Louis Riddick: No chance Giants draft an offensive player with 10th pick

Want to know what the New York Giants will do with the 10th overall pick int eh 2016 NFL Draft? Well, you will have to wait until April 28 to find out. Want a hint? ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, a former NFL front office executive and highly-respected league insider, said Wednesday during a conference call that "I just don't see there being any way that they go any other way than a defensive player there."

"Quite honestly I don't think that there's any chance that the Giants take an offensive player. I just don't see it happening based on what has allowed them to have success in the past, what they have been deficient of in the recent past. That being pressure on the quarterback, high level of linebacker play. I think that's where their emphasis is going to be. That's where their emphasis was in free agency and that's what their emphasis is going to be here in this draft, particularly with that first pick," Riddick said. "They're going to be looking to try and get themselves in position to take someone they can pair with JPP and help JPP and Olivier Vernon so they can have a rotation of players, get some speed, health, youth, play-making ability at the linebacker position, continue to get play-makers in the secondary because they were historically bad a year ago and that's just not Giant football and that's coming from the very top.

"This is an ownership group that has been steady for a long period of time, that has been associated with great defensive play. I just don't see there being any way that they go any other way than a defensive player there."

Riddick specifically pointed to two players the Giants could target at No. 10, Georgia linebacker Leonard Floyd and -- should he fall far enough -- Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa.

"I think they're looking to get an impact big man, particularly on the defensive side of the football. They need linebacker help, as well. They could stand to get another offensive tackle, just the best offensive tackle that they could get," Riddick said. "I think it'll be a big man's draft for them, and they need to hit on it because they haven't done very well as far as drafting big men in the recent past."

Riddick also said that he recognizes the pressure Giants General Manager Jerry Reese is under after a string of losing seasons, and he is certain Reese does, as well.

"I think w/o a doubt Mr. Mara made it quite clear that Jerry is on the clock, so to speak. It's his job to fix what has gone wrong with that place. He needs to really ramp it up and really get some hits, put some check marks in the "hit" column instead of check marks in the "bust" column. He needs to really step it up this year," Riddick said. "I think w/o a doubt Jerry knows that, he knows he needed to really upgrade the talent on the football team, otherwise they wouldn't have made the investment in unrestricted free agents like they did.

"I think he will go back to his roots as far as what has made the Giants successful back in his days as a scout and as a scouting director and as a personnel director. I think they will be looking to try and land a pass rusher, to try and land a perimeter player to try to pair up with a guy like Olivier Vernon and continue to build out that side of the football."