E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he is one of only three sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls. Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

THE BIG DAY APPROACHES -
SO AT LEAST WHICH POSITION WILL THE GIANTS CHOOSE?

By Dave Klein
All right, boys and girls. Do the Giants want an offensive tackle, a running back, a defensive end, a linebacker, a safety or a cornerback with their first-round pick Thursday night?

The answer is YES, all of the above, but clearly they'll have to make a choice. From this vantage point, and according to how the first nine picks will unfold, this correspondent's opinion is an offensive tackle (if either Jack Conklin or Ronnie Stanley are as yet unclaimed), a linebacker (if Myles Jack or Leonard Floyd are there) or a running back, Ezekiel Elliot.

Any one of them will help the Giants and any one of them will be expected to emerge from the rigors of training camp as a starter. Floyd is an interesting study, since he is tall (6-5) and somewhat lanky (240) with more speed for a pass-rusher than a down-in-the-dirt linebacker. Scouts have several question marks in their evaluations, however, and he might just slip past them but stay in the first round.

Stanley and Conklin are legitimate picks, so much so that it is difficult to imagine either or both being available at the 10th spot - even if the first two picks (by the Rams and the Eagles) turn out to be, as most think, quarterbacks.

It would not be unheard of for two stud tackles to become first five selections. So we are down to safeties-cornerbacks or running backs, and the only running back worth that position is Elliot, the 6-0, 225-pounder from Ohio State.

"He's like a locomotive without brakes," said one scout, somewhat incongruously. "Nobody had a better season in the colleges last year and nobody is as well-equipped to tear apart the NFL defenses this year."

But fellas, the Giants already have four running backs who they say they like (and what else would you expect them to say?) in Rashad Jennings, Shane Vereen, Andre Williams and Orleans Darkwa, plus a new free agent recently signed, Bobby Rainey. Still, if you find Elliot on the roster by Friday, shortly thereafter you'll find one or two fewer running backs from the group listed above.

Zeke, as his friends call him (there is no way to print what defender call him), is not the unanimous nor popular choice, but in one man's opinion he might be the right choice.

The offensive line needs help on the right side, and there is nothing better than a crazed, heavy-muscled running back with 4.4 speed in the 40-yard dash to make the line better in a hurry. You won't see Marshall Newhouse nor John Jerry starting this season, but you could expect to see Bobby Hart at a guard spot and, well, we'll see about a right tackle.

Chances are that this opinion is wrong. Almost certainly wrong. But logic insists that if the blue-blood tackles are gone, and if Jack is gone, and if cornerback-safety Jaylen Ramsey or cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III are already gone - it is possible that general manager Jerry Reese will reject some of all of those in order to take Elliot), then the running game gets a boost and the rest of the needs will have to wait until Draft Day Two, Friday, when the league will conduct rounds two and three.

Taking Elliot would not be a mistake, but skipping a few of the others just might. And you want to be a general manager?

Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS where you can subscribe to his newsletters which run much more frequently than what is available here.
- Team Giants

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