The 2nd installment of Jacob Schoeneberger’s opinions on the Giants
Now that the Giants have made their draft picks, it’s that time of year again. Time for the Jacob Schoeneberger is always wrong in his predictions of draft players’ success.
Here are some thoughts about the New York Football Giants 2022 draft:
Perfect Day 1
I can’t say enough about how well I feel the first day of the draft went for the Giants. If there’s a single Jacob Schoeneberger Football Nugget of Wisdom it’s this: You only draft QBs, pass rushers, or offensive linemen in the first 10 picks of the draft. (Annnnnnnd sometimes a true shut-down corner, if there’s a no-brainer one out there.) Get guys that either throw the ball, knock the guy throwing the ball down, or protect the guy throwing the ball. It’s that simple. Anything other than those positions and you’ve wasted your top 10 pick.
What did Schoen do with his two top-10 picks? An edge rusher and an offensive lineman! Chef’s kiss!
Jacob Schoeneberger loves both of these picks. They grabbed Kayvon Thibodeaux, the edge rusher out of Oregon, with the 5th overall pick. There were rumors before the draft that Thibodeaux was a guy who cares more about his brand than football. I personally do not worry one bit about a guy wanting to build his brand. If this guy wants to build his brand, I applaud it! Why?
What’s the best way for an athlete to build his/her/their brand? By kicking butt on the field of play, duh!
The best way for Thibodeaux to become an influencer is by piling up sacks, All-Pro appearances, and holding up the Lombardi trophy. How often do you see draft busts turning into superstars? I think this guy is going to be awesome.
And the pick of tackle Evan Neal out of Alabama at number 7 was great as well. This one seemed easy to predict, everyone knew the Giants need offensive line help. But Neal is a guy to be happy about. I think he comes in and pretty immediately helps shore up the protection for Jones.
This is much-needed. Jones spends too much time scrambling for his life, laying on the ground, or rushing his passes. Glad to see Schoen got a tackle to help remedy that situation.
Round 2
Not sure I love grabbing a wide receiver with the 43rd pick. They took Wan’Dale Robinson, a WR out of Kentucky. Nothing against Robinson, but I think the team had much bigger needs than at the WR position. Tight End jumps immediately to mind! But ok, hopefully Robinson will be a strong contributor.
Round 3
With the 67th pick, the Giants took an offensive guard. Yes, yes and more yes! I love taking more o-line help with this pick. And everything I’ve read about Joshua Ezeudu is that he will be a good pick. He comes out of North Carolina and is projected to eventually start but not necessarily this year. That’s fine by me, you need line depth and you always need to look to the future there. If there’s a single Jacob Schoeneberger Football Nugget of Wisdom it’s this: You can never, ever have too many solid offensive linemen.
The Giants also got a corner in the 3rd round, selecting Cordale Flott out of LSU. Hey, I love getting a solid corner anywhere you can in the draft, but this guy didn’t necessarily come all that highly rated. Here’s to hoping the Giants saw something no one else did.
Rest of the Draft
The Giants had several more picks over the weekend and they used them to grab a TE (needed that bad with Engram going bye bye), a safety, two linebackers, a DT, and another OG. These are all positions they needed to strengthen so I’m happy with those picks. I think Schoen had a pretty good idea going into the draft what the team needed, and I think he did a pretty decent job with his first draft.
The Jacob Schoeneberger Random Giants Thought of the Day
If there’s a single Jacob Schoeneberger Football Nugget of Wisdom it’s this: The draft absolutely will make or break the long-term success of your football club. Seemed to me Schoen came to the draft wanting to strengthen the team with what was available, rather than with an agenda set beforehand (like I thought the Gettleman regime did). So overall I think this was a strong draft for the team.