NYG Select DT Dalvin Tomlinson in Round 2

Our analyst Wonder raved about the “monster” and “unguardable” skill set of Evan Engram, the TE chosen by the NY Giants in Round 1. He was much less complimentary of DT Dalvin Tomlinson, who was taken in Round 2.

“Too Slow, with a capital S. The best thing I can say about Tomlinson is that he is a decent run stopper, but all he does is fill space. These guys are a dime a dozen. He cannot penetrate. He was a big lumbering guy who went for a ride on (the coattails of) a loaded Alabama Defense,” said the UltimateNYG draft analyst.

He plays off center, a 1-technique in a 4-3. He is best suited to clog up a 3-4 in the middle. He needs to lose 30 lbs or else he won’t be able to stay on the field. He tore his ACL in both his right knee and his left knee. So he certainly cannot carry too much weight on those knees. Wonder, like his bluntness or not, says that Tomlinson will not be a productive starter.

Wonder’s track record has been verified to be better than the GMs. With that said, he also was wrong on the Hankins evaluation. But how many NFL Draft analysts that you follow are willing to be held accountable for the correct calls AND the bad ones? Where is the track record and transparency of the other Draft analysts? We have verified Wonder’s track record and will continue to verify it. It is the only way to separate the noise from the value-added.

I hope Wonder is wrong on the eval of Tomlinson because this DT is on the team we root for. We shall see in time.

Now it is my turn to critique Jerry Reese. The Giants GM has taken:

2007 Steve Alford R3
2010 Linval Joseph R2
2011 Marvin Austin R2
2013 Johnathan Hankins R2
2014 Jay Bromley R3
2017 Dalvin Tomlinson R2

Here is my problem- when these guys are good (Joseph and Hankins) they walk. And when they strike out, the Giants strike out. So I am trying to figure out.. what is the plan. Someone tell me what the plan is at Defensive Tackle, because all I see is a drain on precious draft resources without any measurable payoff. By the time they get to their prime, IF they are good, they do not get their contract extended. If you are not willing to pay up for the services of this position, then it seems like a very expensive (not dollars, but rather high draft picks) way to go. I can understand if you let Hankins walk when the Colts pay very big money. The Joseph contract that the Vikings paid was not unreasonable and Joseph delivered big by continuing to play at a very high level in his prime. Why wasn’t Joseph re-signed?

Enter Tomlinson. The thinking is that sandwiched in between Vernon, Harrison (and JPP) he will get plugged in and deliver. Under that theory, why not draft a Round 4+ player. Or let Bromley take that role? The Giants certainly have many needs. No other position continues to take such a consistent pull on high draft pick resources like DT. At least we would like to think that one or two DTs would ascend and then maybe the team would not have to keep drafting… high yet again to keep replacing this never ending merry-go-round. Instead, other positions continue to suffer and get serial neglect, namely LBer. In 11 years, Reese has drafted exactly one player with the same high resources, Clint Sintim NINE drafts ago. Maybe 1 or 2 of these 6 DT picks could share the wealth and spread some of that Round 2 or Round 3 love on a LBer once in less than a decade? Just trying to figure out what the plan is.