With the 5th and 7th overall picks the New York Giants have an opportunity to land two potential stars in the 2022 NFL Draft. However, with more than a few holes on the roster and a potential quarterback decision looming – would it be smart for the Giants to trade down?
2022 has the chance to be one of the most chaotic drafts in NFL history. Up until a few weeks ago, it looked as if Aidan Hutchinson was a guaranteed lock to go 1st overall. Now, as we edge closer to draft night, that absolute seems a little more questionable with the rise of Travon Walker. Beyond Hutchinson and the Jaguars at the top of the draft, there’s even more uncertainty with the draft order.
Like all drafts, there’s the possibility of a draft-night trade coming into play. However, until the chips actually begin to fall, there’s no telling what could happen. Trade ups require two things: a team willing to trade down to accumulate more picks and a team that has fallen in love with a particular player to justify trading up. No one trades up just for the sake of it, but in a deep draft where there isn’t too much separating the talent in the first round, teams will likely bet on the chance to pick up a star player later in the first while also adding more picks.
Why a trade makes sense for the Giants
With two top 10 picks and a roster full of needs, the Giants seem like one of the likely candidates to trade down or out of the first round using at least one of those picks. Of course, they could use both top 10 picks to acquire two quality talents while filling two positions of need, but even though the Giants are lacking talent on the roster, they’re also lacking overall depth.
Trading one of those picks is the best of both worlds. In all likelihood, any team trading up in the draft will be doing so from outside the top 10, meaning it’s going to cost a pretty penny. A team trading up from the back-end of the first could potentially be forced to give up two first-round picks. One in 2022, and one in 2023, as well as additional picks. In a class as deep as this, the Giants can’t say no to that. It would be a savvy deal for a team that has struggled to use their first-round picks wisely over the last couple of years.
If the Giants were to trade one of their picks, it should be 5th overall. The consensus biggest needs right now are on both sides of the trenches. The Giants have had one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL the last few seasons, ranking in the bottom five of ESPN’s pass-block win rate for the last two years while the defensive line finished with the third-worst pressure rate in the NFL in 2021, per Pro Football Reference.
If we assume that the biggest need is the offensive line and not the defensive line, then the Giants are in an enviable position. The top four picks in the draft could all be occupied by defensive players. Aidan Hutchinson, for now, is still the likely option first overall, and he could be followed by Kayvon Thibodeaux – a potential choice for New York at 5 – and Travon Walker.
Even if only two or three of the picks are defensive players, it’s hard to buy into the idea that any one of Detroit, Houston, or the New York Jets could be set to pick an offensive tackle. All three are set – at least for now – in that department.
We’ll delve into potential suitors for the fifth overall pick later, but any team that trades up that high only has one thing on their mind: getting the top quarterback on the board before the Carolina Panthers do at 6. If they do that, the Panthers could potentially draft the first tackle off the board. It could be any one of Evan Neal, Charles Cross, or Ikem Ekwonu.
If the Panthers draft Cross – a pure left tackle – that paves the way for the Giants to still take one of Neal or Ekwonu to fill a hole at right tackle. Neal is the most complete tackle in the class with freak athleticism and the versatility to play across the entire offensive line, and the Giants could slide him in to start at right tackle. Ending up with any of those three tackles is a win for the Giants, and then they still get the extra picks to add more important pieces.
Thinking beyond just this year, the Giants have a potential decision looming at quarterback. Daniel Jones has been the starter since early in his first season, but the 6th overall pick has struggled with consistency and ball protection.
The Giants have to decide whether or not they will pick up his fifth-year option this offseason and acquiring an extra first-round pick in 2023 – with a decidedly better quarterback class – could convince the front office to decline his option and take a gamble on packaging a deal to move up for Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud, if need be.
Of course, to trade down, the Giants will need a partner. And one team makes sense more than most: the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Why a trade makes sense for the Steelers
The Steelers have been linked to Liberty’s quarterback Malik Willis from an early stage in the draft process. Mike Tomlin, according to ESPN’s Todd McShay, reportedly loves Willis, who attended the Steelers facility for a pre-draft visit a few days ago. There’s a lot to like about Willis as a person and as a player.
If the Steelers are serious about him, and there’s every chance that they are, then trading up to 5 could be a necessity. The Panthers could be a potential destination for Willis at 6, and if the Steelers front office feels the need to jump up to 5, then so be it. Drafting Willis in the first round doesn’t mean he needs to start immediately. The Steelers signed Mitchell Trubisky to a two-year deal in free agency and while he may not be a game-changer, he’ll certainly be able to step in and play semi-competent football until Willis is ready to go.
Willis is raw but blessed with rare physical talent that doesn’t come around often. Mix in his ability to be coached and he’s a prospect worth taking a gamble on. After a few years of watching a declining Ben Roethlisberger, this will be a new and welcome era for Steelers fans. Trading up might cost a lot, but if the outcome is drafting a franchise quarterback, it’s a no-brainer.
This one could make sense all around.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @ThomasValenfine