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By Marino Castillo
The 2020 NFL Draft is now officially over, and it was interesting. The Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles shocked everyone, and each took a quarterback early in the draft, which was not their positions of need. The thought was that those teams would select a position that they actually needed, such as wide receivers, offensive linemen, or linebackers.
Another interesting fact according to the NFL draft tracker, was that 36 wide receivers were taken in 2020. That’s tied with the 2003 draft class for most wide receivers taken in a single year.
And last but not least, round 1 of the 2020 draft set a viewership record. According to NFL.com, approximately 15.6 million watched Thursday coverage of Round 1. That is about 37 percent more than last year’s draft and breaks the previous all-time record of 12.4 million viewers in the 2014 draft. Additionally, over 7 million viewers watched “Draft- A- Thon LIVE,” a fundraiser supporting COVID-19 relief support. Roger Goddell, the Commissioner of the NFL, announced that the fundraiser raised over $100 Million during the draft.
So now, let’s go over what the New York Giants did in the draft. The Giants drafted left tackle Andrew Thomas from Georgia with their 4th overall pick. New York Giants fan and FTC Student Joseph Gucciardo’s reaction was priceless to this pick. When asked if he liked the pick, he said, “Yeah, we drafted Ereck Flowers 2.0, WHAT DO YOU THINK?” Left tackle Ereck Flowers, who NYG drafted back in the 1st round of 2015, was a complete bust. And now, Gucciardo thinks that they drafted the second version of him.
However, New York resident and Giants fan Yosh Peña thinks NYG did well with the pick. “At least we did get someone who could block Chase Young twice a year.” Pass rusher Chase Young, who got drafted by the Washington Redskins as the 2nd overall pick of the 2020 draft, will be a Giants rival and will have some competition when he goes against Big Blue twice a year. Why are people overreacting to this pick? According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Thomas had a 91.3 run-block grade, which is the best out of all tackle prospects in this draft. He only allowed five sacks in his entire three-year college career and only 25 pressures. Plus, he put up these numbers while playing in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the best conference in college football. For the last point, he has not allowed more than two pressures in a single game since 2017. Andrew Thomas was a great pick for the New York Giants.
In the 2nd round of the draft, the G Men drafted Safety Xavier McKinney out of Alabama. Many people think that this kid was supposed to go in the 1st round and the fact that the Giants got him in the 2nd round shows that this pick had great value. New Jersey native and Giants fan Javin Castillo said,“he’s a good fit next to Jabrill Peppers.” For the rest of the draft, the Giants added Darnay Homles who is a really solid slot corner. Also, Guard Shane Lemiex out of Oregon could be a future starter.
Overall, the Giants drafted four Linebackers from rounds 6-7, and some football experts say that they have a solid plan to finally fix this football team.
