We are less than two weeks away from the 2012 NFL Draft now. That means it is time to begin taking the myriad of mock drafts available on the Inter-Google seriously. The latest mock draft from SB Nation, released Monday morning, has the Giants selecting Virginia Tech running back David Wilson with the 32nd overall selection in the first round.
SB Nation's Ryan Van Bibber says:
For as good as the Giants offense was last season, their running game was a potential liability. Wilson would make for a much more dynamic pairing with Ahmad Bradshaw than Brandon Jacobs did. Bradshaw has health red flags anyway, which makes finding a good running back an important play for the Giants' offseason plans.
Van Bibber is right in one sense that running back is a 'need' position for the Giants. If the draft unfolded this way and the Giants did choose a running back it would be interesting to see if general manager Jerry Reese would choose the electrifying Wilson or the very solid, well-round Doug Martin of Boise State. In the SB Nation mock, Martin is already off the board.
The Giants history, though, is littered with failed attempts to draft running backs in the first round. Ron Dayne, Jarrod Bunch, George Adams, Butch Woolfolk and Tyrone Wheatley come to mind. Rodney Hampton, taken 27th in 1991, is one of the few success stories among first-round running back selections for New York.
The Giants have had great success drafting running backs in later rounds. Tiki Barber and Joe Morris were second-round selections, Jacobs a fourth-round pick and Bradshaw a seventh-round selection.
With that in mind, and with the Giants' tendency to draft value over need, the pick could easily go in another direction with running back being addressed later.
In this mock, pass-rushers like Chandler Jones of Syracuse and Nick Perry of USC are still on the board. Alabama middle linebacker Dont'a Hightower is available, as is North Carolina outside linebacker Zach Brown. Penn State defensive tackle Devon Still is also still up for grabs. Wisconsin center Peter Konz is good value at this point in the draft, as well.
The Giants could go in almost any direction with this selection.
-- See dozens of draft profiles at Big Blue View. You can also check out SB Nation's Mocking The Draft for complete draft preview coverage.
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