New York, NY (WFAN)  -- It’s been a while, at least in blog form.

It’s everybody’s favorite time of year – the NFL Draft. I have to admit, I love watching the draft, and trying to figure out who is going to do what. But I’m going to let you in on a little secret: a lot of what you hear leading up to the draft is complete garbage. The reason? The sources for information to reporters are generally from teams, and teams aren’t in any hurry to tell you exactly what they’re going to do.

So with that said, I will speculate as to who I think the Giants should draft, not who I know they’re going to draft. Before we address is, let’s spend a minute on Jeremy Shockey.

Come Saturday, I’m pretty convinced he won’t be a Giant. From everything I’ve heard, the Saints want him, the Giants will trade him, and he would welcome a change. New Orleans is waiting to see if the Giants will lower their original price (S Roman Harper and a second round pick) to just a second. My guess is that it will land somewhere in the middle, and the Giants will end up with a second and a fifth.

And it’s a good deal. I know the fans love him, but let’s face it: the Giants don’t use Shockey in the way he wants to be used, and he does get hurt a lot. A change of scenery, especially in joining Sean Payton in New Orleans, would be good.

By the way, the Giants are not bad off at tight end. We know about Kevin Boss, and Mike Matthews did a very underrated job blocking last year. Don’t forget about Darcy Johnson, who missed all of last season with injury. The Giants are very high on his abilities.

To the draft:

We all know it. Despite the signing of Sammy Knight, they need help at safety. There is only one player who is a first round talent at the position (again, according to those who claim to know,) and that’s Kenny Phillips from Miami. He’s a guy who is a big hitting-type, almost like an extra linebacker against the run. I’ve not seen him play one game, but from what I read, he’s better in pass defense in the zone than man-to-man. He’s 6’2”, 208, and is regarded as the best at his position in the draft.

They also need linebackers, and a good choice would be Jerod Mayo from Tennessee. I have seen him play a few games, and he’s all over the place on the field. He led the SEC in tackles this season. He can play both inside and outside, has excellent speed, but may have to put on some bulk to be in the middle consistently. He could be a long term replacement for Antonio Pierce on the inside.

Assuming they move Shockey, they’ll have two second round picks. Don’t be shocked (no pun intended) if they opt for both a defensive tackle and another speedy wide receiver. One possibility: Early Doucet from LSU. He ran a 4.37 40-yard dash, and while he’s just 6’0”, he makes big plays. An alarm should be going off for Sinorice Moss.

As for defensive tackle, credit Ralph Vacchiano for believing this one first, but I could see the Giants taking a shot on Kentwan Balmer of North Carolina or Pat Sims of Auburn. It’s unlikely Balmer will slip that far, but he compares very favorably to the type of player that Fred Robbins has become. He’s a former defensive end, and has good explosion as another pass rusher from the inside. Sims had 11 ½ tackles for loss and 4 ½ sacks this season.

But hey, it’s all a crapshoot. Enjoy the draft, as I know I will. I’ll be doing a post-draft show on FAN from 8-11pm Saturday night, so make sure you check in.

Stay good lookin’.

CC