The New York Giants have landed a satisfying NFL Draft prediction.
The New York Giants own the fifth overall pick in the NFL Draft this offseason, which is certainly not where they wanted to be.
Just think: heading into Week 17, the Giants were No. 1 in the draft order. They then dropped four spots courtesy of back-to-back wins to end the season.
Not ideal.
New York went from holding all of the cards to now begging for someone to trade up to No. 5 so it could collect more draft capital, but as difficult as that may be for the Giants to see through, ESPN's Aaron Schatz actually thinks it will happen.
"The Giants will trade down in the first round of the draft," Schatz wrote. "They're already set at quarterback and edge rusher, where many mock drafts have Arvell Reese and Rueben Bain Jr. as the first non-quarterbacks off the board. They need more talent at other positions, which they could address further down."
This is incredibly refreshing considering all of the head-scratching mock drafts we have seen linking New York to players that don't make much sense for the team right now.
New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen. Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images.Schatz already mentioned Reese and Bain, which would be overkill to the extreme considering the Giants selected Abdul Carter with the No. 3 pick last year in spite of already having Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux. But safety Caleb Downs has been floated as a possibility, too.
As terrific of a player as Downs has been at Ohio State, it would be criminal for Big Blue to take a safety in the top five when it has so many other priorities it needs to handle.
Of course, the Giants don't stand to reap the same haul in a trade down as they would have had they possessed the No. 1 or No. 2 overall selection, especially considering the top two quarterbacks — Fernando Mendoza and Dante Moore — will likely be off the board by No. 5.
But Ty Simpson will be available, too, and maybe a team is desperate enough to move all the way up for the University of Alabama product?
Whatever the case may be, it would largely benefit New York to trade down and stockpile as many draft assets as possible. The Giants have glaring needs at defensive tackle, cornerback, wide receiver and offensive line, so the more picks they have to address them, the better.