After going a different direction the past few weeks in making a selection for the New York Giants, SB Nation has circled back to Stanford tight end Coby Fleener in its most recent 2012 NFL Mock Draft, released Monday.
SB Nation says of the Fleener selection with the 32nd and final pick of the first round:
“The Giants got a very solid season out of Jake Ballard before he tore his ACL in the Super Bowl. With all that in mind, it makes sense for the Giants to add a more athletic tight end to go alongside Ballard.”
NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock is not certain that Fleener, or any other tight end in the 2012 draft class, is worthy of a first-round selection.
"I think the tight end class is a bad class. And that’s not good, given (Rob) Gronkowski and (Aaron) Hernandez and what we’ve seen in the NFL. Everybody’s looking for that next guy. I don’t have a first-round grade in the tight end class. I’ve got three second-round grades and then I’ve got kind of an abyss," Mayock said.