Giants Draft Grades Through Round 3

The first 3 rounds of the NFL Draft have come and gone. The top 10 went more or less as expected with all the quarterbacks going where they were expected to go. Chase Young and Jeff Okudah also went as expected. The past two weeks, I have profiled 3 potential players the Giants would target at number 4. They chose none of the players I profiled when they selected Andrew Thomas out of Georgia. Today, I am going to profile each of the Giants first three picks and assign a grade the I believe Dave Gettleman and the Giants deserve.

Round 1: Andrew Thomas, OT, Georgia

Andrew Thomas was a 3 year starter at Georgia and was an unanimous All-American selection this past season. He will come in to training camp as a day 1 starter. He can play either tackle side. With Nate Solder already on the left side, it will be interesting to see where Thomas lines up on week 1. He has very quick lateral movement and as NFL.com says, “powerful meat hooks for hands.” He is very quick to hit his lateral landmarks for the run game and can recover very quickly when pass protection breaks down.

Despite all of these strengths, he does possess some weaknesses as well. He does not possess the stereotypical frame for an elite tackle and can be heavy legged when he reaches the second level. Some categorize him as a mauler rather than a mover.

Overall, Thomas was not the tackle I expected the Giants to take at 4 but it is hard to argue with an unanimous All-American.

Grade: A

Round 2: Xavier McKinney, S, Alabama

The Giants hit an absolute home run with this pick. Xavier McKinney started all 13 games at Alabama this past season. He earned third-team All-American honors and was a first-team All-SEC player. He lead the Tide with 95 tackles (5.5 for loss, and 3 sacks). McKinney was among the nations leaders with 4 forced fumbles. In addition, he had 3 interceptions, broke up 5 others, and blocked a kick. McKinney has an extremely high football IQ and has the versatility to line up anywhere on the field. He has excellent ball tracking ability, and has the speed to play cover 1 well.

Furthermore, Mckinney has some weaknesses as well. He allows more room on coverage than he should. He can lose positioning on tackling in the open field when he gets impatient. Mckinney can sometimes get beat on the deep ball when matched up with bigger targets.

Overall, McKinney was an amazing pick for the Giants at 36. He and Jabrill Peppers can be an elite combo in the secondary for many years to come.

Grade: A

Round 3: Matt Peart, OT, UCONN

Peart is the second tackle the Giants have taken in this draft. Gettleman is following through on the need to upgrade the offensive line. Unlike Thomas, Peart will not slide into the starting lineup on week 1. He is a developmental prospect that has tremendous upside. There is always a chance he becomes an anchor on the o-line, but that will be in a few years if that happens. He still has room to grow into his frame with his long arms and athletic build. He started all 4 years at UCONN. Peart possesses elite quickness out of his stance and has very nimble feet.

Peart’s play strength is not up to par with what his frame suggests it should be. He needs to learn how to throw a punch with more urgency. He is unable to fully push defenders off his frame so he should greatly benefit from professional strength coaching.

Overall, Peart is a high upside prospect but will not make an impact in his first couple years in the NFL.

Grade: B+

Final Thoughts

The Giants had an amazing first 3 rounds. They got maybe the best OT in the draft with Thomas and nabbed a day 1 starter with McKinney. Peart is a high upside prospect that could pay off in a few years. Those are the type of prospects you need to target as the draft goes on. The only thing that would have made it better is if they didn’t trade for Leonard Williams months ago and kept pick 68. They could have targeted Josh Jones and have ended the night with 2 starters on the o-line. However, with what the Giants had, they may have won the draft.

3 round Grade: A/A-

-Pete Chatterton (@Pchat12)

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