New York Giants Are Heading In The Right Direction.

2017 season was a great lesson.

  Last year was a major disappointment for the New York Football Giants. Nobody saw it coming. Many of us predicted them to make another appearance in the playoffs. Before the start of the season, I actually thought we were going to have Patriots vs Giants Super Bowl III. Then the Giants started the season 0-5. In the first three games of the season, they had a lead or were down by only a score with three to four minutes left in the game. They just couldn't finish any of those games. After that, Giants started to lose player after player due to injuries. All of their starting receivers were hurt, with Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall out for the whole year. Before Beckham got hurt, he was once again causing trouble on the sidelines and on the field. The Giants first-round selection from the 2016 draft, Eli Apple was making a whole lot of mistakes on defense. Surprisingly, Giants defense played like garbage for most of the season. Last year, the Giants' defense finished the year second in points allowed. This year they finished twenty-eighth! How does a defense go from number two scoring defense to number twenty-eighth when it had most of its key players on the roster from the prior season? Giants' disastrous season ended with the second-worst record in the league, as they finished 3-13. With that record, they were able to clinch the number two pick in the draft. Now, what should they do with the second overall pick and other picks in the upcoming draft?

Giants were super busy in the first two weeks of the offseason.

  The 2018 draft is a month away. We just passed the first ten days of the free agency. The New York Giants kept themselves super busy in those ten days. They made several moves which included two trades. Before the free agency officially started, Giants made a splash with a trade for Alec Ogletree. Dave Gettleman, the new GM of the Giants, traded a fourth-round pick and a sixth-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams in order to acquire Ogletree. This was a great trade by the Giants, as Ogletree will provide great leadership at the linebacker spot. After the big trade, Giants ended up cutting their punter Brad Wing, and one of their starting cornerbacks from the past four seasons, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. These two players were released so the Giants could create some cap space for the free agents they were and are still planning to sign. Right after releasing two players from last year's roster, the Giants brought in Jonathan Stewart to a one-year deal to have a veteran running back on their roster. Jonathan Stewart is not here to be the workhorse running back for the Giants but to provide intelligence and pick up crucial first downs every now and then during the game. Picking up Stewarts wasn't so newsworthy, but the player who the Giants picked right after him, made news everywhere in the NFL world. The New York Giants signed left tackle Nate Solder to a four-year deal of $62 million. Bringing him to the team helps the Giants significantly, as they have had one of their worst offensive lines in the NFL for the last couple seasons. Solder himself can fix the all the issues for the Giants' offensive line, but he's a major upgrade at the left tackle spot. However, $62 million for Nate Solder who's about to turn thirty years old, is a lot of money.

The signing of Nate Solder wasn't the Giants' last move before the draft. After signing Solder to a big deal, the Giants let go of couple players from their O-line, such as DJ Fluker and Weston Richburg. Both those guys have found new homes, as Fluker signed with the Seattle Seahawks and Weston Richburg signed with San Francisco 49ers. The Giants also let go of Devon Kennard from the defense, who played the linebacker position for the team since they drafted him in 2014. Losing him wasn't such a big deal for the Giants as they had already brought in Alec Ogletree to play at Kennard's position. However, on March 22, the Giants made a bold move as they traded away their former All-pro defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul and a fourth-round pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In return, Giants received a third-round pick and a higher selection in the fourth-round. It is a good trade for the Giants, but they could have done better. I just didn't understand why they needed to give a fourth-round pick along with JPP to Tampa. Instead of exchanging fourth-round picks, the Giants could have gotten a fifth-round pick with the third-round pick they received from the Buccaneers. Overall, it was a great move by Gettleman, as it clears up cap space. With the trade, the Giants got rid of a player who has gotten older, and who wasn't playing to his level of 2011-2012 when he was a monster. A lot of Giants' fans wanted the organization to cut or trade Piere-Paul, but nobody thought that it would actually happen.

  I have to admit, Dave Gettleman is doing a great job as a general manager for the Giants in his first three months in New York. Other than signing Solder to a massive deal, all of Gettleman's moves make sense. He has done well in free agency period and we should expect him to make all the right moves in the upcoming draft. With JPP traded, a lot of the experts expect the Giants with their second pick would select Bradley Chubb from NC State. Yes, drafting Chubb would quickly fill in the hole left at the defensive end position with JPP gone, but there is a lot of time until the draft. Chubb had a good career in college and has all the physical tools to excel in the Giants' defense, but Saquan Barkley or Sam Darnold could be sitting there for the Giants to pick. Also, the Giants indeed get Nate Solder to boost their offensive line, but they still need help at the interior guard position. Giants could do a lot in the 2018 draft.

Draft day is going to be very interesting for the New York Giants.

  If I was the general manager of the New York Giants, I would consider taking a quarterback first. In this league, the quarterback position is easily the most important. In order to build a dynasty, you need to have a superstar quarterback. In this draft, I see two quarterbacks who have potential to be superstars. They are Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold. However, only one of them is suited to be the quarterback for the Giants. Baker Mayfield has the talent and the fire a quarterback should possess, but he's more suited to be the Jets quarterback. He talks too much and could turn out to be a distraction for the team. Giants don't want to deal with any distractions right now as they are already dealing with Odell Beckham Jr. and his problems (will talk more about him). So the Giants should definitely pick Sam Darnold? If he is available, then they should pick him. I just don't see the Browns not picking him. He is worthy of being a number one pick. If the Browns decide to stay the Browns of the last twenty years, then yes I could see them passing on him and picking someone else at number one. If the Browns do pass on Darnold, it still wouldn't be an easy decision for the Giants to pick him. Last year, the Giants drafted Davis Webb in the third round. Giants spent a high pick in the draft on a quarterback who sat behind Eli Manning for a year. If the Giants do pick Darnold with the number two overall pick, it would mean that they don't trust Davis Webb or they just don't even want to give him a chance. Davis Webb sat behind Eli Manning for a year and he knows what is expected of the starting quarterback of the New York Giants. Webb deserves a shot. For the 2018 season, Giants should have Eli as their starter and Davis Webb as their number two quarterback.

   With the second overall pick, Giants should go for running back Saquan Barkley from Penn State or offensive guard Quenton Nelson from Notre Dame. Why should the Giants go for a running game with Saquan Barkley? Well, when was the last time Eli Manning had a good strong running game? 2011, when he had Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw as his running backs. Since then, the Giants have struggled to find a consistent running game and that has certainly made Eli's life difficult. Having a good run game will force the defenses to put six to seven men inside the box and that will open up the field for Eli to throw the ball. However, Saquan Barkley might not do so well with the Giants this year, as their offensive line isn't so good. Yes, the Giants signed Nate Solder, but he could open up lanes for the running back and protect Eli from the left side only. What about the right side and the center position? So what I would suggest the Giants to do is pick Quenton Nelson with the second overall pick and then with the 34th overall pick go for running back Derrius Guice from LSU, if he is available. Derrius Guice is obviously not Saquan Barkley, but he is certainly better than any running back the Giants have right now. Plus Guice with a good offensive line is a better option than Barkley with a bad offensive line. Finally, running backs who go in the second or third round, do at times outperform running backs in the first round. In 2017, Alvin Kamara and Kareem Hunt (who both went in the third round) had a better year than Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey (who both went in the first round) did.

  As of right now, the Giants have eight picks in this year's draft. If they want, they could turn those eight picks into ten or eleven picks with a blockbuster trade. Giants could have more picks in this year's draft if they trade away their superstar receiver Odell Beckham Jr. By now, everyone knows that an option is available for the Giants to trade Beckham.

Why trade Beckham and what does it get for the Giants?

  Now listen, Odell Beckham Jr. is a top three receiver in this league and easily the best player on the Giants roster. It is not easy to find an ultra-talent like Beckham, but he's becoming a severe headache for the Giants. It is one of those headaches which gets worse and worse as time goes. Odell Beckham Jr. is on his way to becoming Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson, or even worse. The New York Football Giants don't need Beckham to win a Super Bowl. When was the last time a diva-receiver led his team to Super Bowl? How many rings does T.O have? How many rings does Chad Johnson have? What about Antonio Brown, how many does he have? Giants recent Super Bowl wins did feature Victor Cruz and Plaxico Burress, but they weren't the reason why they won those Super Bowls. Cruz and Burress were never considered all-time great receivers. Giants relied on their extraordinary defense and a balanced offense to win those Super Bowls. Right now, the Giants need a good running game, a decent offensive line, and a nice defense to get to the Super Bowl and win it.

 

So where could the Giants trade Odell Beckham Jr. to? There are a lot of teams in the NFL who are desperate for a receiver like Beckham. I don't believe any team could offer a player or picks of equal value to match the talent of Odell Beckham Jr.'s. With whomever the Giants make a trade for Beckham, the Giants will end up losing the trade to them in terms of the value they will get in return for Beckham. However, there is one team that could offer Giants a good compensation for Beckham. The Cleveland Browns! Giants could get Browns' number four overall pick for Beckham and a late-round draft pick. The number four pick is a very high pick for the Browns to trade, but I could guarantee that the Browns will not be able to get any player in the draft with that pick who is going to be better than Odell Beckham Jr. The Browns have two of the top four picks in this year's draft, and they need to use one of their picks to draft a franchise quarterback. They need one of their picks to get a quarterback who is going to be on their roster for the long haul and will make them relevant again. Browns should select quarterback Sam Darnold with the number one overall pick and then use the number four overall pick to make his life easier by getting a great player with it. Sam Darnold will do wonders for the Browns with OBJ and Jarvis Landry as his top receivers and with a veteran running back like Carlos Hyde to hand the ball off to. The Browns in my opinion just can't refuse this offer of the Giants.

  If this trade does take place, then it is going to be a win-win trade for both the Browns and the Giants. Yes, the Giants will lose once in a generation receiver in Beckham, but then they will be the owners of the two of the top four picks. Giants then could use their second overall pick to draft whoever they want to and trade away the fourth overall pick for more picks. If this trade doesn't take place, then I recommend the Giants to stick with picking Quenton Nelson with the second overall pick and a running back later in the second round. However, if the trade does occur, the Giants should select Saquan Barkley with the second overall pick and then trade away the fourth overall pick. Trading down from the fourth pick could get the Giants two more additional picks in this year's draft and at least one more in next year's draft. Let's say the Giants trade their fourth overall pick to the Buffalo Bills who also need a franchise quarterback. The Giants could then get the Bills' 12th and 22nd pick in the first round, a pick in the third or fourth-round, and another pick in the third-round next year. That's just an awesome trade for the Giants. After picking Saquan Barkley with the second overall pick, the Giants could use the 12th overall pick to draft an offensive lineman, 22nd pick to draft a defensive end to replace Jason Pierre-Paul, and then select best available players in the remaining rounds.

  I'm not saying things will play out in the draft as I just planned for the Giants, but if Beckham does go to the Browns, Giants get their fourth overall pick and then trade that pick to the Bills for their two first-round picks and more, Giants will be sitting at a great spot. Just imagine a roster which would feature Eli Manning, Saquan Barkley, Evan Engram, Sterling Shepard, Nate Soldier and other young offensive linemen on offense, and on defense, Damon Harrison, Olivier Vernon, Alec Ogletree, Landon Collins, Janoris Jenkins, and a young pass rusher from the draft? Such a roster could compete against anybody in the league, and with it, the Giants could give the Super Bowl Champs Philadephia Eagles, a tough time in their two divisional games this year. The Giants might not be able to go to the playoffs this year with that roster, but by 2019 they will be one of the most dangerous teams in the league. Also, if the Giants decide to move on from Eli next year and are ready to hand the keys to Davis Webb, the New York Giants would finally become a team that would consistently win ten games each year.

  Let's see how the draft goes!