NFL mock draft 2019: The first BBV mock of the new year gives the Giants ...

Happy New Year, New York Giants fans!

We made it though 2018 and now are, fully and officially, in the 2019 draft season. So that means with a new year and a new draft season, it’s time for a new mock draft.

After finishing 5-11, the Giants currently hold the sixth overall pick. With the deadline for underclassmen to declare still a full two weeks away, the landscape of the draft could change dramatically between now and then. This draft is for the Giant’s first three picks in April. But since their third round selection has already been made, I’m only mocking the first six picks of the second round.

Without further ado, let’s get to the draft!

Round one

1. Arizona Cardinals - TRADE! - Oakland Raiders - Dwayne Haskins (QB, Ohio State)
2. San Francisco 49ers - Nick Bosa (DE, Ohio State)
3. New York Jets - TRADE! - Jacksonville Jaguars - Daniel Jones (QB, Duke)
4. Oakland Raiders - Arizona Cardinals (via trade) - Quinnen Williams (DT, Alabama)
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Josh Allen (EDGE, Kentucky)
6. New York Giants - Ed Oliver (DT, Houston)
7. Jacksonville Jaguars - Jets (via trade) - Jonah Williams (OT, Alabama)
8. Detroit Lions - Greedy Williams (CB, LSU)
9. Buffalo Bills - Greg Little (OT, Ole Miss)
10. Denver Broncos - Byron Murphy (CB, Washington)
11. Cincinnati Bengals - Clelin Ferrell (EDGE, Clemson)
12. Green Bay Packers - Deionte Thompson (S, Alabama)
13. Miami Dolphins - Brian Burns (EDGE, Florida State)
14. Atlanta Falcons - Jeffery Simmons (IDL, Mississippi State)
15. Washington Redskins - Drew Lock (QB, Missouri)
16. Carolina Panthers - Tyler Biadasz (C, Wisconsin)
17. Cleveland Browns - D.K. Metcalf (WR, Ole Miss)
18. Minnesota Vikings - Mack Wilson (LB, Alabama)
19. Tennessee Titans - Noah Fant (TE/H-Back, Iowa)
20. Pittsburgh Steelers - Jachai Polite (EDGE, Florida)
21. Philadelphia Eagles - Yodny Cajuste (OT, West Virginia)
22. Indianapolis Colts - Rashan Gary (DL, Michigan)
23. Seattle Seahawks - Gerald Willis III (DL, Miami)
24. Baltimore Ravens - Kelvin Harmon (WR, NC State)
25. Arizona Cardinals - (via trade with Oakland) - Cody Ford (OT, Oklahoma)
26. Houston Texans - David Edwards (OT, Wisconsin)
27. Arizona Cardinals - (via trade with Oakland) - J.J. Arcega-Whiteside (WR, Stanford)
28. Los Angeles Chargers - Jerry Tillery (DT, Notre Dame)
29. New England Patriots - Devin White (LB, LSU)
30. Los Angeles Rams - Montez Sweat (EDGE, Mississippi State)
31. Kansas City Chiefs - Amani Oruwariye (CB, Penn State)
32. Green Bay Packers (via trade with New Orleans Saints) - Chris Lindstrom (IOL, Boston College)

Round 2

33. Arizona Cardinals - DeAndre Baker (CB, Georgia)

34. Indianapolis Colts (via trade) - N’Keal Harry (WR, Arizona State)

35. Oakland Raiders - Zach Allen (DL, Boston College)

36. San Francisco 49ers - Hakeem Butler (WR, Iowa State)

37. New York Giants - Taylor Rapp (S, Washington)

Pick explanations

Ed Oliver (DT, Houston) - Oliver addresses a couple needs along the defensive front. First, the Giants need a pass rush from somewhere in their front seven. We don’t know whether Olivier Vernon will be back — and if he is, I hope it is at both a lower cap number and a playing weight — nor do we know whether Lorenzo Carter will fully realize his potential. We need to treat his development as gravy and not a given. Oliver is a bit of a developmental prospect, but his athleticism and explosiveness are legitimately elite. He has some refinement to do with his hand usage and technique, but his motor is absolutely non-stop and once he figures out how to use his hands he will be able to finish a much higher percentage of his rushes and his production will absolutely explode. His natural comparison is Aaron Donald, and while he isn’t the player that Donald was coming out (he was much more refined, though Oliver might be the better athlete overall), that’s who he could eventually be.

If Oliver is on the board at sixth overall he should be the highest graded player on the board, which is all that matters to me (er... Gettleman).

Taylor Rapp (S, Washington) - The irony of Raptor picking Rapp is not lost on me.

However, more important is the overwhelming need to find a legitimate free safety for James Bettcher’s defense. More than most fanbases, Giants fans should know the benefits of good free safety play, and the costs of poor play. After all, they have seen their defense with Kenny Phillips and Will Hill ripping pages out of offensive playbooks, as well as with C.C. Brown or Curtis Riley. The University of Washington has made a decent case for itself to be in the conversation to be named “DB U” in recent years, and Rapp is another excellent prospect. He is a smart, aggressive safety who is both a big hitter and a sure tackler, as well as a capable coverage player, both as a middle of the field safety and as a slot corner. All told, he is an excellent fit for Bettcher’s defense and a great complement to Landon Collins.

Sam Beal (CB, Western Michigan) - The Giants already selected Beal over the summer in the supplemental draft, but he is, technically their third round pick. Beal has the length the Giants covet in their corners as well as excellent feet and hips for man coverage. He needs to get bigger and stronger to keep from being bullied by receivers at the line of scrimmage, and his shoulder surgery could complicate that. However his ability to flip his hips and stay in a receiver’s hip pocket is excellent. Had he stayed in school, he could have been a high second or even a first round selection, so the Giants might be getting excellent value — even if he is (effectively) only on a three-year contract.

A word on context

First and foremost, I tried to do this draft by pretending to be Dave Gettleman. So, in my fictional context, I signed Daryl Williams to play right tackle and extended Jamon Brown to try and shore up the offensive line.

Now, on to the issue of trades: As Gettleman, I am NOT trading down. I’m not even going to entertain the possibility until he actually does so in real life.

Personally, I (Chris) would use my late-round picks to try and bolster my roster before the draft with some trades, in particular see if I could pry Deone Buccanon and Haason Reddick out of Arizona. They were drafted for James Bettcher’s defense and now would be multiple coordinators removed from there. They should be low-cost trades, have played well in this scheme, and would help solve some problems.

Originally I was going to do this mock straight up, with no trades. However, I think we would all be absolutely stunned if there were no trades in the top five of the draft. There are teams that need a quarterback, while the teams at the top are in desperate need of talent. The rosters of the Cardinals and Jets are in shambles, and the Jets, in particular, need picks after trading up for Sam Darnold last year.

I don’t know WHO will do the trading — I decided on the Raiders and the Jaguars because Oakland just got a new GM (*pours one out for the Combine coverage*), Carr’s relationship with Gruden was rocky last season, and he hasn’t played up to his billing after coming back from injury. Also, Oakland’s draft capital made the trade easy to execute for the purposes of this mock. Their three first-round picks amount to only a slight over-pay for the first overall pick. Unfortunately, the Giants don’t have the draft capital to move up unless they are willing to mortgage their future drafts or trade core players. Day 3 picks simply aren’t going to get it done.

Jacksonville was the other pick because the Jaguars need to get out from under Blake Bortles. They can’t afford a free agent and they’re in the position of needing everything to be perfect to carry Bortles to wins. The Jets would get Jacksonville’s second and third round picks, but those aren’t mocked here.