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Fixing the New York Giants, Part IV: The draft

In the final installation of his four part series, Invictus comes back to his favorite part of the off-season, the NFL draft.

Doing a mock draft in opening days of January is pretty much guaranteed to be wrong. It is, however, a few things. It allows for completion of this mock off-season simulation and it's fun.

I'm not going to make any guesses about who is value at this point and who is a reach. Preliminary big boards are just about getting ready to be made by scouts everywhere. This is simply based upon a few things:

1) The players that I think would be good fits for the New York Giants.

2) A rough, rough, rough estimate as far as which round they might fall to.

3) Are slightly based on need coming off of our mock free agency in Part III

So with that being said, let's get down to it:

Round 1

Myles Jack, ILB, UCLA

A no-brainer type of a pick if he's there. Jack will be coming off a season-ending injury but he is expected to make a full recovery. It's pretty clear that there is a gaping void at inside linebacker for the Giants.

Jack is a better prospect than either Eric Kendricks or Anthony Barr before him, he's rangier, more athletic, and is the best pass-coverage linebacker in the country. At 6-foot-1, 245 pounds, he might be slightly undersized but it won't be enough to stop him as his aggressive, intelligent playstyle is perfect for Steve Spagnuolo's attacking style defense.

The only players ahead of Jack for me at this point in time are Joey Bosa, Laremy Tunsil, Jalen Ramsey, Vernon Hargreaves, Jaylon Smith, Ronnie Stanley, and Robert Nkemdiche. Other players in consideration here included Laquon Treadwell, Emmanuel Ogbah, DeForest Buckner, and Reggie Ragland.

Round 2

Kendall Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech

The younger brother of Kyle Fuller, he might be even better. Fuller is coming off injury and has been recovering, which is why his draft stock has fallen slightly. Great size with fluid hips and intelligence, he's got great upside. We know that the Giants always get slaughtered on the back end, with both Prince Amukamara and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie having injury histories.

It can't hurt to add extra talent even with the addition of Janoris Jenkins. At 6-foot, 190 pounds, Fuller is also a candidate to play safety as well. The Giants will need all the talent that they can get on the back end. Others to consider at this juncture include Shilique Calhoun if he lasts, Noah Spence, and Vadal Alexander.

Round 3

De'Runnya Wilson, WR, Mississippi State

Ultimately, I don't know if Wilson goes earlier than this but I think he'd be a great pick if he lasts till the third round when the Giants pick. He's a huge target at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds and he's got sneaky good speed. He will definitely be able to compete for one of the outside spots and can jump in when Odell Beckham moves into the slot.

Eli Manning will need a couple of big targets and with the addition of Dwayne Allen, adding De'Runnya Wilson would be another great fit for the team.

Round 4

Charles Tapper, DE/DT, Oklahoma

Tapper didn't put up very many stats but he's a very solid player for Oklahoma. He has been consistently disruptive for them and has active, violent hands. He stands at 6-4, 283 pounds. The Giants can likely ask him to put on a bit more weight and have him as a developmental defensive end and tackle to back up Malik Jackson.

Tapper would also give them some attitude on defense. He plays angry and shows great hustle. He'll be overshadowed by Eric Striker on that Oklahoma defense, but he's the better prospect.

Round 5

Terrance Smith, OLB, Florida State

Smith was on my watch list on the preseason as one of the better WILL linebacker prospects, however his play was rather unimpressive but still flashed some of the speed and aggressiveness that made him a good prospect. He was getting better up until a high ankle sprain took him out in late October and stopped all momentum.

If he didn't get injured, he'd be in the conversation as a possible day 2 pick. Not so any longer and that will help the Giants who could use as many linebacker prospects as they can get. He's small, but he's fast and hits the hole hard. Let him develop behind J.T. Thomas and Jonathan Casillas at WILL and make one of them a cap casualty when 2016 is over.

Round 6

Storm Woods, RB, Oklahoma State

Woods is a late-round running back prospect that brings something that the Giants don't have to the running back corps. He's got speed. He's also got some shake 'n bake to him as well. That'll give him a chance against Andre Williams, who possesses none of these things.

He's also pretty proficient as a pass catcher and will absolutely help on special teams.

Final Summary

Let's go position-by-position and look at the new look New York Giants:

QB: Nothing changing here. We're sticking with Eli Manning and Ryan Nassib for the upcoming year.

RB: Rashad Jennings will reprise his role as the lead back, with Shane Vereen as the third down back. Who knows what to make of Orleans Darkwa and Andre Williams. Storm Woods brings a different element to the playing field here.

WR: A completely revamped Wide Receiving Corps here, led, of course, by the incomparable Odell Beckham Jr. The new No. 2 is now Mohamed Sanu. Gone is in the ineffective Rueben Randle and the sad story of Victor Cruz. De'Runnya Wilson, Dwyane Harris, Marcus 'Soup' Harris, and Geremy Davis will make up the rest of this wide receiving corps. Certainly more respectable than the mish-mosh the team had this past year.

TE: Free agency brought us a top of the line tight end in Dwayne Allen. Behind him is pass catching TE Will Tye, with Jerome Cunningham and Larry Donnell battling it out to make the roster as well.

OT: Ereck Flowers and Will Beatty are back. Hopefully both can stay healthy. If they can't, we added offensive tackle LaAdrian Waddle to man the edge. Bobby Hart and Geoff Schwartz both also have experience at OT if needed.

OG: Justin Pugh is a pro-bowl level player at LG. Geoff Schwartz is oft injured but plays at a high level when he's healthy. Those two are the anticipated guards. We've also got John Jerry on another one-year deal possibly, Bobby Hart as the main backup, and LaAdrian Waddle as well.

OC: It's not out of the question to call Weston Richburg the best center in football. Behind him is Dallas Reynolds. Let's hope he doesn't see the field.

DE: Gone is Robert Ayers, but a hopefully new and improved Jason Pierre-Paul is back. In addition to him is big free agent signing Vinny Curry, as is Owamagbe Odighizuwa and Kerry Wynn. Charles Tapper can kick outside at DE as well.

DT: Johnathan Hankins is back to make a big contract push in 2016. Alongside him is new 3 technique Malik Jackson. Behind both of them is Jay Bromley and new draft pick Charles Tapper. It's up to the coaching staff if they feel Markus Kuhn is worthy of making the team or not.

ILB: Prized first rounder Myles Jack will step right in as the leader of this defense. Behind him are Uani Unga and Mark Herzlich. It will be interesting to see if both make the team behind him.

OLB: Still a bit of a weak point for the Giants, we've got Devon Kennard coming back at SAM. We have to hope he can stay healthy. J.T. Thomas and Johnathan Casillas are back as well at WILL. Mark Herzlich can spend some time at SAM. New draft pick Terrance Smith can absolutely compete with these guys.

CB: We've completely reloaded the cornerback group. Prince Amukamara and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie return as the starters. We'll have Janoris Jenkins start in the slot and he's another starting caliber player. Add in 2nd round pick Kendall Fuller and the Giants have a lot of talent at corner. We've also got Trevin Wade coming back as good depth.

FS: Tashaun Gipson is the big free acquisition for this team. He's the starter. You can have Nat Berhe, Bennett Jackson, Kendall Fuller, and Mykkele Thompson fight over who the backups can be.

SS: Landon Collins has really come into his own as an aggressive box safety. Behind him is Cooper Taylor. I don't anticipate keeping Craig Dahl or Brandon Meriweather. Terrance Smith can also function as an SS.

K: I don't see anything wrong with Josh Brown

P: Brad Wing is pretty good.

LS: I don't anticipate Zak DeOssie being back at his old salary as he's gotten injured. Mark Herzlich can learn to LS, or the job can go to a cheap free agent.

That's it! I think we added a lot of talent and probably more importantly given our injury luck, a lot more depth to quite a few positions. I think with the amount of money we've gotten to spend, we can really weather a lot of storms coming through in the 2016 season.

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This post first appeared on Big Blue View, A New York Giants Community, please read the originial post: here

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