NEW YORK – It’s never too soon to search for improvements. I would like to take an early look at the New York Giants 2011 draft needs. These draft needs will absolutely change by the time the draft arrives on Thursday April 28, 2011. Keep in mind that the NFL now holds the 1st round of the draft on Thursday night, rounds 2 and 3 on Friday night and rounds 4 through 7 on Saturday. The times have not been released yet but that’s the schedule. The New York Giants will have the 19th overall pick in the 1st round.
So let’s take a look at some of the needs for Big Blue. The first two positions that pop into my mind are Linebacker and Center. I would not be surprised one bit to see either of these positions taken in the first round. I would also not be surprised to see the Giants take two offensive linemen by the time the draft is over. I made the same prediction last year but the Giants surprised me by taking a defensive end with the No.1 overall pick. A pick that proved to be awesome because DE Jason Pierre-Paul had an impressive rookie season and he will continue to develop into a beast. If there is one thing that I am certain of, it is the fact that Giants will not take another defensive end with their first pick in 2011.
The Giants will more then likely dip into the free agent market once again in 2011, so I’m not sure where these needs will be on the chart come April. I can only make my guesses based upon what I see today. The Giants need to get more help on the offensive line to protect franchise QB Eli Manning and they need to get a serious playmaker at the linebacker position. I’m not knocking LB Jonathan Goff who did an excellent job in 2010 replacing the retired LB Antonio Pierce. The team still needs more fire from that area and I would be shocked if the G-Men did not pick up a return specialist in the late rounds. Let’s take a look at the early bird special.
2011 NFL Draft – New York Giants Edition, player rankings are current as of 1/03/11.
1. Linebacker/Center – Stefen Wisniewski of Penn State is the No.1 ranked Center in the draft by CBS Sports. The No.2 Center on that list is Kristofer O’Dowd of USC.
2. Center/Linebacker – Greg Jones of Michigan State is the No.1 ranked MLB in the draft by CBS Sports. The No.2 MLB on that list is Quan Sturdivant of North Carolina.
3. Cornerback
4. Running Back
5. Offensive Tackle
6. Linebacker
7. Return Specialist – CB/WR
Please feel free to give your opinions and your own draft needs assessment in the comment area. I know it’s a bit early to do this but I love the draft and couldn’t wait. As I mentioned, I’m sure this draft order will change a couple of times before April rolls around.
RD – nygreporter.com
nygreporter.com 
I’m guessing that the Giants will walk away with one of the four players I mentioned above in round one. What do you think? Who is on your radar?
this sight is very informative, sure wish they would get a plax replacement nt or someone like Toomer,the draft should be great for the giants this year i also look forward to seeingthee draft queen, miss big blue etc, she sure adds some brightness to the entire whole draft, Sondra Fortunato aka miss liberty please bring the giants some good fortune for the draft!!!!
Hello J, thanks for the leaving the comments! I have to admit that I was a bit worried last season when all of our WR’s were getting injured and we didn’t have much experience or depth left. I wouldn’t be surprised if the G-Men brought in another WR to throw into the mix.
sondra fortunato is hot hot hot
Hello all, I’m pleased to announce that nygreporter is the featured blog of the week on Giants.com. I will leave a link below. Enjoy!
http://www.giants.com/news/headlines/story.asp?story_id=44727
bring shockey back always thought he was an explosive player
I always liked Jeremy Shockey but I’m not sure he is a good fit with Big Blue anymore. I agree with you and think TE is another concern though. Boss seems to be getting hurt a lot and it’s not his fault.
Hey man, I have read through a bunch of your most recent work and I must start off by saying I completely, totally, and utterly agree that I can not wrap my head around people calling for Coughlin’s head. Its baffling to me.
Secondly, I agree with your sentiments about the draft. Though offensive line showed a TON of depth this season, injuries to Koeats, Andrews, and especially Seubert are major problems.
I can not picture us drafting a center who walks in week 1 in 2011 and takes over for O’ Hara. I think they will give him another go-round, for better or for worse. But we do need his replacement on the roster by next season, no more playing around there.
All this said, I think we should draft Notre Dame tight end Kyle Rudolph in the 1st round.
Smith took over shockey’s routes in 07 and 08 until he became a full time guy, and Boss has become very inconsistent to say the least. A major threat here would be of massive help in 2011.
I believe one among Greg Jones, Bruce Carter, and Quan Sturdivant will be there in the second round, and the value in the 3rd round for a center is still very good,not to mention Reese thrives in the middle rounds, he almost always goes best available in the 1st.
Because of the CBA situation, I am goig to assume that we wont be able to sign any free agents for arguments sake. If we are able to though, Ben Leber, Chad Greenway, David Harris, and others are free agents and could relieve our need to go LB in the 1st.
Hey Kyle, good to hear from you buddy. I saw that you are back with G101, Congrats! I have to say that after looking at my draft order again, I would probably add a tight end somewhere on the list, however I wouldn’t use our No.1 pick for it. I could see us grabbing a TE at the 3 or 4 spot though.
I have been very surprised by Kevin Boss lately. The guy is a warrior no doubt but may have taken too many hits early in his career because he just doesn’t look like the same guy from 3 years ago. I’m not sure about Beckum yet and Pascoe is versatile but certainly not the prototype TE. So I would agree with you and certainly have concerns about that area after giving it some more thought.
I appreciate you giving me some player names to investigate. I love the draft and can’t wait to see what happens. I may be a bit naive about the CBA but I can’t see them not working something out and putting that to bed before it causes any disturbances to the 2011 season.
Oh and I think its time to give up on the return specialist thing. The organization clearly does not value that spot sadly. Every year we throw that in draft needs and it NEVER happens. (that said I loved Danny Ware)
I thought Danny Ware did a good job too. Reynaud had me shaking my head at times and Blackmon seemed to do well but still didn’t breed any confidence. The Giants are a solid team and if they could use a draft pick on Matt Dodge, then I thought grabbing a return specialist with the last pick this year would be no problem. lol
[…] You can check out my draft by position order here in a previous article – 2011 NFL Draft: New York Giants Early Bird Edition […]
I agree with the assessment that the G-men need a center and pass rushing LB. I would like to see the Giants trade their 19th pick for an additional pick. If they can get an additional 2nd rd pick or what are equivalent picks for our 1st rd I can see them addressing their critical needs which are Center, pass rush LB, a true cover CB and a solid LT. Our O-line was banged up all year and is not the same group from 4 yrs ago. We need a cover corner who can be on DeSean Jackson, Dez Bryant and Santana Moss in our division. Why is it we don’t draft to compete against our biggest rivals? What is your opinion?
I think you make some great points Mark. I like where your head is with getting a serious CB to deal with the NFC East rivals. Terrell Thomas is solid but the other side needs a big play guy. Fewell is a DB genius and I’m sure he likes what you’re thinking too.
I’m not sure if I would trade away our first round pick this year. The only way I could see that happening is a trade for a quality veteran linebacker.
With some really good linebackers coming into free agency why not trade the pick for a possible cover corner or for additional picks. Look at the Patriots who have multiple picks in the 1, 2 and 3 rounds. What would our 1st round pick receive in compensation if traded? The reason I ask is bcuz there are several teams in need of quarterbacks this year and if one of those teams need to trade up or down the Giants could be in a great position to address other needs with additional picks. BTW how many picks to we have besides our compensatory picks which have been decided yet? Thanks.
Hello Mark, I would have no problem at all with grabbing a solid veteran cover corner, such as Asomugha (Raiders) that Manstache mentioned below. That would be well worth a 1st round pick in my opinion. A young veteran linebacker that can come in and learn the playbook fast would be worth it too. I’m just not sure if the Giants would pull the trigger but they will not ever trade away a 1st round pick for other draft picks. I cannot see draft minded Jerry Reese ever giving into that temptation unless it was a 1 for 3 type of deal.
As far as I know, the Giants have 7 draft picks this year besides any comp picks they get.
wishfully thinking here: we go out and get asoumah, secondary issues solved. if cofield leaves, draft a dt for depth in round 3. if we can get mathews in rd 2 that would be monumental, as he could play mlb or slb. first pick, center. im comfortable with beatty at lt and deihl and andrews at rt.
My reply below.
First of all, awesome screen name you have lol. If the Giants were able to somehow get Asomugha like you suggested, I would be a very happy camper. That would just about make the G-Men the most deadly defense in the NFL.
I also completely agree with you about grabbing the Center position in round one with that Wisniewski kid. I think he is going to be something special, a ten year plug in the middle. As I mentioned, the only other position I feel we should take in round one is the linebacker position.
lets see more of miss big blue giants queen giants sondra fortunato just saw her in the ny daily news feb 2 2012 referred to as miss super curvy for the super bowl she was a super bowl queen in the 90’s but she isstill hot check out nydailynews .com sondra fortunato nowonder she raised so much money for the troops as miss liberty usa keep up the good work sondra and i enjoyed yuor movie driving miss liberty hich premiered in nyc at the tribeca cinemas! wahoo!!
Hello J, I will check it out. It’s nice to hear about people doing something for the troops. I love films and tribeca.