Giants' Draft Needs: ESPN's Mel Kiper offers his take

We will take more in-depth look at pinning down the New York Giants' draft needs at some point before the 2014 NFL Draft begins on May 8. Since ESPN's Mel Kiper today updated his team-by-team draft needs let's briefly discuss Kiper's take.

Kiper lists four needs for the Giants. Let's go through each, with what Kiper says and my reaction.

Tight End

Kiper says: Adrien Robinson, who has zero career NFL catches, could be the Week 1 starter. Or it could be Kellen Davis, a physical talent who is a journeyman at this point. The Giants need a talent influx here. Will it be Eric Ebron?

Valentine's View: No argument here. This is one of those 'everybody knows that' kind of things. What we don't know is the type of player the Giants want here. Do they want a pure pass-catcher who will play mostly in the slot like Eric Ebron or Jace Amaro? Do they want a more well-rounded guy like Austin Seferian-Jenkins or Troy Niklas? Will they wait until later in the draft and nab a guy Arthur Lynch of Georgia or C.J. Fiedorowicz of Iowa? Will they skip the draft entirely and end up adding someone like Jermichael Finley or Dustin Keller as a free agent later on?

Wide Receiver

Kiper says: Hakeem Nicks is now in Indianapolis, and between this and tight end, there's a pretty big concern (if you're me) about the level of pass-catching talent on this roster beyond Victor Cruz. Even if Rueben Randle takes a big step forward I think the Giants need to add a pass-catcher at some point, potentially early.

Valentine's View: Again, no argument. The question will be how the board falls and how quickly the Giants choose to address this spot. GM Jerry Reese has always seemed to favor drafting receivers, so if the right guy is available he won't wait long. I doubt the Giants get through Day 2 of the draft without grabbing at least one wide receiver or tight end.

Guard

Kiper says: James Brewer wasn't too effective last season, but he could be penciled in at left guard if the season started tomorrow.

Valentine's View: I'm not sure what rock Kiper has been sleeping under when it comes to free agency, but the Giants do have Geoff Schwartz penciled in at left guard. If this was a generic 'offensive line' category I would go along with it, as you guys obviously know from my choices in the Big Blue View Community Mock Draft. I don't think you can narrowly say the Giants need help at guard. I think you can obviously say any help they add for the offensive line is a good idea.

Defensive Line

Kiper says: Once the strength of the Giants, the defensive line, both inside and at defensive end, is now a pretty big question mark after Jason Pierre-Paul, who was inconsistent in his own right last season before getting injured.

Valentine's View: The Giants have talent on the defensive line, but the question is whether or not they have enough of it. Should they choose to supplement what they have on the first couple of days of the draft it wouldn't be a huge surprise. I believe, however, that this draft sets up as one that has to be offense-heavy.