Dave Gettleman’s recent draft trends suggest numerous possible moves

What Dave Gettleman has done over the last few drafts may suggest a few potential moves for this year’s event.

Dave Gettleman and the entire Giants front office have numerous decisions to make in regard to the 2021 NFL Draft. As of right now, the organization possesses six selections — the choices they make with these resources will be very important considering how crucial the 2021 season is set to be.

Many are going back and forth on, well, it seems everything.

Some believe the Giants could draft a receiver in the first round while others think they should address the edge rusher position.

Some think they seriously need to focus on the right tackle spot; others believe they should only draft an offensive lineman for depth purposes.

It’s difficult — nearly impossible, actually — to predict exactly what will happen across all seven rounds, but apparent trends in Gettleman’s recent draft history suggest a number of potential moves.

A wide receiver is off the board Thursday night

With the No. 11 overall pick, Dave Gettleman is likely to draft a receiver.

Why is that?

Because the man has focused on the offensive side of the ball with the Giants’ top pick in each of the last three drafts. Taking this trend into consideration along with the team’s need for offensive talent, selecting a wide receiver at No. 11 is incredibly realistic.

Of course, the Giants may need to decide between a few individuals — Alabama’s Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith might be available by that time of the evening, and according to a report from NBC Sports’ Peter King, head coach Joe Judge loves the latter.

The Giants could also trade back to the back half of the first round and still cash in on Florida’s Kadarius Toney, Ole Miss’ Elijah Moore, or Minnesota’s Rashod Bateman.

Heavy on defense

Out of the six current picks the Giants possess (assuming they don’t trade up or back), expect three or four of them to be utilized on the defensive side of the ball.

Throughout the trio of drafts Gettleman has been the Giants general manager for, 65% of all the picks have been used on defense. In fact, during last year’s virtual event, seven out of the team’s ten picks were used on defensive players (four linebackers, three defensive backs).

The Giants need an inside linebacker, edge rusher, and defensive back for depth purposes — expect them to focus on all three spots, regardless of when they decide to do so.

Send in the “hog mollies”

Haven’t used this term in quite some time, but if you can remember, Dave Gettleman refers to his offensive linemen as “hog mollies,” and he’ll surely be adding one or two during the draft.

The offensive line has accounted for 56% of Gettleman’s offensive draft picks over the last three years and nearly 20% of all selections. In 2020, the three offensive players the Giants drafted were all linemen — tackle Andrew Thomas (first round), tackle Matthew Peart (third round), and guard Shane Lemieux (fifth round).

Unless the organization isn’t really high on Peart and thus feels the need to acquire a tackle early on that could make an impact sooner than later, expect Gettleman to acquire offensive line help for depth purposes rather than for assets in the starting lineup.