2013 NFL Draft: New York Giants’ Big Board

December 3, 2012; Landover, MD, USA; New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin (right) argues a call against the Washington Redskins in the second quarter at FedEx Field. The Redskins won 17-16. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Giants are coming off a 9-7 season. More importantly, the Giants are coming off a non-playoff season after winning the Super Bowl the year before that. They have most of their starters returning, but the current roster won’t do. Clearly. They need help and this draft will be great to add talent and depth to their roster.

The New York Giants will enter tonight’s draft with eight picks: They currently have the 19th pick overall, followed by the 49th pick (second round), the 81st pick (third round), the 116th pick (fourth round), the 152nd pick (fifth round), the 187th pick (sixth round),the 225th pick (seventh round) and the 253rd pick (seventh round).

After an almost non-existent free agency, the Giants have some work cut out for them going into the draft. Big Blue needs to address their offensive line, defensive end, linebacker and defensive back positions.

Let’s take a look at some players on the draft board the Giants should look into that may be key players in their goal to reach the Super Bowl.

All player rankings below come from CBS Sports NFL Draft Prospects

Top Defensive Ends
1. Ezekiel Ansah, DE, BYU
2. Bjoern Werner, DE, Florida State
3. Datone Jones, DE, UCLA
4. Cornellius Carradine, DE, Florida State
5. Margus Hunt, DE, Southern Methodist

What happened to Justin Tuck? He’s had two subpar seasons and things may not change going into this season. Big Blue lost Osi Umenyiora to the Atlanta Falcons, so the team definitely needs help at this position. One of the main reasons they were successful in 2011 is because of their pass-rush, but take that away and you get their 2012 season. The Giants need to add an impact player and this draft is full of talented defensive players.

Top Offensive Tackles
1. Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M
2. Eric Fisher, OT, Central Michigan
3. Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma
4. D.J. Fluker, OT, Alabama
5. Menelik Watson, OT, Florida State

Top Offensive Guards
1. Chance Warmack, OG Alabama
2. Jonathan Cooper, OG, North Carolina
3. Kyle Long, OG, Oregon
4. Larry Warford, OG, Kentucky
5. Brian Winters, OG, Kent State

The Giants have a hole at right tackle and will have trouble at the guard position soon after with Kevin Boothe on a one-year contract and Chris Snee on the decline. If they want to keep quarterback Eli Manning healthy, they need to look into drafting a lineman.

Top Outside Linebackers
1. Dion Jordan, OLB, Oregon
2. Barkevious Mingo, OLB, LSU
3. Jarvis Jones, OLB, Georgia
4. Alec Ogletree, OLB, Georgia
5. Arthur Brown, OLB, Kansas State

Top Inside Linebackers
1. Manti Te’o, ILB, Notre Dame
2. Kevin Minter, ILB, LSU
3. Kiko Olonso, ILB, Oregon
4. A.J. Klein, ILB, Iowa State
5. Kevin Reddick, ILB, North Carolina

With players like Keith Rivers, Dan Connor and Jacquain Williams filling their linebacker positions, the Giants definitely need help in that area. Their main goal will/should be to pick up a linebacker who can be an impact player immediately and constantly disrupt the opposing offense.

Top Cornerbacks
1. Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama
2. Xavier Rhodes, CB, Florida State
3. Desmond Trufant, CB, Washington
4. D.J. Hayden, CB, Houston
5. Jamar Taylor, CB, Boise State

Top Safeties
1. Kenny Vaccaro, FS, Texas
2. Eric Reid, FS, LSU
3. Phillip Thomas, FS, Fresno State
4. D.J. Swearinger, FS, South Carolina
5. Bacarri Rambo, FS, Georgia

The top strong safeties in the draft:
1. Jonathan Cyprien, SS, Florida International
2. Matt Elam, SS, Florida
3. J.J. Wilcox, SS, Georgia Southern

The Giants secondary played mediocre last season. Prince Amukamara can be a key player if he can stay healthy, but outside of him the other players don’t help, and often get burned.

Top Running Backs
1. Eddie Lacy, RB, Alabama
2. Johnathan Franklin, RB, UCLA
3. Montee Ball, RB, Wisconsin
4. Giovani Bernard, RB, North Carolina
5. Le’Veon Bell, RB, Michigan State

The Giants need to add depth to the running back position. David Wilson and Andre Brown will be competing for reps, but they need help. This draft doesn’t have many game-changing runnings backs, but still talented enough to contribute to the Giants run game.