Five impact players who interest the Giants
INDIANAPOLIS — By the time the draft rolls around in April, free agency will have either solved or created more of the glaring gaps that currently appear on the Giants’ roster. General manager Jerry Reese said this week at the Combine that there is not any one position, or even one side of the ball, that can be focused on.
“We need help all over the roster and we’ll work hard to do that,” he said.
With the 2016 salary cap set at $155.27 million and the Giants carrying over an extra $11 million of space, there is about $58 million to spend in the coming months. So while it is impossible to foresee exactly what the needs of the team will be when they are on the clock for the 10th overall selection, chances are they will still need immediate impact players. Particularly on defense.
Here, then, are five players who may be available to them in the first round and may have piqued the interest of the Giants this week in Indianapolis:
DeForest Buckner
DT, Oregon
The big man in the middle would cure a lot of the Giants’ defensive ills on the line of scrimmage, and remember that’s where new head coach Ben McAdoo said he thinks teams need to focus to improve. Buckner measures in at 6-7, 291 pounds, but the dimension everyone took note of was his Combine record-tying 11.75-inch hands. Yes, you read that right — his hand is very nearly a foot. Buckner would solidify the run defense up the middle, teamed with Johnathan Hankins returning from a torn pectoral, but also give a strong push in the passing pocket after posting 10.5 sacks as a senior. The Giants could even move him outside to end in their 4-3 scheme if they wanted to; instead of their old NASCAR speed package, Buckner on the edge could give them more of a Monster Truck group. What’s more, Buckner said he wants to be “a bully” on the field. The Giants loved the nastiness of last year’s first-round pick, Ereck Flowers. If they want to infuse some of that fire on the defensive line, Buckner could be the kindling. The main issue might be just hoping that he is still around when the Giants pick.
Myles Jack
LB, UCLA
Linebacker? The Giants haven’t drafted one of those in the first round since Carl Banks in 1984 and have a long tradition of making due with what they can scrounge together at the position. But Jack could buck that philosophy, even though he wasn’t on the field for most of the 2015 season. He missed all but three games with a torn meniscus and withdrew from school to focus instead on his rehab and his pro career. He’s not expected to participate in any of the physical drills at the Combine on Sunday, but he went through the interviews and the measurements (6-1, 245) and, of course, the medical gantlet. He appears to be on track for the upcoming season. “I feel like I’m 100 percent,” he said. “I’m actually just waiting on the doctor’s clearance. I can be cleared on March 11, and then my Pro Day is on March 15 and I’ll be full-go.” As for the Giants and linebackers, well, he might wind up being something else. Jack was a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award as the nation’s most versatile player in 2013 and won the Pac-12 Offensive and Defensive Freshman of the Year awards that season. “I’ve heard safety, Mike, Sam, Will, inside backer,” he said. “Some teams joked about running back. I don’t think they were serious about that, but, I’ve heard it all pretty much in the back seven.” So if the Giants have an issue with drafting linebackers, they can just call Jack something else. They just have to call his name when they make their selection.
Noah Spence
DE, Eastern Kentucky
When co-owner John Mara spoke at the end of the season about changes to improve the Giants’ draft practices, he didn’t just mention examining whether the team’s standards needed to be tightened. He also floated the idea that perhaps they were too rigid. That perhaps players slip past them because of red flags that other teams accept as risk and see pay off. So when it comes to Spence, one of the best pass-rushers in the draft, the Giants may consider overlooking some of the most damning baggage they’ve ever brought on in the first round. Spence was kicked out of Ohio State for two failed drug tests and was treated for an addiction to Ecstasy. He also transferred to Eastern Kentucky and dominated on that level with 11.5 sacks. He met with the Giants the Combine and told reporters that the interview was “good,” but it’s not his impression of the conversation that matters. And remember, McAdoo said this week that the interview process at the Combine is almost worthless when it comes to off-the-field matters. “For 15 minutes, most guys can act the right way and say the right things,” McAdoo said. Spence insists his issues are behind him. “I don’t do much partying nowadays,” he said this week. “I’ve grown from the situation and I’ve become a better person.” The Giants have a definite need for Spence the football player. Whether they are willing to accept all of Spence is something they may be asking themselves from now until April.
Ezekiel Elliott
RB, Ohio State
The Giants used a committee of four running backs last season, mostly because no one was able to step forward and do all of the jobs required until the end of the season when Rashad Jennings started to get the bulk of the reps. If the Giants select Elliott, that committee likely will be disbanded. The Ohio State star appears to be a complete package at running back, flashing comparable speed to what drew the Giants to the last running back they selected in the first round (David Wilson), the physicality of the last running back they drafted overall (Andre Williams), and the pass-catching of the last running back they signed as a free agent (Shane Vereen). Elliott called himself “a three-down back” this week and stressed that he is not just a speedster, even citing that he started his football career as a fullback. He was seven years old at the time, but still, the point was that he isn’t shy about contact. The Giants are still reeling from Wilson’s shortened career, which never had a chance to develop due to his neck injury as well as his slow progress to become a complete back. Elliott comes fully formed. He’d get to run behind a rising offensive line that includes three first- or second-round picks over the past three years, and he’d be part of an offense that already has a focal point on Odell Beckham Jr. Imagine a system with Beckham making one-handed grabs down the field and Elliott leaping over would-be tacklers out of the backfield the way he did in college? Maybe the Giants are imagining it too.
Laquon Treadwell
WR, Mississippi
The last time the Giants drafted a wide receiver in the first round it was a player who came from Eli Manning’s old high school, and it worked out pretty well. Maybe drafting a first-rounder from Manning’s old college will produce the same kind of success that the Beckham pick yielded? This could be a luxury pick based on what happens in free agency and the rebuilding of the defense, but putting a threat opposite Beckham would help not just him but Manning and the rest of the offense. As of now, they have no one to count on to fill that role — Rueben Randle likely will sign elsewhere, Victor Cruz may return after missing a season and a half with leg injuries, and Dwayne Harris had a good first year in New York but shouldn’t be projected as a starter. If the Giants can spackle the other holes in their roster before the draft, Treadwell could be sitting there waiting for them. Treadwell lined up on the outside and in the slot in college and isn’t afraid to catch the underneath passes in traffic. He’s also a very good blocker, something that makes him an even more well-rounded prospect, and would give the Giants a legitimate red-zone threat. Measuring in at 6-2 and 221 pounds, scouts compare him to Dez Bryant. The Giants certainly know how good he is.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
