One of the more useless (and frustrating) exercises NFL media types engage in are ‘redrafts’ of prior NFL drafts to point out where teams went right and/or wrong with a certain draft class.
In 2020, the New York Giants selected Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas with the fourth overall selection in the draft. After a rocky rookie campaign, Thomas has settled in and become a solid player and is seen as the team’s left tackle for the present and the future.
But was he the right choice? Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report says the Giants got the position right but the player wrong.
Ballentine believes the right choice for the Giants would have been Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs, who was taken 13th overall by the eventual Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers that year.
The New York Giants had the right idea when they took Andrew Thomas with the fourth overall pick. A dominant tackle would help with quarterback Daniel Jones’ development, as well as help get the most out of Saquon Barkley when healthy.
The problem is they took the wrong one.
Thomas struggled as a rookie but improved in his second season.
He gave up 10 sacks in his rookie season while earning a Pro Football Focus grade of 62.4, putting him in backup territory. In Year 2, he raised that grade to 78.9 with two sacks allowed.
Wirfs, meanwhile, has been a solid starter but on the right side. Thomas has been playing the more important left side of the line, so we have no way of knowing whether Wirfs would be a better left tackle at this point.
The Giants will always be questioned when it comes to this draft even though they took a foundational player. They passed on not only Wirfs but also passed up quarterback Justin Herbert, who is one of the top rising young stars in the NFL.
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