Big Blue.
Either one of these guys would be a great asset to the team. However, I don’t really see these guys falling to the nine spot.

Now that we talked about their draft priorities, let’s talk about the “best available” picks that are a possibility. The Giants have always liked the philosophy of drafting the best available player. It’s this philosophy that was responsible for draft ODB instead of Zack Martin last year.

In the mock drafts that I’ve seen, Alabama’s Amari Cooper seems to be the most popular wide receiver to be drafted by the Giants. He’s the top rated receiver coming out this year, but he’s not the only receiver that’s a possibility. West Virginia’s Kevin White seems to be drafted everywhere from the fourth pick to the twelfth pick, so he can fall right into the Giants' lap.
Both of these guys have something different to offer the Giants, but one thing they both offer is insurance if Cruz isn’t as healthy as he expects to be by September. And if Cruz is healthy, the combination of Cruz, Beckham, and Cooper/White could be very dangerous. Also the tutelage of Cruz and even Beckham will be very useful for any rookie receiver, but for the love of God, keep them away from Rueben Randle.

Another possible route they can go is that of the secondary. Michigan State corner back Trae Waynes will be a great nickel back behind the Fresh Prince and DRC. He’s crazy fast, loves contact, and his mental toughness is a tremendous fit for the Giants’ locker room.

In a few short days all of this prognostication and dart board guesswork will all come into fruition, and we will be reminded once again that “expert” is only a word used to gain viewers. I am very interested in seeing what the G-Men will do during the draft.

The mechanical Batsuit looks cool, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

As of right now, I view the Giants’ 2015 season as I do the Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice trailer. There are parts of it that I’m optimistic about, but there’s a good chance it could let everyone down. Will the draft make me so optimistic that I view the upcoming season as the Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens trailer? I don’t think so, but then again, I’m no “expert”.

So What Have I Learned?

The Giants really can’t go wrong with their first pick. If they stay away from McShay’s brilliant Todd Gurley pick, they should be in good shape.

They have many different ways to make their team better, and after the amazing draft Reese had last year, I have a lot of faith they can do it again this time around.

The draft will not be the same without the rowdy, perpetually disappointed Jets’ fans. I sure hope a bunch of them travel to the Windy City for Thursday night. 

Mike from Happauge was awfully confused when he went to Radio City and saw Rockettes instead of Roger Goodell.