ALEC OGLETREE
Has had off-the-field issues.
The Giants already know what it is like having to deal with Robert Griffin III and have conferred with college coaches to help them prepare for the high-octane offense new head coach Chip Kelly is bringing to the Eagles. There’s a need for speed in the NFC East and there’s a linebacker available in the NFL Draft who can provide it.
“I definitely do think I can catch them,’’ Alec Ogletree told The Post Tuesday. “I feel very comfortable in my ability to play and chase people down or hit them square in the face. I feel like I’m very versatile. I feel like there’s a need for guys like me and I think I’m one of the best at doing that.’’
There’s a glaring need for guys such as Ogletree, who is leaving Georgia after his junior year and might have the most upside of any linebacker in the draft. The Giants have the 19th overall pick and a 28-year history of not taking a linebacker in the first round, but they also have a roster devoid of a true playmaker at the position, plus the recent memory and continuing threat of RG3 dancing through their defense.
Would the Giants take Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o? He’s considered a top inside linebacker but he comes with all that baggage from his bizarre imaginary girlfriend controversy and might not be able to hold up as a true NFL man in the middle. Ogletree, on the other hand, is a huge talent but taking him at No. 19 is far from a sure thing.
One reason Ogletree is a bit of a risk is because of his off-the-field issues. He was suspended for the first game of his freshman season after he was arrested and charged with theft for stealing the motorcycle helmet of a Georgia track athlete. He was suspended for the first four games of his junior year for violating the school’s drug policy. And then, showing incredible immaturity, he was arrested this past January in Arizona — less than two weeks before the NFL Scouting Combine — for driving under the influence. No doubt, many NFL teams attached a red flag label to his draft status and the first question in many interviews probed into his many off-the-field problems.
“All I can do is just be honest with them and just hopefully move forward from it and let them make their own decision,’’ Ogletree said. “Do I think I’m a risk? No I don’t think I’m a risk.’’
The Giants have taken risks before — Ahmad Bradshaw had to spend time in jail early in his career because of arrests while in college — and usually are confident their veteran leadership can help keep youngsters in line.
There’s a boom-or-bust aura hovering over Ogletree and not only because of his rap sheet. Last week, NFL Network draft guru Mike Mayock said he was “scared to death about Ogletree, both for on and off-the-field issues.’’
On the field, Ogletree is really an oversized safety the way he moves around the field, and the fact he played last year at just 235 pounds.
Now he’s a 6-foot-3, 242-pound run-and-hit linebacker. But it seems Ogletree lacks the bulk to hold up as a middle linebacker in a 4-3 defense and would be more effective on the weak side.
There’s no doubt the Giants need an injection of adrenaline at the position. They released Michael Boley, opted not to re-sign Chase Blackburn, re-signed Keith Rivers and in free agency added former Panther and Cowboy Dan Connor on a one-year deal. Mathias Kiwanuka is moving back to his natural defensive end spot and, currently, the starting linebacker mix looks to be Connor in the middle surrounded on the outside by Rivers and Jacquian Williams, with Spencer Paysinger and Mark Herzlich in reserve.
“I feel I can fit anywhere, just being a playmaker on the field, that’s what the game is about, making plays on the field and winning games,’’ Ogletree said. “I feel like wherever I go, whatever position I play I’m gonna do my best at it and try to become great at the position.’’
* Restricted free agent RB Andre Brown signed his second-round tender that will pay him $2.02 million this season.