New York Giants Draft Preview: Wide Receiver

By Kenneth Teape | Apr 27, 2016

Oct 3, 2015; Gainesville, FL, USA; Mississippi Rebels wide receiver Laquon Treadwell (1) does the gator chomp prior to the game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Will the New York Giants take a wide receiver during the 2016 NFL Draft? We break down their current situation at the position heading into the draft and the likelihood of one being selected.

The New York Giants had a strong start to their offseason with a spending spree to start free agency. But, if the Giants want to truly have a great offseason, they will need to find some success in the NFL Draft beginning Thursday. The Giants have a few holes remaining that they would like to fill, and the draft will afford them that chance.

For this article and others to follow, we will break down the current outlook by position for the Giants, and how much of a need it will be heading into the 2016 NFL Draft. The third position we will take a look at is wide receiver.

Current Depth Chart:

The Giants have a star atop their wide receiver depth chart in Odell Beckham Jr., but after that there is a lot of question marks and uncertainty. Beckham Jr. has shown that he can dominate no matter what defenses throw at him, but the Giants would like to have someone else step up alongside him, as Rueben Randle turned out to be a disappointment and signed with the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason.

People will see Victor Cruz after Beckham Jr. on the depth chart, but there is no knowing what Cruz will bring to the table. Cruz hasn’t played since October 2014 because of a patellar tendon tear and then a calf injury that never healed that caused him to miss the entire 2015 season. While he says that he is feeling 100 percent and ready to contribute again, the Giants cannot solely count on him as Cruz was confident last season in himself as well.

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Harris was one of the players that stepped up for Cruz’s absence last season and put together his career best year at receiver. The special teams ace didn’t play offense much with the Dallas Cowboys, but with the Giants found himself with a role in the offense. He caught 36 passes for 396 yards and four touchdowns, all career-highs and basically half of his career production as a wide receiver.

Myles White, Geremy Davis and Ben Edwards normally would be fighting for a roster spot, but as things currently stand will more than likely make the team. Usually teams carry five, if not six wide receivers as long as they contribute on special teams.

The Giants didn’t sign any veteran wide receivers in free agency, so the 2016 NFL Draft is their next chance to address the position. When you have a player as talented as Beckham Jr. some people will overlook the position, but wide receiver is one of the more pressing needs that the Giants have.

With the 10th overall pick it would be tough to imagine the Giants selecting a wide receiver. Using a top-10 pick on someone to be your No.2 receiver makes little sense, but what if the Giants trade back in the first round? Say, with the Tennessee Titans for the 15th overall pick?

That is one of the recent rumors that have been floating around, as Ole Miss wide receiver Laquon Treadwell is someone the Giants are interested in. Selecting him 10th overall wouldn’t represent great value, but moving back to the middle of the first round and selecting him, while picking up more picks later in the draft, would make a lot of sense.

If the Giants do not move back in the first round, Treadwell will probably not realistically be in their radar at No.10. But, they need to add talent at wide receiver one way or another in the draft. There are too many question marks behind Beckham Jr., and we saw last season how ugly it can get for the Giants when he is not on the field when they played against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 16.

Luckily for the Giants, there is still plenty of talented wide receivers that could be had in the second and third rounds. This could be where the Giants make their move for a wide receiver; keep an eye on players such as Tyler Boyd of Pittsburgh and Michael Thomas of Ohio State in the second round. In the third round the Giants could target someone such as Braxton Miller, also of Ohio State, or local product Leonte Carroo of Rutgers.

Next: New York Giants Seven-Round Mock Draft

Wide receiver is more of a problem for the Giants than some people realize. With the current standing at the position, on a scale of 1-10 the likelihood of the Giants selecting a wide receiver is an eight. The question is, how high will it be?

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