How will Joe Judge and Dave Gettleman attack their first NFL draft together? Here’s a seven-round mock for the New York Giants.
After a 4-12 season, the New York Giants were given the fourth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
It will be the third-straight year the Giants pick in the top six of the draft and first time, they will be picking fourth since 2004.
In total, the Giants are projected to have a first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth-round pick while also holding three seventh rounders.
Here’s at who the Giants might take with each of those eight selections.
Round 1 (4): Jedrick Wills, OT Alabama
In order to win games at any level of Football, teams must win in the trenches. The Giants can improve their trench play significantly with the selection of Alabama offensive tackle Jedrick Wills.
Wills is a powerful blocker who has above average quickness for an offensive lineman.
He can slide straight into one of the Giants’ offensive tackle positions and help bring stability to a place of weakness on the New York roster.
Alabama OL Jedrick Wills ??#BamavsMiss pic.twitter.com/xloHrsNxA0
— InsideBamaRecruiting (@RTRnews) September 17, 2018
Round 2 (36): Zack Baun, EDGE Wisconsin
If the offensive line is the Giants biggest need, finding a pass rusher is a close second. Luckily, Wisconsin edge rusher Zack Baun will likely be on the board when the Giants make their second-round selection.
Baun had a monster senior season at Wisconsin in 2019 as he recorded a career-high 12.5 sacks made 19.5 tackles for loss and returned an interception for a touchdown.
At 6-foot-3, Baun has great size coming off the edge that can help the Giants chase down opposing quarterbacks at a much higher rate.
Wisconsin's Zack Baun best projects as an off-ball linebacker at the next level, but he can still win quickly outside as a pass-rusher — a very special, versatile player that does a lot of things well. pic.twitter.com/lHLQ47OQoW
— Austin Gayle (@PFF_AustinGayle) January 16, 2020
Round 4 (100): Michael Ojemudia, CB Iowa
The Giants cornerbacks room is already young as the team drafted Deandre Baker and Corey Ballentine last season. Despite this, the team still has a need for more depth as the unit struggled mighty as a whole last season.
Iowa corner Michael Ojemudia would be a perfect fit for the Giants. At 6-foot-1, he’d bring size to a cornerback group that is on the shorter side in New York.
As a senior in 2019, Ojemudia grabbed three interceptions and defended nine passes to earn second-team All-Big Ten honors. In addition to picking off passes, he also proved to be an outstanding run-stopping corner and displayed a high football IQ throughout his college career.
Two things DB coaches are going to love about Iowa senior cornerback Michael Ojemudia (6'1, 200 lbs) :
1) One of the best run defending CBs in the draft
2) Excellent zone eyes pic.twitter.com/OtBepjinjW— Jonah Tuls (@JonahTulsNFL) January 2, 2020
Round 5 (132): Michael Pittman Jr., WR USC
While not their biggest need, the Giants could benefit from adding another wide receiver for Daniel Jones to target.
Last year, the team struck gold in the fifth round with the selection of Darius Slayton and they could do so again in 2020 by taking Micheal Pittman Jr.
Pittman Jr. is a 6-foot-4 wideout who had a monster senior season in 2019 as he caught 101 passes for 1,275 yards and 12 touchdowns.
With all of the Giants go to receivers 6-foot-1 or shorter, Pittman would provide Jones with a go-to option in the red zone and on 50-50 balls.
Michael Pittman Jr. has hands for days.@USC_Athletics – 7, CU – 0
? FOX pic.twitter.com/7WVv0mEPOJ
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) November 11, 2017
Round 6 (163): Jacob Phillips, ILB LSU
The Giants have struggled to find a reliable inside linebacker for quite some time; thus, building depth at the position is important. LSU’s Jacob Phillips is the perfect depth piece who also has the potential to develop into a reliable starter.
As a junior in 2019, Phillips helped the Tigers win a national championship with a season that saw him record 113 total tackles with 7.5 coming for a loss.
With a winning pedigree and impressive tackle number, he may just be a steal for Big Blue late in the draft.
PICK. SIX. JACOB. PHILLIPS.@LSUfootball has taken over!!! pic.twitter.com/p3l7O3zSbo
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) September 3, 2018
Round 7 (195): Shyheim Carter, S Alabama
While the Giants may have their starting safety duo of the future in Jabrill Peppers and Julian Love, there’s always a need for depth and help on special teams. Alabama’s Sheyheim Carter can help with that.
Carter’s best college season came in 2018 as a junior when he made 43 total tackles, intercepted two passes and defended 10. He followed that up with another 43 total tackle season in 2019 with an interception and seven passes defended.
At Alabama, Carter won a national championship and played in three title games, which would add more winning pedigree to a Giants team that hasn’t won much of anything the last eight seasons.
SHYHEIM CARTER PICKS OFF PATTERSON!#CrimsonTide #RollTide #BAMAvsMICH #CitrusBowl pic.twitter.com/TT1aYsJ423
— Cold Blooded Sports (@ColdBloodedChat) January 1, 2020
Round 7 (215): AJ Dillon, RB Boston College
If the Giants learned anything from their 4-12 2019 campaign, it’s that they need to find a reliable backup for Saquon Barkley.
While they don’t need to spend an early-round pick or big bucks in free agency, a late-round selection of AJ Dillon from Boston College could do the job.
Dillion had an outstanding college career as he ran for at least 1,100 yards and 10 touchdowns in each of his three seasons at Boston College. In 2019, Dillon ran for a career-high 1,685 yards and 14 touchdowns while adding 195 receiving yards and a touchdown.
While he’s not the splashiest back, he can be the feature back to Barkley, who can come in and pick up tough yards.
Here's the AJ Dillon spin move in all its glory ? pic.twitter.com/at6DKviwsm
— Barstool BC (@BarstoolBC) August 31, 2019
Round 7 (219): Gage Cervenka, IOL Clemson
With their final selection of the 2020 Draft, New York can continue to beef up their offensive line with Clemson’s Gage Cervenka.
Cervenka was named Second-team All-ACC in 2019 after he started all 15 games at the center position and helped lead the Tigers to the national championship game.
He is best known for his strength as he set Clemson’s program record for bench press reps by an offensive lineman at 225 pounds with 44.
Couple things here:
1) Gage Cervenka killed a guy
2) Travis don’t give a damn about your defenders angles. Speed kills. pic.twitter.com/DvpYrKdaKE— Tiger Commenter (@TigerCommenter) December 30, 2018