Where the New York Giants Scouts are November 3rd, and College Football Open Thread

It's my second favorite day of the week-College Football Saturday. Today there are some major games, highlighted of course by the LSU Tigers hosting the Alabama Crimson Tide. There are other college football games going on and some of which the Giants scouts will attend do prepare for the 2013 NFL Draft. Here, provided by @chrissteuber is where we know the Giants are today.

This week Stebuer only mentions one game which has Giants scouts, apparently.

Illinois at Ohio State

There are a few good prospects for each team that might intrigue the New York Giants and General Manager Jerry Reese. Let's start with Illinois

The Fighting Illni have two players on the defensive line who were projected to go within the first two days of the draft prior to the season.

The first is defensive end Michal Buchanan. Buchanan is a player who is very long, which the Giants like at 6'6 but on the smaller side. He could play as a pass rushing specialist as a right defensive end, but to be a full time 43 defensive end would have to add weight. Buchanan also is not producing at the same level he was last year, but could be a nice player for the right team.

Defensive tackle Akeem Spence is a bad man, but he too has struggled to produce this year. He is very natrually strong and has good quickness too. He's shorter for a defensive tackle at 6-1, but stout at 305 pounds. He's a good athlete bu he might not declare after having a disappointing year.

Jonathan Brown is the Illinois defensive player who is having the best season. The disruptive linebacker stands at 6'1 235 pounds but is making a lot of splash plays. He has 3.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss this year and could be a consideration for the Giants.

Illinois has a couple of other prospects to watch like center Graham Pocic and cornerback Terry Hawthorne. Hawthorne is intriguing because he has good size and pretty good ball skills.

Ohio State Buckeyes

I'm not going to go through every Ohio State Buckeye's prospect, but this link will. My opinions are not entirely the same, but it'll give you at, least something to look for and the names to pay attention too.

I'm going to highlight my three favorite Buckeyes prospects.

The first two play defensive line (this is a theme you might have noticed in these previews-I do think the Giants have a good shot at going defensive line early in the draft in 2013).

The first is Jonathan Hankins. Hankins is very, very talented and if the Giants are picking in the late twenties or early thirties he might not be a realistic option. He's a big man (6'4 320-at least) and can move well for his size. He isn't putting up eye-popping numbers this year, but that will matter little. Dontari Poe put up much worse numbers on a defense devoid of other play makers and still went top 15. If Hankins is around when the Giants are picking, he's probably wearing big blue next year.

The other defensive linemen worthy of noting here is defensive end John Simon. He's a name to know, but I don't think he has anywhere near the length for the Giants to play defensive end, and I don't think they consider him at linebacker either, but I wouldn't rule it out. They could try to make him a conversion 43 SAM linebacker, despite how little I like that idea, they have gone down that route before.

Lastly, the prospect to note who is a good option for the Giants is talented tight end Jake Stoneburner. Not only does he have an interesting last name, he has a quality game. He has soft hands, he can block pretty well, though he could stand to get stronger, and he can really move for a tight end. I hope the Giants and Martellus Bennet continue to be a quality match and the Giants don't need to draft a TE, but Stonebuner would be nice if he comes at the right price.

Follow me on twitter @NFLmocks and feel free to use this thread to discuss the college football action, I'll be around sporadically throughout the day so feel free to toss out some draft questions if you want and I'll try to get back to you (or perhaps one of other residential draft guys).