The New York Giants covered a lot of ground with their 2019 NFL Draft class. They got their quarterback of the future, shored up some needy defensive areas and brought in a few players that will help them on special teams.
Currently, the Giants can send out a fairly competitive team, as they did for the most part last year. They just couldn’t play complete games. The offense sputtered early in the season while the defense kept games close. The worm turned in the second half as the offense came together while the defense fell apart.
There are still a few needs that have gone unfilled as we approach the mini-camps:
Offensive line depth/right tackle
This was one of the biggest needs that was ignored until Round 7 when general manager Dave Gettleman grabbed Kentucky tackle George Asafo-Adjei. They currently have Chad Wheeler penciled in as the starter at right tackle and he was one of the lowest-rated right tackles in the league last year.
They need a better option there. Maybe GAA will be that, or veteran free agent Mike Remmers, whenever he can pass a physical and finally join the team. Asafo-Adjei projects to more of a guard than a tackle, though. After the draft, the Giants signed Missouri’s Paul Adams (6-foot-6, 317 pounds) who went undrafted, so he will be given an opportunity to win a roster spot.
There is also very little quality depth along the line. Many ‘experts’ were calling for the Giants to draft a center, but they must’ve forgotten that they tendered Jon Halapio and re-signed Spencer Pulley so they were not going there. They inked Buffalo’s James O’Hagen in the UDFA market after the draft. The Giants still have Evan Brown and Nick Gates on the roster from last year’s UDFA haul, who should have improved coming into their second seasons.
Pass rush
The answer to this was staring Gettleman in the face when the Giants were on the clock at No. 6 in the form of Kentucky’s Josh Allen. No sense in going there again. They could have used their other first-round pick on a pass rusher such as Mississippi State’s Montez Sweat, but went with Clemson’s massive defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence instead.
Gettleman did use his third-rounder on Old Dominion’s Oshane Ximines, but then never took another edge rusher the rest of the draft. He believes Lawrence will create a push on the interior and that the Giants may have enough on the outside now with Ximines, Markus Golden, Lorenzo Carter, B.J. Hill and Olsen Pierre. But as we know, you can never have enough pass rushers.
The Giants did add a defensive end in the UDFA market in Jeremiah Harris (6-foot-5, 251 pounds) who had a very productive career at Eastern Michigan. Many feel more should have been done in this area as it is central to defensive coordinator James Bettcher’s scheme.
Running back depth
Saquon Barkley and Wayne Gallman are nice 1-2 punch but nowadays, teams need to have more than two backs. Paul Perkins will be back for one more shot a job and so will Robert Martin, the 2018 UDFA out of Rutgers.
There were plenty of running backs in this draft Gettleman could have snatched up but chose not to. Instead, the Giants inked another Rutgers back, Jonathan Hillman, who is very much in the mold of what they already have on their roster.
What was needed here was a change-up back who can catch the football out of the backfield. It’s not really a need because Barkley might be the best receiving running back in the league, and Gallman and Perkins (when healthy) are versatile, as well. Just could use another body here, especially a veteran who can bring experience to the room.
