The New York Giants were involved in probably the biggest transaction in the 2021 NFL Draft, striking a trade with the Chicago Bears that saw the Bears choose their quarterback of the future in Justin Fields. With the Giants picking up an extra first-round selection next year (along with other compensation), they ended up moving down from 11th to 20th overall, extracting great value out of their trade down.
Coming out of the draft with only six prospects, the Giants are heavily relying on their current roster construction to produce better than what their 6-10 record was last season. Having only been one game out of winning the division in a dreadful year for the NFC East, the Giants were picking highly in each round to add solid talent to their roster in each round.
General manager Dave Gettleman and the team’s front office may have produced a draft that, on paper, people like Daniel Jeremiah really like, but there were a few obvious shortcomings that came out of the class as well.
See how the Giants did not have a perfect draft class and what two areas stand out the most as mistakes.
Giants not adding offensive line help
Last year’s first-round selection went towards addressing their offensive line, as Georgia tackle Andrew Thomas was brought in to shore up Daniel Jones’ blind side. Having struggled through his rookie campaign, Thomas has not fully looked the part so far in the league, which made addressing the OL a likely outcome.
Instead, Gettleman decided to stay away from drafting OL help, passing on the likes of Christian Darrisaw (first round), Sam Cosmi and Dillon Radunz (second), and both Wyatt Davis and Kendrick Green (third) to address WR, edge, and CB with their first three selections.
Even with having added both Thomas and Matthew Peart last year early in the draft, the OL is an important factor in their offense that needs to be improved. With Saquon Barkley returning from a torn ACL and Jones having a new toy in Kenny Golladay, improving the OL should have been a high prerogative to address in the draft.
Drafting Kadarius Toney
Was wide receiver a pressing need for the Giants? Absolutely not.
But with how the board fell (reports about their interest in Alabama’s DeVonta Smith surfaced after the draft), their trade back provided fewer options that they felt deserved first-round grades, and Toney fit the bill for them. But the speedy wideout who projects into a gadget-guy, slot role in the NFL will likely be the recipient of constant ridicule if he does not produce early and often for NYG.
Toney’s career with the Florida Gators was predicated on the offense utilizing him as a top target source, constantly feeding him passes close to the line of scrimmage and letting him use his athleticism to make a play. Being able to showcase his skills in that regard certainly helped boost his draft stock, but with this year’s class being the year of shorter slot options, Toney’s body of work did not stand out as much as the likes of Rondale Moore, Elijah Moore, and others who were receiving late first-round grades.
Adding Toney to a crowded WR room that already includes Golladay, Sterling Shepard, and Darius Slayton is not a great utilization of the team’s resources, especially since Toney, Shepard, and Slayton will likely all be fighting for slot targets.
If Toney pans out, then certainly using the 20th pick on him will go down as a smart move for Gettleman and will make him look like he actually knew what he was doing. But on the surface and until that actually happens, their unwillingness to actually address holes on their roster will weigh more heavily on the minds of those invested in this team.
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