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The NFL Draft can't get here fast enough.
But let's be real: we're under three weeks away from the event and each passing day brings another potential wrinkle to what the New York Giants might do.
General manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll have faced an offseason of decisions that will speak to the urgency of turning the franchise into a winner again. That comes with the obvious pressure under which everyone will be operating as they enter a pivotal fourth season in control of Big Blue.
With NFL Draft festivities in Green Bay set to begin with the first round in prime time on April 24, we will continue to analyze what we know about the prospects who should be in play for the Giants.
So much is on the table for the Giants, who currently hold the No. 3 overall selection with the pre-draft focus turning from Pro Days to private workouts and "30" visits in East Rutherford. Whatever plan Schoen executed in free agency was going to have a significant impact on the Giants' draft plans, especially at quarterback, and uncertainty remains. Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders are viewed as the top two QBs in the Class of 2025, and Ward is expected to go to the Titans at No. 1.
Sitting at No. 3, with the additions of Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, what does that mean for the prospects of taking a quarterback there? Sources have told NorthJersey.com and The Record that those two signings will not alter the plan, and that if they believe in Sanders or another quarterback in that spot, the presence of Wilson and Winston will not prevent a selection.
The Giants are going to continue operating in the spirit of keeping all options open.
Using the Pro Football Network Draft simulator, here is our now-weekly stab at laying out a possible mock path for the Giants. Ward went to the Titans and the Browns took Abdul Carter, so I had the choice between Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders, and went back and forth.
I spent time preparing potential trade offers if I had to get back into the first round by using the Giants' second round pick at No. 34. The idea would be to move up if either Sanders started falling, or if I needed to make a move to get, say, Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss.
The team to get in front was the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21, but that is only part of the challenge. If the Browns don't take a quarterback at No. 2, I have to consider Cleveland as a potential threat to trade up for one, too.
So I picked three potential trade partners: the Atlanta Falcons at No. 15, the Cincinnati Bengals at No. 17 and the Denver Broncos at No. 20. I started with a trade package that included the Giants' second round pick and third round pick this year, and tweaked the offer accordingly starting with Denver.
Offer to the Broncos that was accepted: No. 34, No. 65 and a 2026 4th rounder
Offer to the Bengals that was accepted: No. 34, No. 65 and a 2026 2nd rounder
Offer to the Falcons that was accepted: No. 34, No. 65, a 2026 2nd rounder and a pick swap, the Giants' 2026 4th rounder for the Falcons' 2026 5th rounder.
With the framework of those deals in place, I sent the card in for No. 3:
xxxx
That would leave the Giants in position to take the 23-year-old Sanders if they see him as their quarterback of the future, or the 21-year-old Hunter, the Heisman Trophy-winning two-way star who some scouts believe is the best cornerback and the best wide receiver in the Class of 2025.
The entire league continues to guess on what the Browns and Giants will do at Nos. 2 and 3. Both teams are doing their best to not be completely transparent, despite what so many think they know. The same three players have been mentioned for both teams for months, but in speaking with numerous sources in recent days, nobody knows for certain.
Some league sources earlier this week predicted recency bias would take over post-Colorado Pro Day as far as what Browns would do. Abdul Carter has been out of sight, out of mind so to speak in recent days, and it's not his fault. Still sounds like Browns may go Carter or Hunter, with Sanders not out of it yet, either.
The Browns stuck with Carter and I decided to go for the 21-year-old Hunter, the Heisman Trophy-winning two-way star who some scouts believe is the best cornerback and the best wide receiver in the Class of 2025.
The Giants see Hunter as a prospect who can change both sides of the ball, likely with his top priority at corner and an uncommon ability to contribute right away on offense, those familiar with the team's thinking throughout the evaluation process told NorthJersey.com and The Record. The difference here would be not just a physical challenge but a mental one for Hunter to learn the defense AND the offense as a rookie, as Daboll noted earlier this week.
That has nothing to do with a lack of intelligence, because by most accounts, Hunter is very sharp. It's not a talent issue, either, with NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah saying: "Travis Hunter is like someone went to the Philadelphia Eagles and took Devonta Smith and Darius Slay, spun him around in a circle and they came out as the same human being."
Schoen and Daboll probably can't think like this, but I can: I was not leaving the draft without a franchise quarterback. To me, Sanders has enough in his game worth taking that swing, so I figured I would beat the Browns to the punch and use the pick swap as the sweetener to get Atlanta to make the move. If Sanders is off the board, I'd probably look to make the deal with either Cincinnati or more likely Denver, but we'll see.
Sanders is coming off a season where he led Colorado to its first nine-win season since 2016, broke the program record for passing yards in a season (4,134), finished with the highest single-season completion percentage (74%) and threw the most touchdowns in a single season (37).
He is not going to draw oohs and aahs with his arm like Justin Herbert or his wheels like Lamar Jackson, or run people over like Josh Allen. That should not allow what Sanders can't do to lead you away from what he does really well.
In some ways, Sanders is a quarterback from a different age of the NFL. He's a pocket passer who, because of his DNA, is downgraded in part because he is not QB Prime despite being the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.
That should still play in today's game: he's consistent, tough, accurate and the spotlight and pressure here won't faze him. On the field during the Pro Day workout, Shedeur Sanders completed 62-of-67 passes with three drops, according to The Athletic's Jeff Howe. He drew comparisons to Russell Wilson for his deep ball accuracy, including several completions to Hunter.
With Wilson and Winston here, the Giants can afford to give Sanders the time to acclimate himself to the pros and show what he can do behind the scenes, waiting until he is ready to be thrust into QB1.
Farmer has been one of the more overlooked prospects in a deep class of defensive linemen. At 6-foot-3 and 305 pounds with 35-inch arms, he isn't afraid to use his size as a run stopper with eight tackles for loss to go along with four sacks this past season at Florida State. It's hard to not think of Braden Fiske and Jared Verse and their impact with the Rams when evaluating Farmer and the D-Line in Tallahassee. Farmer is a good athlete who can play up and down the line, which would give the Giants flexibility as they look to find the right mix up front with Dexter Lawrence anchoring the middle.
Tremendous production both at Oregon State and then with the Hurricanes after transferring prior to the season. He led Miami with 1,002 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, finishing his college career with 3,169 yards rushing and 26 scores, 14 100-yard games, and 32 receptions for 391 yards.
Martinez is listed at 6-foot and 217 pounds, he plays even bigger and would be an intriguing complement to Tyrone Tracy. The Giants have done a lot of homework in a deep running back class, so they're likely to add one in the draft this year.
Incredible durability at 6-foot-3 and 315 pounds. He has high football IQ and, even though he comes into the league projecting solely as a center, the Giants could explore how he'd fit at guard, too. They met with him after the Texas Pro Day. Majors established a new program record with 56 career starts over five seasons.
Pierce has an ideal combination of size and length (6-foot-8, 344 pounds), and the most appealing aspect of his game is the way he has rapidly improved in his career. The New Jersey native has yet to hit his ceiling, and in this spot, the Giants should be looking for an offensive lineman to develop and get the most out of while working behind veterans Andrew Thomas and Jermaine Eluemunor. If Pierce excels fast enough, he would give the Giants much-needed young depth at a position reliant on proven players who are not easily replaceable.
Sheppard is a very good route runner and he impressed at the East/West Shrine Bowl, which the Giants were all over. That's where they fell in love with Tyrone Tracy a year ago, and you can bet Daboll and Schoen have seen plenty of Sheppard as they have combed through all the tape of Shedeur Sanders. They recently had dinner with Sheppard, who also impressed Friday at the Colorado Pro Day. I like the fact that you can bring in a second receiver beyond Hunter who had some chemistry with Sanders in Boulder. He's 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, and will be an under-the-radar developmental prospect.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: New York Giants mock draft 6.0: Here's our latest projection
Continue reading...
But let's be real: we're under three weeks away from the event and each passing day brings another potential wrinkle to what the New York Giants might do.
General manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll have faced an offseason of decisions that will speak to the urgency of turning the franchise into a winner again. That comes with the obvious pressure under which everyone will be operating as they enter a pivotal fourth season in control of Big Blue.
With NFL Draft festivities in Green Bay set to begin with the first round in prime time on April 24, we will continue to analyze what we know about the prospects who should be in play for the Giants.
Who will Giants draft in first round?
So much is on the table for the Giants, who currently hold the No. 3 overall selection with the pre-draft focus turning from Pro Days to private workouts and "30" visits in East Rutherford. Whatever plan Schoen executed in free agency was going to have a significant impact on the Giants' draft plans, especially at quarterback, and uncertainty remains. Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders are viewed as the top two QBs in the Class of 2025, and Ward is expected to go to the Titans at No. 1.
Sitting at No. 3, with the additions of Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, what does that mean for the prospects of taking a quarterback there? Sources have told NorthJersey.com and The Record that those two signings will not alter the plan, and that if they believe in Sanders or another quarterback in that spot, the presence of Wilson and Winston will not prevent a selection.
The Giants are going to continue operating in the spirit of keeping all options open.
You must be registered for see images
Giants mock draft: Every selection for Big Blue
Using the Pro Football Network Draft simulator, here is our now-weekly stab at laying out a possible mock path for the Giants. Ward went to the Titans and the Browns took Abdul Carter, so I had the choice between Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders, and went back and forth.
I spent time preparing potential trade offers if I had to get back into the first round by using the Giants' second round pick at No. 34. The idea would be to move up if either Sanders started falling, or if I needed to make a move to get, say, Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss.
The team to get in front was the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21, but that is only part of the challenge. If the Browns don't take a quarterback at No. 2, I have to consider Cleveland as a potential threat to trade up for one, too.
So I picked three potential trade partners: the Atlanta Falcons at No. 15, the Cincinnati Bengals at No. 17 and the Denver Broncos at No. 20. I started with a trade package that included the Giants' second round pick and third round pick this year, and tweaked the offer accordingly starting with Denver.
Offer to the Broncos that was accepted: No. 34, No. 65 and a 2026 4th rounder
Offer to the Bengals that was accepted: No. 34, No. 65 and a 2026 2nd rounder
Offer to the Falcons that was accepted: No. 34, No. 65, a 2026 2nd rounder and a pick swap, the Giants' 2026 4th rounder for the Falcons' 2026 5th rounder.
With the framework of those deals in place, I sent the card in for No. 3:
Round 1, Pick 3: Travis Hunter, CB/WR, Colorado
xxxx
That would leave the Giants in position to take the 23-year-old Sanders if they see him as their quarterback of the future, or the 21-year-old Hunter, the Heisman Trophy-winning two-way star who some scouts believe is the best cornerback and the best wide receiver in the Class of 2025.
The entire league continues to guess on what the Browns and Giants will do at Nos. 2 and 3. Both teams are doing their best to not be completely transparent, despite what so many think they know. The same three players have been mentioned for both teams for months, but in speaking with numerous sources in recent days, nobody knows for certain.
Some league sources earlier this week predicted recency bias would take over post-Colorado Pro Day as far as what Browns would do. Abdul Carter has been out of sight, out of mind so to speak in recent days, and it's not his fault. Still sounds like Browns may go Carter or Hunter, with Sanders not out of it yet, either.
The Browns stuck with Carter and I decided to go for the 21-year-old Hunter, the Heisman Trophy-winning two-way star who some scouts believe is the best cornerback and the best wide receiver in the Class of 2025.
The Giants see Hunter as a prospect who can change both sides of the ball, likely with his top priority at corner and an uncommon ability to contribute right away on offense, those familiar with the team's thinking throughout the evaluation process told NorthJersey.com and The Record. The difference here would be not just a physical challenge but a mental one for Hunter to learn the defense AND the offense as a rookie, as Daboll noted earlier this week.
That has nothing to do with a lack of intelligence, because by most accounts, Hunter is very sharp. It's not a talent issue, either, with NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah saying: "Travis Hunter is like someone went to the Philadelphia Eagles and took Devonta Smith and Darius Slay, spun him around in a circle and they came out as the same human being."
Round 1, Pick 15 (Trade with Falcons): Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado
Schoen and Daboll probably can't think like this, but I can: I was not leaving the draft without a franchise quarterback. To me, Sanders has enough in his game worth taking that swing, so I figured I would beat the Browns to the punch and use the pick swap as the sweetener to get Atlanta to make the move. If Sanders is off the board, I'd probably look to make the deal with either Cincinnati or more likely Denver, but we'll see.
Sanders is coming off a season where he led Colorado to its first nine-win season since 2016, broke the program record for passing yards in a season (4,134), finished with the highest single-season completion percentage (74%) and threw the most touchdowns in a single season (37).
He is not going to draw oohs and aahs with his arm like Justin Herbert or his wheels like Lamar Jackson, or run people over like Josh Allen. That should not allow what Sanders can't do to lead you away from what he does really well.
You must be registered for see images
In some ways, Sanders is a quarterback from a different age of the NFL. He's a pocket passer who, because of his DNA, is downgraded in part because he is not QB Prime despite being the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.
That should still play in today's game: he's consistent, tough, accurate and the spotlight and pressure here won't faze him. On the field during the Pro Day workout, Shedeur Sanders completed 62-of-67 passes with three drops, according to The Athletic's Jeff Howe. He drew comparisons to Russell Wilson for his deep ball accuracy, including several completions to Hunter.
With Wilson and Winston here, the Giants can afford to give Sanders the time to acclimate himself to the pros and show what he can do behind the scenes, waiting until he is ready to be thrust into QB1.
Round 3, Pick 99: Joshua Farmer, DT, Florida State
Farmer has been one of the more overlooked prospects in a deep class of defensive linemen. At 6-foot-3 and 305 pounds with 35-inch arms, he isn't afraid to use his size as a run stopper with eight tackles for loss to go along with four sacks this past season at Florida State. It's hard to not think of Braden Fiske and Jared Verse and their impact with the Rams when evaluating Farmer and the D-Line in Tallahassee. Farmer is a good athlete who can play up and down the line, which would give the Giants flexibility as they look to find the right mix up front with Dexter Lawrence anchoring the middle.
Round 4, Pick 104: Damien Martinez, RB, Miami
Tremendous production both at Oregon State and then with the Hurricanes after transferring prior to the season. He led Miami with 1,002 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, finishing his college career with 3,169 yards rushing and 26 scores, 14 100-yard games, and 32 receptions for 391 yards.
Martinez is listed at 6-foot and 217 pounds, he plays even bigger and would be an intriguing complement to Tyrone Tracy. The Giants have done a lot of homework in a deep running back class, so they're likely to add one in the draft this year.
Round 5, Pick 154: Jake Majors, C, Texas
Incredible durability at 6-foot-3 and 315 pounds. He has high football IQ and, even though he comes into the league projecting solely as a center, the Giants could explore how he'd fit at guard, too. They met with him after the Texas Pro Day. Majors established a new program record with 56 career starts over five seasons.
Round 7, Pick 219: Hollin Pierce, OT, Rutgers
Pierce has an ideal combination of size and length (6-foot-8, 344 pounds), and the most appealing aspect of his game is the way he has rapidly improved in his career. The New Jersey native has yet to hit his ceiling, and in this spot, the Giants should be looking for an offensive lineman to develop and get the most out of while working behind veterans Andrew Thomas and Jermaine Eluemunor. If Pierce excels fast enough, he would give the Giants much-needed young depth at a position reliant on proven players who are not easily replaceable.
Round 7, Pick 246: Will Sheppard, WR, Colorado
Sheppard is a very good route runner and he impressed at the East/West Shrine Bowl, which the Giants were all over. That's where they fell in love with Tyrone Tracy a year ago, and you can bet Daboll and Schoen have seen plenty of Sheppard as they have combed through all the tape of Shedeur Sanders. They recently had dinner with Sheppard, who also impressed Friday at the Colorado Pro Day. I like the fact that you can bring in a second receiver beyond Hunter who had some chemistry with Sanders in Boulder. He's 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, and will be an under-the-radar developmental prospect.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: New York Giants mock draft 6.0: Here's our latest projection
Continue reading...
