Notre Dame’s Quenton Nelson could man the left guard spot for the Giants for the next ten years. Photo from giants.com

If you are picking with the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL draft, your hope is to grab a generational player who will lead your team for the next decade.

On April 26 The Giants will select a player they hope can lead them out of a funk that resulted in a 3-13 record, player suspensions, a lost locker room and a fired coach.

There two such players in the draft who could lift Big Blue back into the NFC playoff picture pretty fast and that is Penn State running back Saquon Barkley and Notre Dame guard Quenton Nelson.

Giants General Manager David Gettleman, who returned to the Giants this year after a four-year stint with the Carolina Panthers, talked about the importance of getting a high pick right.

“Well, when you’re picking this high, if you make a mistake, you’re done,” Gettleman said at the Giants pre-draft get together with reporters. “We talk that when you miss on a quarterback, you really hurt the franchise for probably five years. It’s a five-year mistake. Yeah, it’s a big decision, but as long as you’ve done your homework and turned all the rocks over, you will come to the right answer. You ask the right questions and you will get the right answers.”

This year’s draft has six quarterbacks who could get picked in the first round of Thursday’s draft.
In order of projected pick by Walterfootball.com: Sam Darnold (USC), Josh Allen (Wyoming), Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma), Josh Rosen (UCLA), Lamar Jackson (Louisville) and Mason Rudolph (Oklahoma State).

All have potential, none are considered generational. Plus the Giants still have Eli Manning playing well and who wants to play for several more years.

Barkley and Nelson are generational players and the Giants may not get this chance anytime soon again.
The last time Big Blue picked this high was in 1981 when they took a guy named Lawrence Taylor who turned out to be a pretty good linebacker.

Barkley played three seasons at Penn State, running for 3,843 yards with 43 rushing touchdowns, while garnering 1,195 receiving yards with 8 touchdown receptions. He totaled 5,557 all-purpose yards in his three year collegiate career.

Barkley received national attention and finished fourth in Heisman trophy voting with 304 total votes and third in Maxwell Award voting. He also received multiple national and Big Ten Conference awards and recognition.

At 6-foot-0, 233 pounds, he is a force on the field that could rival the impact Ezekiel Elliott has had with the Dallas Cowboys.

Gettleman talked about Barkley.

“I’m not going to lie. He’s a tremendous talent,” the GM said. “You put the film on of a defensive guy and if they’re playing Penn State, then I’m watching Saquon. He’s one of those guys that my mother could have scouted. She could have figured that one out.”

Nelson is a healthy 6-5, 330 pounds. He helped the Fighting Irish make to two post season bowls before foregoing his senior season to enter the draft.

Nelson, by all accounts, is a “plug and play” lineman who could help the Giants on Day One.

He is a beast with a nasty attitude when he is on the field. Giants fans should visualize Nelson lined up on the left side next to Nate Solder.

The Giants can get a running back later in the draft who could help. There is no one close to Nelson’s size and ability in this draft or maybe for year to come.

But he is a guard and teams usually don’t pick guards at No. 2. Gettleman said he won’t judge a player’s worth by the position he plays.

“It was really funny,” Gettleman said. “We did some background work and there has only been one interior guy taken with the second pick of the draft and it was in (1966) and it was (Tom Mack) of the Rams. Brandon Scherff was taken at No. 5. In the old days, people would shoot you in the head. You were considered brain dead and they’d drag you out by your toes. Is it ever too early to take a great player? You know my philosophy – big men allow you to compete and you have to build your lines. I’m going to build this team from the inside out. You look at the teams that go deep in the playoffs, you turn around and you take a look at how (Eagles General Manager) Howie (Roseman) has built Philly – both fronts, let’s go. Because again, those three truths don’t change, you’ve got to run the ball, you’ve got to defend the run and rush the passer. So, everyone else wants to talk about skill guys and I want to talk about hog mollies.”

The Giants need big time hog mollies…go with Nelson. *