<
>

Giants get defensive line help in latest Todd McShay mock

Sheldon Rankins is Todd McShay's pick for the Giants in his latest mock draft. AP Photo/Chuck Burton

Todd McShay's second mock draft is out Wednesday, and his pick for the New York Giants at No. 10 makes a lot of sense.

Todd has the Giants taking Louisville defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins in the first round. Rankins is a 300-pound run-stuffer who would help the Giants' league-worst defense right away -- possibly as an immediate starter but certainly at least as a member of the defensive line rotation. As an added bonus, his last name rhymes with that of Johnathan Hankins, the 2013 second-rounder who's already established himself as a solid starter at one of the defensive tackle positions. The pair would make the interior of the Giants' defensive line both tough and sonorous for years to come.

Now, I know some of you are going to see UCLA's Myles Jack going off the board at No. 11 and wonder why the Giants wouldn't take him. But if you read this page regularly, you know well that the Giants haven't drafted a linebacker in the first round since Carl Banks in 1984. That that's not a coincidence, but rather a deep-seated organizational belief about which positions are and are not worthy of high-end resources. I don't care how great Jack looks on film; the Giants aren't taking a linebacker at No. 10.

In the Giants' ideal world, I think they get a pass-rusher at this spot. McShay has Oregon's DeForest Buckner going one pick earlier and Clemson's Shaq Lawson all the way down at 17. I could see either of those guys emerging as a Giants pick. But if they believe they've addressed pass-rusher in free agency and/or don't love their options at No. 10, then someone like Rankins makes total sense.

The Giants' current predicament has a lot to do with the deterioration of both of their lines over the years. They've picked offensive linemen in two of the last three first rounds, but they haven't drafted a defensive player in the first round since Prince Amukamara in 2011 and they haven't picked a defensive lineman in the first round since Jason Pierre-Paul in 2010. It's time to think that way again.