New York Giants: WTH? Dalvin Cook was right there for the taking
The New York Giants had one job to do and they failed miserably in the First Round of the 2017 NFL Draft. All they had to do was choose running back Dalvin Cook out of Florida State. Instead, they decided to go TE and that may have cost them a shot at the NFC East title. No, one player is normally the difference maker, however, in Cook’s case, he was.
The Giants will throw out an offensive lineup that will include Eli Manning, Odell Beckham, and Brandon Marshall but who will keep defenses honest at the line of scrimmage?
The Giants ranked at the bottom of the NFL in terms of rushing last season and the Draft was supposed to be their remedy. However, they decided to add Evan Engram, another pass catcher instead of providing that passing attack some insurance. Cook is a top-10 talent but most teams were not in the need for a RB which caused him to drop. When the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers passed on him, fans of the Giants had to be jumping for joy.
As the Giants picked was read off, you could hear a silent cry coming from the G-Men faithful in New York.
The NFL may be a passing league but let’s not forget that it’s the run that sets up the pass. Cook has great North-to-South speed which would help keep OBD and Marshall from being double-teamed on the outsides and help limit some of Eli’s mistakes as he tends to deliver the ball at times when he should have handed it off.
Cook is who the Giants had to be wishing for with Leonard Fournette and Christian MacCaffrey off the board. No one expected Cook to last until the Giants picked 23rd but there he was, ready to lead the team in rushing in 2017. In an offseason that saw Adrian Peterson go to the New Orleans Saints and Marshawn Lynch come out of retirement, it was not the Giants turn to make a move.
They failed.
A TE was needed but the Giants could have grabbed one of those later on. A talent like Cook’s doesn’t come around often and for a team in desperate need of a ground game– how did they manage to drop the ball on this one?
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
