Stud College Players Don’t Always Work Out: Grafting Giants
@NYGiantsRush
The draft process is fun and the debates can rage on for weeks. No one actually knows anything; yet it always seems quite transparent what a team needs by actually watching the prior season and not looking at your fantasy football stats.
Outside a small group of fanatical and delusional John Jerry fans, the Giants staunch fan base have always known who needed to be cut and who needed to be resigned. Priority has always been: O-Line, Running Back, Pass Rusher and Quarterback.
Great running backs have been depleted at the NFL level because college football has moved away from purely running the ball to a spread offenses. Now, no one is saying that there isn’t great backs coming out of college football. However things to look for: Carries per game and yards after contact. Are they tough, can they grind, or are they just show.
Some great backs only catch the ball out of the back field and that’s ok if that fits your offensive scheme and you already have an every down back on the roster. Others backs are home run hitters and can not be relied on to grind out 100 yards on 25 carries. Some backs are a teams entire offensive and have been hit too many times. These players have a short lifespan in the NFL.
Go beyond the combine numbers. Did the back have a good O-line, did he make something out of nothing, was he nursing an injury, did he have a new coach?
Devin Singletary is talented. He crushed 1900+ yards and 32 Touchdowns for Florida Atlantic. Insane right? But who did they play: Buffalo, OD, Marshall, Western Kentucky. Sometimes you need to dig.
Offensive Line competition:
O line is interesting because so many college All American Offensive Tackles never face great Defensive Ends, and never have to work on true technique because they get by on strength and aggression. The New York Giants Offensive Line is vastly improved at two spots. Is it enough, probably not. Would Quinten Nelson, the kid from New Jersey be the perfect pick…yes! The Giants would need to trade out and grab another pick to make the Nelson make sense.
Trading with the Broncos, Colts or Bucs buys the Giants an additional pick in the 1st or 2nd round. This is the only situation that can make sense when drafting Nelson