Giants are thin at receiver: Is Treadwell the answer despite slow 40
There is no denying that Laquon Treadwell is an impressive athlete that will wind up making an NFL team very happy on draft day. Our friends at Big Blue View reported that Treadwell ran a slow 40 (4.63) at his Ole Miss pro day.
They also pointed out how many great receivers, some “Hall of Fame” receivers did not rely on 4.4 speed. While the Giants definitely did their homework on Odell Beckham Jr. and he has performed better than anyone expected, the question is…do you use the 10th overall pick on a receiver with Tight End straight line speed.
I randomly looked at Tight Ends 40 times. Guys like Antonio Gates, Delanie Walker, Greg Olsen and Jimmy Graham all ran sub 4.6.
Maybe the 40 is over rated and Treadwell will be a great bookend with OBJ, making Eli Manning very happy. Some would say that a receiver running a 4.63 will not be a vertical player and will be eventually forced to do the dirty work between the numbers, which is still very useful in today’s NFL. No offensive lives outside the hash marks exclusively.
Treadwell is a big receiver at 6’3 221 and could give the Giants some height on the offensive side of the ball. The key here is that the Giants do not have a true No.2 receiver and Reese has shown little urgency signing a free agent receiver which helps solidify a pick like Treadwell.
It also seems unlikely that Dwayne Harris, who performed well in 2015 will moved into that role. Geremy Davis who drafted last year from Connecticut could be in play at 6’2 216; however, showed very little to get on the field last year when the Giants were desperate for bodies. The wild card will be Victor Cruz. If he has the Giants brass convinced he can make it back and healthy…the Giants won’t be considering Treadwell’s below average 40 time.
Overall, I do not think the Giants can afford to miss on this pick. The team needs defense and regardless of the player, DeForest Buckner, Shaq Lawson, Kevin Dodd, Vernon Hargreaves, Noah Spence, or Emmanuel Ogbah, defense is the safe pick and will help to repair what was a dismissal unit in 2015.
@NYGiantsRush