Big Blue View mailbag: Draft day special edition

Draft day! Shouldn’t this, or at least Friday, be a national holiday? Well, regardless, the work never stops at Big Blue View. And, the mail never stops coming. So, let’s open up a special edition of the Big Blue View Mailbag.

Dave Pakenham asks: With the talk about looking to possibly trade Toney, what are your thoughts on a Toney/K’Neal Harry trade? Judge always seemed to go out of his way to praise Toney and we can use the help out WR if we can get Harry to realize his potential.

Ed says: Dave, I get what you are trying to do here. You are trying to trade one team’s problem for another team’s problem — the basic change of scenery trade. Thing is, I would rather see the Giants try to work with Toney than trade him for a flop like N’Keal Harry. He has 57 receptions in three seasons, including two 12-catch years.

Toney, for all of his maturity issues, is a far more talented player than Harry. There is no way the Giants “win” this trade. Unless the goal is simply getting Toney off the roster.

Marcus Mewborn asks: If the Giants are able to trade Kadarius Toney (if the reports are true), do you think WR becomes more of a priority in the draft? Or is there sufficient depth on the roster that they don’t have address the position this year in the draft?

Ed says: Marcus, in my view wide receiver is a position that should be addressed regardless of the situation with Toney.

Let’s start with Darius Slayton. There are reports that the cap-strapped Giants are trying to trade him. If they can’t, maybe they bring him to training camp. In the end, though, I don’t think he makes the roster. I think the Giants take the $2.54 million in cap savings and move on.

I believe it is entirely possible that both Kenny Golladay and Sterling Shepard are in their final seasons with the Giants. So, even if Toney and becomes a player worthy of going forward with, the wide receiver position could easily be headed for a makeover.

This is a deep wide receiver class. If value and need meet and the Giants are able to find a receiver they like on Day 2 or early on Day 3, I would think supplementing that position would be a good idea.

ctscan123 asks: The slide of Kyle Hamilton’s draft stock based on his 40 time has been on my mind lately and brings to mind a longer standing question that’s been rattling around my head. Hamilton’s slide has been based on what pundits have referred to as alternately “atrocious”, “catastrophic” and so on and so forth. He clocked a 4.59. Not good. Atrocious. Catastrophic. But what does that really mean? It means that if he raced a receiver with 4.4 speed that he would lose the race by less than 2/10 of a second on a 40-yard straight line passing route. What kind of separation is that actually on a 40-yard route? What kind of separation is that on a 20-yard route? How many routes are even straight line foot races? For a safety? Why aren’t Darius Slayton and John Ross wide open downfield every play? I know that you are not put off by that time, but if what I’ve said above is true, why is anybody? Generally speaking, how functional are these tiny differences in speed?

Ed says: CT, I think those tiny differences rarely come into play. Straight line speed doesn’t make — or break — a player. How well did the receiver run his route? How quickly did the DB mirror or break on the ball? Did he have the right leverage? Was he in the right position? How well did he play his technique? Those things all matter more than the pure speed. John Ross ran a 4.22 40 — what kind of career has he had? Xavier McKinney ran a 4.63 — but he’s a fantastic football player.

Anyone who has been reading for a while knows that I love Kyle Hamilton’s potential. Watch him play. The play speed is phenomenal. It’s about angles, instincts, aggression. Watch the tape and you constantly see him making plays in areas he shouldn’t be able to get to. I rarely see the guy take a poor angle or miss a tackle he should make. Those are the things I care about. I don’t give a hoot about his 40 time. Teams are looking for guys who meet thresholds, and while Hamilton’s foot speed is lower end for a safety (42nd percentile) it meets the threshold.

I’m going to leave you with this. McKinney’s 40 time put him in the 27th percentile. Have you ever watched and thought — ‘he’s just not fast enough to make that play’? I haven’t.

Rob Ranalli asks: We cannot predict the future; Kyle Hamilton can be a nice player regardless of where he is drafted. He may not be a future “Gold Jacket Guy,” he may just be a quality player. He also could be the next coming of Troy Polamalu. No know can ever know until we look back after he retires and see what he did. BUT, if he can have the kind of impact guys like rookie contract Jamal Adams, Derwin James, and Minkah Fitzpatrick have had on their teams, even though the “savings” isn’t too great, don’t you think it’s worth a whiff on a player that actually matches production with potential?

Ed says: Jamal Adams! There it is. I’ve been struggling to find the right physical comparison for Hamilton, and I think Adams is pretty close.

Adams is 6-foot, 214 and ran a 4.56 40. Hamilton is 6-4, 220 and ran 4.59. As good as Adams is, I think Hamilton is more versatile and has better coverage skills. I think adding a player with that kind of ability to the Giants’ defense would be a good thing.

Rick Debes asks: Aside from repairing the offensive line in light of recent developments of perhaps trading Toney isn’t it as import for the Giants to draft a top receiver before addressing the defense? It concerns me that our knack for injuries as well the lack of our current group to create separation is as important as the offensive line in terms of the development and success of the Giants and Daniel Jones your thought?

Ed says: Rick, you can’t enter the draft saying “I have to get Position A before I get Position B.” That’s how you reach and end up drafting lesser players — because you had it in your head that you “needed” that position.

The Giants, as we all know, need an offensive tackle. There happen to be three of them in this draft that most analysts believe are worth of being selected in the top seven. If Trevor Penning or Daniel Faalele were the best tackles in this class, do you honestly believe the Giants would take one of them over Sauce Gardner or a top-tier edge rusher? I don’t.

For the Giants, it looks like value will meet need when it comes to the tackle spot in the draft.

If you read my answer above to Marcus’s question, I think you understand that I see wide receiver as a need for the Giants. If they honestly think Drake London, Garrett Wilson or Jameson Williams is a better and more useful player than Sauce Gardner, Derek Stingley, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Kyle Hamilton or Jermaine Johnson then so be it.

I do believe the Giants need to add at wide receiver, but to do so in Round 1 feels to me like a luxury pick. I think they can get a quality receiver on Day 2 or early on Day 3. I think if the Giants keep both picks the value in the top 10, beyond offense tackle, will be on defense.