The New York Giants still do not have a general manager or head coach (as of this writing), but mock draft season waits for no one.
In our second mock of the year, which was conducted using the current draft order (post-wild card games), we employed the mock draft simulator from The Draft Network.
The settings were default: TDN’s predictive board, seven rounds and fast speed. We chose only for the Giants during a single run (no practice runs). There were no trades used in this simulation.
Here are the results:
Round 1: Evan Neal, OT, Alabama
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Evan Neal is widely considered the best offensive tackle prospect available, so naturally he’s the right fit for the Giants. Unfortunately, his stock appears to be rising and there’s now reason to believe he’ll be off the board come pick No. 5 overall. In this simulation however, he was available and had his name called.
Round 1: Tyler Linderbaum, OL, Iowa
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Like Neal, Tyler Linderbaum is considered the best at his position (iOL) in the draft. He’ll have many teams questioning positional value and may end up being extremely sought-after. The Giants may have to snag Linderbaum earlier than No. 7 overall, but we lucked out in this simulation.
Round 2: Drake Jackson, EDGE, USC
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We’ve drafted Drake Jackson in our first mock draft back in December and he falls to us in the exact same spot this time around. Here’s what we wrote previously:
Although the top edge rushers were gone earlier in Round 1, Drake Jackson somehow managed to slip through the cracks and falls to the Giants in Round 2. This scenario is unlikely to play out but if it were, the Giants essentially hit a homerun. Two of the best offensive lineman and a Day 1 starter on the edge over their first three picks.
Round 3: Malik Willis, QB, Liberty
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The Giants are likely to ride with Daniel Jones in 2022, but that doesn’t mean they can’t start looking at other quarterbacks. And with Malik Willis falling all the way to Round 3, why not take a chance on him? I’d argue that he’s not worthy of a first-round pick — especially a top 10 pick — but at this stage of the game, what does it hurt?
Round 3: Jalen Wydermyer, TE, Texas A&M
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Whether or not the Giants re-sign tight end Evan Engram, they’re going to need to address the position. Luckily for them — at least in this scenario — Jalen Wydermyer somehow slides all the way to Round 3 and lands at the Giants’ feet. Most mock drafts have him going at the bottom of Round 1 or the top of Round 2, but somehow Big Blue lucked out here. The 6-foot-5, 256-pound Wydermyer would be an absolute steal in this spot.
Round 4: Breece Hall, RB, Iowa State
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This is another familiar name to readers of Giants Wire. We selected Breece Hall in this same position in our previous mock draft and we maintain that he won’t be available at this point come April. Here’s what we wrote about him previously:
It’s highly unlikely Breece Hall is going to be available this late in the game. Hall has skyrocketed in most mock drafts and on most big boards. But there was no sense in passing him over based on principle. Accordingly, the Giants add a talented and ascending back to their rotation of Saquon Barkley and Devontae Booker.
Round 5: Thayer Munford, OT, Ohio State
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The Giants need as many offensive linemen as they can get this offseason. And while the 6-foot-6, 310-pound Thayer Munford is listed as an offensive tackle, he can also be moved inside to guard. In fact, most view him as a permanent guard at the NFL level. He was a First Team All-Big Ten selection in 2021 and would come in and compete for a starting job on Day 1. Not bad for a fifth-round pick (who likely will not slide this far).
Round 5: Jack Sanborn, LB, Wisconsin
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The 6-foot-2, 236-pound Jack Sanborn is an interesting prospect. Some mock drafts have him going as high as Round 3 and others have him falling into Round 7. His lack of speed and explosiveness certainly hurt him, but Sanborn is a high IQ player coming from a strong school. He may be a liability in coverage, but he’s above-average in most other aspects.
Round 6: Micah McFadden, LB, Indiana
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Back-to-back linebackers to close things out? Don’t mind if we do.
The 6-foot-2, 245-pound Micah McFadden is another interesting prospect who has been mocked as high as Round 5. Some mocks also have him going undrafted but in this simulation, we don’t risk him reaching the open market. With no seventh-round pick, we snag McFadden in Round 6. The Indiana captain and All-American was arguably the best player on the Hoosiers in 2021 and will certainly draw some Day 3 interest.
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