New York Giants: Will they regret passing on Laremy Tunsil?

The New York Giants passed on offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil and instead selected cornerback Eli Apple in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Will the Giants regret that decision?

Unless you somehow navigated to this page while you were looking for Fear the Walking Dead spoilers and you have zero interest in the National Football League, you are probably aware of the plight of offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil. Tunsil was projected to be, at worst, a top-ten pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. His career and maybe even his life changed, however, after a now-infamous video that included Tunsil, a bong and a gas mask surfaced on his Twitter page.

The story behind how that video saw the light of day, let alone how it became public roughly 10 minutes before the start of the NFL Draft, is probably more strange than the actual video. That topic is for a different time and a different piece. What is known for sure is that Tunsil had been advertised to be the first offensive lineman taken off of the draft board, and that the Twitter video caused Tuntil to fall all the way down to pick No. 10 and the New York Giants.

The Giants selected cornerback Eli Apple out of Ohio State.

Whether or not you believe that the Giants reached to grab Apple when they drafted him is irrelevant as it pertains to this piece. This, instead, is about if the Giants made a mistake passing on who was believed to be the best tackle of this draft class.

For what it’s worth, NFL mock drafts updated as recently as April 28 were all over the place as it pertained to what the Giants might do in the actual NFL Draft. The Giants were linked with taking a linebacker, a wide receiver and an offensive tackle via the tenth-overall pick. It had also been rumored in mocks and on sports talk radio that the Giants were at least somewhat interested in moving down in the first round and collecting extra picks.

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That the Giants selected Apple, who did not have a first-round value in some mocks, shows that we really didn’t know what general manager Jerry Reese and company were thinking heading into the night of April 28.

Could the Giants have used somebody as talented as Tunsil on the offensive front? Quarterback Eli Manning probably would have been just fine with that pick. Manning was sacked a total of 27 times in 2015 (h/t ESPN.com), which put him right in the middle of that category among NFL QBs. Remember, though, that Manning threw 35 touchdowns last season. Only Tom Brady had more passing TDs than Manning, Blake Bortles, Carson Palmer and NFL Most Valuable Player Cam Newton (all four had 35 TDs in 2015).

This leads to the obvious question: How many more touchdowns could Manning have thrown if he would have had better protection in 2015?

David Neumann of SB Nation blog Niners Nation provided an excellent film breakdown for Tunsil before the NFL Draft.

"Tunsil’s athleticism is obvious, not only in pass protection, but also when getting out in space on screens or to pick off a second-level defender in the run game. Speaking of the latter, if Tunsil sets his sights on a linebacker at the second level, you might as well call it a day; he routinely seals off second-level defenders and rarely misses his target when asked to do so.When asked to drive block on bigger bodies along the defensive line, Tunsil is like some sort of tackle robot that only uses exactly the amount of strength required to accomplish the task. This means he rarely has trouble generating push up front, but never really dominates or overbears defenders either. Depending on your perspective, I suppose that could be a good or bad thing, but you’d be hard pressed to argue it wasn’t effective. Tunsil finished with the nation’s third-highest run block success rate, per Pro Football Focus, and there wasn’t a single instance in the games I viewed where he was beat cleanly in the run game."

A notion that fans of the Giants have either already heard or will hear is that the franchise would never take a player or deal with an individual who has supposed “character concerns” such as Tunsil. That’s all well and good. It’s also not entirely accurate.

Let’s all not forget just how annoyed the Giants and Big Blue fans were about WR Odell Beckham not being able to play until October of his rookie year. Beckham is only one example of what the Giants have been willing to tolerate in certain situations over the past decade.

ESPN Senior Writer Ian O’Connor touched upon Tunsil’s reputation following the first round of the NFL Draft.

"And this is the point where we are supposed to act outraged that a major college football player had his hand out, the same player who had been suspended for seven games by the NCAA for receiving improper benefits that included free loaner cars, a plane ticket, a couple nights of lodging and an interest-free loan. These cases always remind of something John Thompson, the great Georgetown basketball coach, once told me of the unpaid labor force that keeps the multibillion-dollar industry churning: “Just because you’re breaking NCAA rules doesn’t mean you’re doing something morally wrong.”"

So Tunsil received “improper benefits,” he probably smoked marijuana in the past, and he maybe accepted some money from coaches so he could help his mother.

Tunsil sure seems like a monster and not at all like countless other athletes who play big-time college football while part of what is a billion-dollar industry.

More nfl spin zone: Giants Reach on Eli Apple Pick

The young man who is physically the top offensive lineman of the 2016 NFL Draft class, a player who never failed a drug test while in college, has some extra motivation and a chip on his shoulder after somebody tried to sabotage his career. Tunsil will now be tasked with protecting Miami QB Ryan Tannehill.

Fans of the Giants will have to close their eyes and imagine what could have been each time that Manning is sacked, is pressured or takes a hit during the 2016 NFL regular season.

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Will the New York Giants Regret Not Drafting Laremy Tunsil?

By Zac Wassink | Apr 29, 2016

The New York Giants passed on offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil and instead selected cornerback Eli Apple in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Will the Giants regret that decision?