Power Mock 1.0 – Assessing the Giants and finding answers

No, it isn’t Draft Season yet, but I wanted to take a different way of looking at the state of the New York Giants.

In fact, these “Power Mocks” are an old concept here around Big Blue View. I did them for the first time back in 2014 when Ed asked Invictus and I to come up with a take on the usual power rankings that would be uniquely “Us”.

This will be a monthly exercise, and the goal will be to use the “mock draft” format as a nexus to look at how the Giants are perceived around the NFL landscape, their current team needs, and the current evaluations of college prospects. These posts are intended to be a snapshot of where things stand around the Giants, the NFL as a whole, and the college football landscape.

In order to determine our “draft” order, I averaged the power rankings from ESPN, ESPN’s Football Power Index, NFL.com, The Athletic, The Ringer, Pro Football Focus, FTN, and NFELO.

I then flipped that composite ranking on its head, with the 32nd ranked team getting the first pick, while the 1st ranked team. In the cases where the average rankings are tied, I used the remaining strength of schedule as a tie-breaker.

Full draft order

1. New Orleans Saints – Garrett Nussmeier (QB, LSU)
2. Carolina Panthers – Cade Klubnik (QB, Clemson)
3. New York Giants – Spencer Fano (OT, Utah)
4. Tennessee Titans – T.J. Parker (EDGE, Clemson)
5. Cleveland Browns – Drew Allar (QB, Penn State)
6. Miami Dolphins – Francis Mauigoa (OT, Miami)
7. New England Patriots – Jordyn Tyson (WR, Arizona State)
8. New York Jets – Peter Woods (iDL, Clemson)
9. Chicago Bears – Caleb Downs (S, Ohio State)
10. Las Vegas Raiders – Kadyn Proctor (OT, Alabama)
11. Jacksonville Jaguars – Keldrick Faulk (DL/EDGE, Auburn)
12. Atlanta Falcons – Jermod McCoy (CB, Tennessee)
13. Indianapolis Colts – Rueben Bain (DL/EDGE, Miami)
14. Seattle Seahawks – Antonio Williams (WR, Clemson)
15. Dallas Cowboys – Jeremiyah Love (RB, Notre Dame)
16. Arizona Cardinals – Makai Lemon (WR, USC)
17. Houston Texans – L.T. Overton (DL, Alabama)
18. Pittsburgh Steelers – Carson Beck (QB, Miami)
19. San Francisco 49ers – Caleb Lomu (OT, Utah)
20. Minnesota Vikings – Avieon Terrell (CB, Clemson)
21. Cincinnati Bengals – Anthony Hill Jr. (LB, Texas)
22. Denver Broncos – Carnell Tate (WR, Ohio State)
23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – C.J. Allen (LB, Georgia)
24. Los Angeles Chargers – Connor Lew (OC, Auburn)
25. Los Angeles Rams – Fernando Mendoza (QB, Indiana)
26. Detroit Lions – Matayo Uiagalelei (EDGE, Oregon)
27. Washington Commanders – Dani Dennis-Sutton (DL/EDGE, Penn State)
28. Kansas City Chiefs – Isaiah World (OT, Oregon)
29. Green Bay Packers (Dallas Cowboys) – Malik Muhammad (CB, Texas)
30. Baltimore Ravens – Dillon Thieneman (S, Oregon)
31. Buffalo Bills – Kenyon Sadiq (TE, Oregon)
32. Philadelphia Eagles – Trevor Goosby (OT, Texas)

The Giants’ pick

Team needs: Offensive line, Cornerback, Wide receiver

Fano is a pretty easy decision in this situation. If I’m being honest, the biggest decision here was whether I wanted to take Fano or Miami right tackle Francis Mauigoa.

I ultimately opted for Fano for a couple reasons. The first is that he appears to be a bit better athlete than Mauigoa on tape. Athleticism definitely matters for tackles, and I’m waiting for the Combine to even come close to definitive opinions on the position. Fano is an explosive athlete who can uncoil and really disrupt defenders at the point of attack, which is something the offensive line is broadly lacking.

Athletic traits aside, I like Fano’s hand usage a bit better than Mauigoa’s at this point, though both need to continue to improve in that regard. Fano is a bit more assertive in firing his punch, and engaging (or sustaining) blocks has been an issue for the Giants, and he’s also better able to deal with stunts and twists.

There’s also a cold-blooded practicality to favoring Fano at this point: He has plenty of experience at both right and left tackle. He came into the season with 13 starts at right tackle and 11 starts at left tackle, and that versatility gives the Giants options going forward. As of this writing, we don’t know if Andrew Thomas will play against the Dallas Cowboys, nor do we know what kind of player he’ll be when he’s able to return to the field. It’s possible that the Giants could decide to move on and find themselves in need of a new left tackle. It’s also possible that Thomas could return to form and be a stalwart left tackle for years to come. If so, Fano’s experience at right tackle either allows the Giants to move Jermaine Eluemunor inside to guard, make him a utility backup, or move on from him altogether.

The possibility of moving Eluemunor to guard has to remain as long as the Giants don’t give either Evan Neal or Joshua Ezeudu the chance to show that they can play the position in a real game.

Finally, I’m not sure that there’s a cornerback or wide receiver in the draft that presents a good value in the Top 5. And even if there were, I think I’d still lean toward a lineman considering the investments the Giants have already made in the defense and the presence of Malik Nabers. Having an ultra-high ceiling 1b receiver (a la Tee Higgins or DeVonta Smith) is attractive, but the Giants really need a dependable possession receiver to keep the chains moving while the defense is double-covering Nabers. A player like Denzel Boston from Washington or Ja’Kobi Lane from USC could appeal in the second round.

Realistically speaking, I would absolutely try to work a trade in this situation. There are a pair of QB-needy teams behind the Giants, and they could look to move up, particularly if Arch Manning and LaNorris Sellers elect to stay in school until the 2027 draft. It’s possible that the Giants could move back to 5th or 6th, acquire additional draft capital, and still get Fano or Mauigoa.

0 CommentsSee More: