Dan Graziano, senior NFL national reporter 9y

Mel Kiper/Todd McShay mock draft gives Giants two safeties in first three rounds

Our draft experts, Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay, engaged in a three-round mock draft Thursday in which they alternated picks. The first round was on ESPN2. The second and third rounds were done on ESPN.com. It's Insider, but assuming you're one of our faithful Insider subscribers you can read the whole thing. If you're not (shame on you!), I will share with you the picks they made for the New York Giants:

Round 1 (No. 9 overall, by Todd): Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia

Round 2 (No. 40 overall, by Mel): Landon Collins, S, Alabama

Round 3 (No. 74 overall, by Mel): Quinten Rollins, DB, Miami (Ohio)

So yeah, a couple of things:

I get where Todd's coming from on the idea of value and Gurley's incredible talent, but from what I have been told, I would be stunned if they took Gurley at No. 9. Would he be the best running back on their roster? Probably, but they like their backs and don't tend to consider running back a position worthy of this high a pick. (Few teams do anymore.) Given the way the board fell here, with Brandon Scherff, Amari Cooper and Kevin White taken in the first eight picks, I think the most likely picks for the Giants in this scenario would be Miami offensive lineman Ereck Flowers, Michigan State cornerback Trae Waynes or Clemson pass-rusher Vic Beasley. I believe the Giants would take any of those players at No. 9 before they'd take Gurley.

If Collins fell to them in Round 2, the Giants would throw a party in their draft room. The idea of a team whose most desperate need is safety getting the best safety in the draft in the second round is mind-blowing. Collins isn't going in the top 10, as some early mocks indicated he might. But while the idea of his falling to No. 40 seems farfetched, it's not impossible. And if he slipped out of the first round entirely, the Giants might be wise to consider a trade up in the second round to snag him.

Rollins is an interesting guy, and not just because he plays the same position as Collins and their names rhyme. Rollins was a basketball player at Miami who joined the football team for his senior year. Some project him as a cornerback, some as a safety, and the Giants could use both. Kind of a project with only the one year of college football, but the Giants don't mind talented, athletic projects in the third round.

No offensive line help? Not that it would be totally out of character for the Giants to ignore the offensive line in the first three rounds. But the last two years indicated they learned their lesson on that, and I would expect them to come out of the first two rounds with an offensive lineman who has a chance to play right away.

^ Back to Top ^