5 greatest Giants NFL Draft picks of all time

The Giants have been drafting players since 1936, so picking a top five from the list of well over 1,300 players is no easy feat.

Are we looking for the best players the team has ever drafted, or the best value derived from a specific selection?

Whoever makes our list, there's sure to be other options some fans will feel should have been on it, but it will always make for an interesting discussion.

With that being said, let's count down our carefully curated selections...

5. Frank Gifford (selected first overall in 1952)

The rest of this list is going to be very defense-heavy, so we had to make sure there was at least one offensive player recognized. Other candidates with strong cases included Phil Simms, Tiki Barber, and Mark Bavaro. However, Gifford was a player before his time who was arguably their biggest star from that era.

The versatile Gifford played multiple positions and was the league's most valuable player in 1956 as the Giants won their first title since World War II. He went on to be a six-time All-Pro and was a Pro Bowler at three different positions.

4. Harry Carson (selected in the fourth round in 1976)

When you draft a player in the middle rounds, often the best you can hope for is to find someone who can start for you for multiple seasons. It's obviously rarer now than it was back then, but finding a player who can have a long career and be a starter for you was a realistic goal back in the seventies.

In Carson, the Giants found someone who was a starter for 13 seasons.

Carson wasn't just a solid starter -- the nine-time Pro Bowler was deservedly elected to the Hall of Fame in 2006. He was the team's defensive captain for 10 years, played a big part for the Super Bowl XXI winning team in 1986, and remains a big part of the community with an accomplished broadcasting career covering the team.

3. Jason Pierre-Paul (selected 15th overall in 2010)

We had to include someone from the modern era, but the player most would expect to represent this era -- two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning -- technically doesn't count as a Giants draft pick because the Giants actually selected Philip Rivers with their pick and then traded him to the Chargers for Manning.

A technicality perhaps, but Pierre-Paul is an interesting case worth highlighting anyway.

New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (90) celebrates a sack of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) during the first half at MetLife Stadium / Ed Mulholland - Imagn Images

When this selection was made, many fans and draft analysts derided the pick because the Giants were already strong at the defensive end positions. However, their depth at this position inspired the creation of the "NASCAR package," which saw the Giants rushing four defensive ends at once.

This sparked their postseason run in the 2011 playoffs and their upset win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Pierre-Paul led the way with 17 sacks in the regular season and postseason combined.

Pierre-Paul went to two Pro Bowls in eight seasons with the Giants, but his selection is a reminder that the experts don't always necessarily know best.

2. Sam Huff (selected in the third round in 1956)

Huff was a franchise icon for the Giants in the fifties and sixties, as he was a two-time first team All-Pro and a four-time second-teamer in his eight years with the team. He also won a championship in his rookie year.

You're obviously doing pretty well if you can select a Hall-of-Famer with a third-round pick, although -- to their credit -- the Giants also drafted Hall-of- Famer Rosey Brown in the 27th round in 1953.

A Giants Ring of Honor member, Huff was voted as the ninth-best player in franchise history earlier this year.

1. Lawrence Taylor (selected second overall in 1981)

When making a draft selection, you can't possibly hope for any more than the Giants got from the Taylor pick, as he wound up being someone many consider to be the greatest defensive player of all time.

The linebacker played his entire 13-year career with the Giants, won two Super Bowls, went to the Pro Bowl 10 times, and was a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer. He even won an MVP, which is unheard of for a defensive player in the modern era.

Giants fans might be hoping that they could select someone this time around that one day could stake a claim to be mentioned on a list such as this. However, coming up with a selection better than the Taylor pick would be practically impossible.