The New York Giants tend to make their greatest improvements during the NFL draft process. With just over two weeks left to prepare, there’s no doubt that the 2011 Super Bowl champions are working diligently to sort out who they would like to take with their first-round selection — the 19th-overall pick — on April 25th.
After finishing 2012 as the second-worst defense in the NFL in terms of total yards allowed, the Giants may want to be looking to give their defensive unit a facelift. Big Blue has selected a defensive player in the first round in four of the six years since Jerry Reese became the franchise’s general manager in 2007.
New York has numerous holes on the defensive side of the football. D-linemen Osi Umenyiora and Chris Canty, and middle linebacker Chase Blackburn, are all starters that are no longer with the team. Meanwhile, cornerback Corey Webster and defensive end Justin Tuck’s continued regression displays a need for depth.
Fortunately for the Giants, this year’s draft class is rich in defensive talent.
Reese and the Giants are not opposed to having more talent than necessary at any position on the field. For years now, they have depended heavily on using rotations on the defensive line as well as three-safety sets. They will play with whatever talent they believe to be the very best on the field at any given time, so it shouldn’t be a shock what position the team chooses to address with their first-round pick.
Here’s a look at what could be some of their better options at No. 19:
Arthur Brown, LB, Kansas State
The linebacker positions have been a unit of need for the Giants for the last couple of years. They have managed to survive with patchwork stand-ins like Mathias Kiwanuka (a natural defensive end), Chase Blackburn, Mark Herzlich and Jonathan Goff, among others. All three linebacker positions could be up for grabs this summer and Kansas State’s Arthur Brown could be an ideal fit with the talent to step in and start from day one.
Though a bit undersized (6-foot-1, 241 pounds), the Giants are rarely opposed to taking a player that many believe might have limits (i.e., an athlete’s size). Brown plays like a big linebacker with big, explosive tackling ability. He would likely be a best fit at the weak-side linebacker spot because of his skills in pass coverage and history as a sure tackler.
He’s not a “playmaker” by any means, but the Giants aren’t looking for one at the outside linebacker position. Brown is an instinctive prospect who shows favorable traits when asked to read and react to the plays in front of him.
Desmond Trufant, CB, Washington
The Giants finished the 2012 season allowing 254.2 passing yards per game, 60 plays for 20-plus yards and 13 for 40 or more. The team’s current crop of cornerbacks is easily the most questionable group on the roster.
Washington’s Desmon Trufant is a speedy athlete with fluid footwork and balance. He is a pleasantly physical defender, unafraid to jam a bigger receiver at the line of scrimmage. He could use some refinement to his tackling technique, but his playmaking ability when the football is in the air usually hides one of his greatest flaws.
Trufant’s experience makes him an NFL-ready prospect capable of playing outside or inside on the slot receiver and in zone- or man-coverage schemes. For a defensive scheme as versatile as defensive coordinator Perry Fewell’s, the former Husky appears to be a fantastic fit.
With two older brothers already in the NFL (Marcus, a first-round selection and former Pro Bowler for the Seattle Seahawks; and Isaiah, currently playing with the New York Jets), the bloodlines are clearly in Desmond’s favor. With his talent and potential, however, this Trufant brother might be the best one yet.
Bjoern Werner, DE, Florida State
Umenyiora is gone and Tuck is declining rapidly. Jason Pierre-Paul is an athletically-gifted player who can hold his own, but his skill set would benefit from an equally-dominant threat on the opposite side of the line.
Enter Bjoern Werner.
The former Seminole pass rusher displays a nonstop motor with outstanding quickness and strength off the line of scrimmage. Jerry Reese loves athletic freaks and Werner’s measurables and on-field performance indicate that this is a match made in heaven.
He finished his collegiate career with 35 tackles for a loss and 23 1/2 sacks in two seasons. Having not started playing football until the age of 15, Werner is still a bit of a raw prospect. However, he has a very high ceiling with the potential to develop into a top-flight pass rusher in the NFL. That is especially so if he’s lined up opposite Pierre-Paul.
Alec Ogletree, LB, Georgia
Georgia’s Alec Ogletree took a hit to his draft stock when he was arrested for Driving Under the Influence back in February. That shouldn’t be enough to knock him out of the first round, though, as he is simply too great a prospect to pass up for teams in need of a linebacker in the second half of the first round.
The Giants are one of those teams and could use Ogletree as an outside linebacker. As a former safety, Ogletree shows great coverage skills and has no trouble finding the football and making big plays.
The game film supports his 40-yard dash time (4.68 seconds) and displays an athletic defender with the speed to catch most players from behind or across the field. He shows great quickness on the edge, whether when blitzing or coming up against the run.
Ogletree’s run defense is not as impressive. He struggles making the proper reads in order to fill the hole and stop the ball carrier, and also lacks the strength to break through opposing blockers.
Ezekiel Ansah, DE, BYU
The likelihood of Ezekiel Ansah being available at No. 19 appears to be slim, but if he is, it’d be very surprising for the Giants not to take him. He fits the athletic mold Reese looks for and is a frighteningly similar player to Pierre-Paul. Why not line them up opposite one another and let opposing offensive lines try to stop them?
Ansah is raw, so it may take time for him to develop into one of the league’s top pass rushers. But in a season or two, the Ghana-born prospect could be unstoppable.
“Ziggy” Ansah is also a versatile player capable of dropping back into coverage. His 4.63-second 40-yard dash is unmatched by any other defensive end prospect in this year’s class. Besides his limited experience, there are few flaws to find in this guy and his rapid progression is a good indication that his inexperience won’t mean a thing at the pro level.
If he’s available when the Giants are tabbed to pick, it’s hard to believe they would pass on taking him.
Louis Musto is a reporter and sports talk host for the Sports Journey Broadcast Network. You can follow him on Twitter @LouisMusto.