Shaun O'Hara discusses his top OT prospect pancakes
According to the experts, the 2022 NFL Draft is deep at several positions, including the offensive line.
The Giants have added several offensive linemen through the first few weeks of free agency, but could still look to bolster their depth up front in the draft.
Former Giants center and Super Bowl champion Shaun O'Hara joined NFL Network's "Good Morning Football" this week to discuss some of the top O-line prospects in this year's draft.
Among the players O'Hara breaks down on film are:
- Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State
- Daniel Faalele, OT, Minnesota
- Tyler Smith, OT, Tulsa
- Trevor Penning, OT, Northern Iowa
- Ikem Ekwonu, OT, N.C. State
Of those players, Ekwonu (No. 2), Penning (No. 22), Cross (No. 23) and Smith (No. 41) all appear in Daniel Jeremiah's latest list of top 50 draft prospects.
NFL Network's Bucky Brooks recently updated his top five prospects by position ranking as well, which featured several of the same names in his top five offensive tackles.
Here are Brooks' top five offensive tackles:
1. Ekwonu
2. Evan Neal, OT, Alabama
3. Cross
4. Penning
5. Bernhard Raimann, OT, Central Michigan
Cynthia Frelund's latest mock predicts OT & EDGE for Giants
We are now less than four weeks away from the start of this year's NFL Draft.
With the pro day schedule nearly complete, draft analysts have begun updating their mock drafts.
The latest to do so is NFL Network analytics expert Cynthia Frelund. In her first analytics mock draft, Frelund predicted the Giants take N.C. State OT Ickey Ekwonu at No. 5 and Purdue EDGE George Karlaftis at No. 7.
In her latest first-round projection, the analytics expert kept one pick the same while predicting a new edge rusher to the Giants at No. 7.
Here are Frelund's new picks for the Giants.
Pick for No. 5:Â Ickey Ekwonu, OT, N.C. State
Analysis: "Another duplicate pick here from Mock 1.0, especially with the Giants front office telling us they aren't shopping Saquon Barkley. Ekwonu's 18 big-time blocks in the run game, per Pro Football Focus, were seven more than the next-closest Power Five offensive lineman."
Ekwonu allowed just three sacks and 10 hurries on 500 pass block snaps last season. Pro Football Focus awarded him a 91.6 overall grade this past season, which included 93.8 run block and 78.3 pass block grades. In his first two seasons at N.C. State, the young tackle had overall grades of 80.6 (2020) and 80.5 (2019). Ekwonu earned numerous awards and honors this past year, and surrendered just eight QB hits on 1,332 pass block snaps over the last three seasons at N.C. State.
Ekwonu's collegiate accolades include Unanimous All-American (2021), ACC Jacobs Blocking Award (2021), First-Team All-ACC (2021), and Third-Team All-ACC (2020).
For his player comparison, both PFF and Lance Zierlein compared him to Kelechi Osemele.
Pick for No. 7:Â Kayvon Thibodeaux, DE, Oregon
Analysis:Â "After posting just 34 sacks last season (tied for 22nd), the Giants could pounce on the high-upside pass rusher out of Oregon."
Thibodeaux put together three consecutive strong seasons for the Ducks, which began with an eye-opening freshman campaign in 2019. In 13 games that year, Thibodeaux registered nine sacks and 14 tackles for loss while earning a 77.9 overall grade from Pro Football Focus. This performance led to him being named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
He followed that up with three sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss in seven games in 2020, good for a 78.9 overall grade, and was named First-Team All-Pac-12 and the recipient of the Morris Trophy as the conference's best defensive lineman. Playing in 10 games as a junior this past season, Thibodeaux had seven sacks, 12 tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles. He received an 83.9 overall grade from PFF, including an elite 91.5 pass rush grade, and was once again named First-Team All-Pac-12 along with Unanimous All-American.
For his player comparison, PFF described Thibodeaux as a "rawer Myles Garrett," while Lance Zierlein compared him to Brian Orakpo.
NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah released his final edition of the top 50 prospects in the 2022 NFL Draft.
No. 50 Logan Hall, DT, Houston
No. 49 David Ojabo, EDGE, Michigan
No. 48 Sam Howell, QB, North Carolina
No. 47 Kaiir Elam, CB, Florida
No. 46 Christian Watson, WR, North Dakota State
No. 45 Skyy Moore, WR, Western Michigan
No. 44 Nik Bonitto, EDGE, Oklahoma
No. 43 Bernhard Raimann, OT, Central Michigan
No. 42 Tyler Smith, OT, Tulsa
No. 41 Jalen Pitre, S, Baylor
No. 40 Matt Corral, QB, Mississippi
No. 39 Lewis Cine, S, Georgia
No. 38 Christian Harris, LB, Alabama
No. 37 Travis Jones, DT, Connecticut
No. 36 Kenyon Green, G, Texas A&M
No. 35 Kyler Gordon, CB, Washington
No. 34 Arnold Ebiketie, EDGE, Penn State
No. 33 Kenneth Walker III, RB, Michigan State
No. 32 Andrew Booth Jr., CB, Clemson
No. 31 Boye Mafe, EDGE, Minnesota
No. 30 Zion Johnson, IOL, Boston College
No. 29 Quay Walker, LB, Georgia
No. 28 Breece Hall, RB, Iowa State
No. 27 Tyler Linderbaum, IOL, Iowa
No. 26 Malik Willis, QB, Liberty
No. 25 Jahan Dotson, WR, Penn State
No. 24 Kenny Pickett, QB, Pittsburgh
No. 23 Devonte Wyatt, DT, Georgia
No. 22 Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State
No. 21 Dax Hill, S, Michigan
No. 20 Trevor Penning, OT, Northern Iowa
No. 19 Treylon Burks, WR, Arkansas
No. 18 George Karlaftis, EDGE, Purdue
No. 17 Nakobe Dean, LB, Georgia
No. 16 Jameson Williams, WR, Alabama
No. 15 Chris Olave, WR, Ohio State
No. 14 Trent McDuffie, CB, Washington
No. 13 Devin Lloyd, LB, Utah
No. 12 Derek Stingley Jr., CB, LSU
No. 11 Jordan Davis, DT, Georgia
No. 10 Kayvon Thibodeaux, EDGE, Oregon
No. 9 Jermaine Johnson II, EDGE, Florida State
No. 8 Evan Neal, OT, Alabama
No. 7 Drake London, WR, Southern California
No. 6 Travon Walker, EDGE, Georgia
No. 5 Kyle Hamilton, S, Notre Dame
No. 4 Garrett Wilson, WR, Ohio State
No. 3 Ickey Ekwonu, OT, North Carolina State
No. 2 Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner, CB, Cincinnati
No. 1 Aidan Hutchinson, EDGE, Michigan
📸 EVERY prospect mocked to the Giants
As it currently stands, the Giants hold nine picks in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Here are all nine picks:
Round 1 - No. 5, No. 7 (via CHI)
Round 2 - No. 36
Round 3 - No. 67, No. 81 (via MIA)
Round 4 - No. 112 (via CHI)
Round 5 - No. 147, No. 173 (via KC through BAL)
Round 6 - No. 182
Check out the gallery below to view photos of EVERY prospect being mocked to the Giants by draft analysts.
