The mock drafts are thankfully almost over but the latest by Football Morning in America’s Peter King might be closer than most of the experts’ mocks that have been flooding fans the past few months.
King knows the New York Giants better than most writers having covered them on the beat during the Parcells era and being around the club for nearly four decades. In his final mock draft, King mocks two very interesting players to the Giants at picks No. 5 and 7 in the first round.
At No. 5, King believes the Giants will select Mississippi State offensive tackle Charles Cross.
Lots of spy versus spy here. By that I mean, at first blush, it’s logical to think GM Joe Schoen would want the best available right tackle here, with Andrew Thomas set on the left side. And because Cross was consistently on the left side in college, and Evan Neal started a season each at left tackle and right tackle, Neal’s a better fit here. And it may be Neal. Who wouldn’t want a 40-game starter at a great program in the SEC? But what many don’t know is the Giants put Cross through some work to judge whether he’d be a good right-tackle candidate and came away happy that he would be.
Cross, one GM told me, is the best pass-protector of the three top tackles, a power-forward type (6-7 ½, 335) who will be competitive on day one against good edge rushers. If the Giants are comfortable enough with his ability to play the right side, this is a solid pick.
Agree. The Giants, even though they have a new general manager and head coach, are still under the purview of the Maras and their cronies. Rumblings have them smitten with Cross the way they were with Daniel Jones.
The Giants want to nail down the offensive line asap in this draft and Cross might be their best option to do that. Plus, there is a good chance if they pass on Cross here that Carolina will snatch him up at No. 6.
They will wait for any and all trade offers come draft night but if Cross is available when the Giants are on the clock Thursday night, you can bet Cross’ name will be jotted down on the card very quickly.
At No. 7, King sees the Giants taking Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton.
Just a warning: Don’t be shocked if the Giants go Thibodeaux here. Lots of stuff out in the ether right now about the Giants being down on Thibodeaux, but I can tell you they’re interested and have done a ton of work on him since his Pro Day. Also, the Giants would love to deal this pick and recoup a 2023 first-round pick and go down, say, 10 to 12 spots so they still could get a strong prospect plus be in prime position in the ’23 first round.
So the call here is Hamilton, despite the fact the Giants have a good young third-year safety in Xavier McKinney. New defensive coordinator Wink Martindale loves versatile safeties, which is precisely what Hamilton is. He’s huge (6-4, 220) and instinctive, and can blitz, play sideline to sideline and play down in the box as an extra linebacker. This pick would make the Giants’ secondary tough to gameplan against because of the versatility of McKinney and Hamilton.
Hamilton is seen by many as the ‘unicorn’ in this draft. NFL.com rates him higher than any other player in this year’s class. In a perfect world, Hamilton is long gone by the time this pick comes around but King is predicting teams will make a mistake here and let him fall.
There will be a lot of chatter in the Giants’ draft room should this happen. Let’s not forget that Tim McDonnell, the Giants’ director of player personnel and grandson of Wellington Mara, worked in the personnel department in South Bend earlier in his career. You can bet they’ve done their homework on Hamilton, who would come right in and play a significant role in Wink Martindale’s new defense.
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