In the words of Rod Stewart, tonight’s the night! After days, weeks and even months of trawling through mock draft after mock draft, every man, woman or child gets to that point where they throw their hands up in the air, sigh, and mutter something along the lines of; ‘no more, what will be, will be.’

You can make informed guesses, putting it brashly, and second guess those assumptions, but there are only a few tangible outcomes many sports writers have clung onto throughout the first round mock draft process. Let’s take one last look at them before commissioner Roger Goodell puts us all out of our miseries this evening.

Defense is King

Barring a smoke-screen to top all smoke-screens, the New York Giants are not taking a quarterback at number six, sorry folks. Dwayne Haskins may be the guy mocked to go to Big Blue in the first few months of 2019, but no longer is he the ‘experts’ favorite to land in New Jersey. Instead, it seems that Dave Gettleman is dead-set on improving the Giants’ depleted defense. Despite wheeling and dealing during free agency to bring in players like Markus Golden, Olsen Pierre, Antoine Bethea, and Jabrill Peppers, there is a bit of depth to there, but not nearly enough ‘starting quality’ around the line of scrimmage for many of the Giants faithful.

What is the dream outcome for the Giants at #6? Realistically, it’s one of three guys who have all garnered a great deal of respect and praise for their college careers; Devin White (LSU), Josh Allen (Kentucky) and Quinnen Williams (Alabama). All three look absolute studs, and one might very well fall into Gettleman’s lap if Kyler Murray, Nick Bosa and Ed Oliver all go beforehand. There are other positions around the defense that will need some looking at, but the pass rush/edge rush element is definitely a focus after trading away Pro Bowl defensive end, Olivier Vernon, and given the fact that the Giants ranked 31 out of 32 teams for sacks recorded in 2018.

Quarterback Competition

For those of you who are already preparing a knee-jerk response to a prediction that the Giants are going to draft Eli Manning’s great successor, steady on, that’s not what I’m necessarily saying. What I’m saying is that there is a strong consensus that the G-men will have A LOT of interest into where Dwayne Haskins, Drew Lock, and Daniel Jones are when it comes to picking no. 17. Again, talking about ideal situations, the Giants do the following:

Add two defensive forces at #6 and #17
Add a pass-rush at #6 and a quality tackle for the O-Line at #17
OR… what I’d consider as the most probable, pass-rush at #6 and a quarterback at #17.

There is way too much noise about Duke QB Daniel Jones to ignore. Mock drafts galore have him going to the Met Life this Spring, however, the rumors I’ve heard lately about him going at #6 frighten the living daylights out of me. In a team that screams flimsy on defense, taking what was ranked as the 4th best QB in the draft by pundits throughout the nation seems both anti-climactic and a bit needy. If Daniel Jones is Dave Gettleman’s guy, then so be it, I don’t like it, but it is what it is. But surely, surely… you’d want to draft him at the right price, and #6 overall is definitely a stretch, as many writers have him going as far back as the 20s, with a few even touting him to fall out of the first round!

Where’s Our Wide Men At?

Barring a crazy turn of events, the New York Giants will not draft a wide receiver to replace Odell Beckham Jr in the first round of the draft. Sorry. As much flash as a receiver can possess in the game we love so much, flash is not a characteristic the Giants need to worry about right now. They need the nitty-gritty, the rough and tumble, the guys who can put their heads down and get the job done.

Golden Tate is a fine slot receiver, he’s a Super Bowl winner for goodness sake! So many people forget that. However, he isn’t OBJ, a generational talent from deep and out wide. For those who like the look of DK Metcalf or Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown, you’ll have to get used to liking them in a uniform other than the Giants’ come September. There seems to be very little chance that Big Blue opt to use one of their first round picks on a receiver, given that the general consensus is that the majority of this year’s best are going to fall in the second round or later. Keep a look out for pick #37, but I would be very surprised to see them take one before Round 3.