The draft is preceded by a flood of mock drafts attempting to predict what teams will do and it is followed by a flood of draft grades attempting to predict how the players selected will do over the course of their NFL careers.
Different graders have different takes, but one popular view this year is that the Giants did well with their selections. They came into the weekend with 10 picks, but wound up with seven after moving around the board to pick up cornerback Deonte Banks, center John Michael Schmitz, wide receiver Jalin Hyatt, running back Eric Gray, cornerback Tre Hawkins III, defensive tackle Jordon Riley, and safety Geravarrius Owens.
The group addressed needs on a roster that was good enough to win a playoff game last season and that’s a big reason why the grades look so good, but General Manager Joe Schoen wasn’t doing any victory laps when the draft concluded on Saturday.
“That lasts about two days. You don’t win games in April,” Schoen said, via the team’s website. “The social media rankings and everything like that, you know, it’s about what we do this fall and how we go out there and compete when it matters and how we continue to build this off-season and get bigger, faster, stronger, through our strength program and then how we prepare and execute in August, I think there’s a process. And do I like some of the guys we drafted? Yeah. But still, like Dabs said, you know, in this press conference, every year is different, and the team has got to gel, and we have got to build chemistry. We have to stay healthy. There’s a lot that goes into it.”
Schoen’s right about not winning games in April, but the Giants won enough of them last year to make everyone around the team feel good about the direction of the team and the wisdom of the people piloting it.
