New York Giants: Initial grade for 2017 NFL Draft

A far-too-early look at and grade for the New York Giants 2017 NFL Draft class that has befuddled some experts and Big Blue fans.

Logic suggests it’s far too early for anybody to evaluate any 2017 NFL Draft class. After all, none of the players selected during the final days of April have done anything for the New York Giants, or any other team. At least one first-round pick will probably be a flop and a bust, and a seventh-round selection could go on to have a Hall-of-Fame career. We just don’t know enough about these to-be rookies to offer detailed inspections.

Related Story: Did Giants Reach on Evan Engram?

With that said, it’s easy to understand why some fans and analysts are shaky and even down on the draft class produced by New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese and his staff. The Giants didn’t fill a glaring gap with the team’s first-round pick, and the club failed to address the offensive line, arguably the biggest hole on the club’s depth chart, until the sixth round.

Reese and company unintentionally delivered several messages by drafting tight end Evan Engram with pick No. 23. For starters, they told fans that moving up four spots to take Alabama product O.J. Howard wasn’t worth the investment, and they also clearly didn’t rate Miami’s David NJoku as highly as experts who produced final mock drafts last week.

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New York’s passing attack — one that will feature quarterback Eli Manning throwing to wide receivers Odell Beckham, Brandon Marshall and Sterling Shepard — was already solid on the morning of April 28. While the Giants needed an upgrade at tight end, all indications are Engram is essentially a wide receiver lining up at a different position. His physical attributes, most notably his speed, will help the New York offense create nightmare match-ups for opposing defenses, but one can’t help but wonder if the Giants could’ve moved down, acquired another pick and still drafted Engram.

We’ll probably never know, for sure, if the Giants would’ve grabbed tackle Garret Bolles had he fallen from No. 20 down to Big Blue, but those running the franchise will probably regret not at least attempting to move up three or four spots if Bolles proves to be an immediate lineup mainstay. Left tackle Ereck Flowers was a liability throughout the 2016 campaign, and the Giants have done nothing to protect Manning since the start of free agency.

Perhaps most interesting about the Engram pick is that it seemingly goes against the team’s draft philosophy. The modern NFL is a league where a top-tier tight, particularly one able to slide into an already-stacked passing attack, is a dime and dozen not worthy of a first-round pick. Engram may need to be a revelation starting this September to earn the value the Giants placed on him this past Thursday.

Alabama defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson is probably the safest pick made by the Giants over the weekend. New York lost Johnathan Hankins to free agency, and Tomlinson will be expected to fill that roster gap and play alongside Damon Harrison. Tomlinson wasn’t going to fall to the Giants in the 80s, thus the club selected him with pick No. 55.

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Fair or not, we’ll likely always remember New York’s draft class for the selection of Davis Webb with the 87th overall pick. As Paul Schwartz of the New York Post explained, former Giants player Shaun O’Hara crushed the Giants for this pick on NFL Network, stating it was a “waste.” While O’Hara is right that the Giants need to work to protect Manning during the final years of his career, such criticisms of the Webb pick are extreme as of this spring.

Manning probably won’t be starting for the Giants or for any team come 2020. Thus, the franchise needed to think about the future and life without the two-time Super Bowl champion. Webb will be an absolute steal if he follows in Manning’s footsteps. O’Hara will be proven right if Webb isn’t the QB the Giants think he will be years down the road. Webb is a project who hopefully won’t see the field anytime soon, which is why this pick cannot truly be graded by anybody who doesn’t possess the ability to see into the future.

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The Giants took a flier on Clemson running back Wayne Gallman with pick No. 140. Gallman will be less-expensive than a proven veteran such as LeGarrette Blount, and he should split carries with Paul Perkins. If Gallman develops into a solid blocker at the pro level, he will be well worth the value of this draft pick.

The hope is that Youngstown State defensive end Avery Moss, pick No. 167, will learn how to get to NFL QBs while serving as a backup for Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon. The Giants moved up to No. 200 to select Pittsburgh tackle Adam Bisnowaty, but anybody believing he will replace Flowers should immediately pump the brakes on such expectations. New York may ultimately move Bisnowaty to guard before all is said and done.

Next: Early 2018 NFL Mock Draft: Do Giants get a tackle?

(Far too early) draft grade: Reese, the New York coaching staff and scouts indirectly asked for votes of confidence from fans with this draft class. Roster weaknesses on the offensive line and linebacker that existed a week ago remain days after the draft, and the Giants used a third-round pick on a young man who shouldn’t play a meaningful snap past this August. Because of those realities, the initial grade has to be a C.

We’ll see if that grade improves before next February.