INDIANAPOLIS — Just their luck.
There are two offensive tackle prospects rising to the top of NFL draft boards, and the Giants, who were quite bad in 2021, were not quite bad enough to be in position to likely secure either of them.
Imagine being as devoid of talent and depth as the Giants are along their offensive line, owning the No. 5 (and No. 7) overall pick and sensing that the top two guys are beyond their reach. Almost every year, quarterbacks taken early push other players down, but that is not expected to be the case in this draft. And so, as shoddy as the Giants are at a position group that has bedeviled them for a decade, they are likely to see Ickey Ekwonu of North Carolina State and Evan Neal of Alabama — tackles who would be Day 1 starters for them — gone in the first four selections.
“I don’t think you can look at an offensive line and say you have to draft one in the first round,’’ new general manager Joe Schoen said. “I think you can find offensive linemen throughout the draft.”
The Giants need this to be true. They have nine picks in this draft and they will use some of them to take offensive linemen. It will be an upset if they do not use one of their two picks in the first round to bolster this position. But they cannot force it. If the highest offensive linemen on their board does not warrant a top-7 pick, the Giants should either trade down or look elsewhere. It is not as if they are set on the roster at many other positions.
Giants general manager Joe Schoen speaks to the media at the NFL scouting combine. Michael ConroyWhen Schoen was the assistant general manager in Buffalo under Brandon Beane, the Bills offensive line rebuild included only two draft picks: Dion Dawkins (second round, 2017) and Wyatt Teller (fifth round, 2018). They acquired Mitch Morse (a former Chiefs second-round pick) via trade and they signed Ryan Bates and Ike Boettger as undrafted free agents. The result was not one of the NFL’s top-five offensive lines, but the unit did coalesce enough to help Buffalo become a dynamic offensive team.
The current state of affairs with the Giants is grim. Schoen pointed out there are only five healthy offensive linemen on the roster. He might be stretching it. Andrew Thomas, Nate Solder, Ben Bredeson and Wes Martin are under contract. The fifth player Schoen might be referring to is guard Shane Lemieux, who played in only one game last season before a knee injury landed him on injured reserve. Tackle Matt Peart (ACL reconstruction) and center Nick Gates (multiple leg surgeries) are not expected to be ready for the start of the 2022 season.
Signing a veteran in free agency is ideal to plug at least one of the holes, but the Giants are going to be shopping the bargain bin given their salary cap restrictions. The draft is more cost-effective. Expect Neal and Ekwonu to be gone, so what next?
It is unlikely the Giants would stay put and use one of their first-round picks on an interior offensive lineman, although they need a center and Tyler Linderbaum from Iowa is rated as the best of the bunch, he is undersized at less than 300 pounds. He said he had a formal interview with the Giants here at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Zion Johnson, a guard from Boston College who played some center last month at the Senior Bowl, met with Giants scouts in Mobile, Ala., and Wednesday spoke with Bobby Johnson, the Giants’ new offensive line coach.
Ickey Ekwonu likely won’t be available when it comes time for the Giants to make the No. 5 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Getty Images“I was really good talking to him,’’ Johnson said. “He taught me one of the runs that they do and I felt it went well.’’
The Giants have a gaping hole at one tackle spot and the next-best after the effervescent Ekwonu and uber-polished Neal is probably Charles Cross, a young man of few words.
A lanky athlete, the 6-foot-5, 310-pound Cross was a two-year starter at Mississippi State and played all but four of his college snaps at left tackle. Lining up in Mike Leach’s shotgun-based air raid system, Cross was asked to pass block 54 times a game. Can he excel as a tackle capable of putting his hand on the ground and power run blocking?
Mississippi State’s Charles Cross may be the Giants’ best chance at upgrading their offensive line through the draft. AP Photo“Watch film,’’ Cross said. “I say ‘Watch film.’ I definitely feel I can come in and help any organization. I definitely feel I can play tackle on either side. I feel I can play all five positions, honestly.’’
Cross was scheduled for a Thursday night meeting with the Giants. It will be difficult for them to pass on Cross at No. 7, if they go with an edge rusher at No. 5. Quarterback Daniel Jones cannot block for himself.
