It’s been mock draft season for nearly two months in New York, but we are close to learning where Big Blue will pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. According to Tankathon, the New York Giants currently own the No. 5 overall pick.
With one game to go in the NFL season, the Giants, at 5-11, have an opportunity to stay in the top five or possibly climb even higher. It all depends on how the season-finale vs. the Eagles goes down, plus how others in front of them perform. With that said, there are massive needs this team needs to address on both sides of the ball. In our latest mock draft, Joe Schoen does just that, with a surprising trade also coming. But first…
Regardless of who is quarterbacking the Giants in 2024 or beyond, they also need some weapons to throw to. Jalin Hyatt and Wan’Dale Robinson are the only two wide receivers on Big Blue’s roster guaranteed to return. Darius Slayton and Isaiah Hodgins will likely be on the team, but it’s not certain.
Slayton is a talented wideout but profiles as a WR3 on a playoff team. He has led New York in receiving yards in four of his five career seasons, which stresses the importance of getting a WR1.
Malik Nabers is absolutely a WR1. The 6′ 0″, 200-pounder hauled in 86 passes for 1,546 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2023. He averaged 18 yards per reception in 2023, which would trail Hyatt (18.1) by 0.1 yards for the most yards per reception on the current Giants roster.
In LSU’s 12 games this fall, he had nine 100-yard receiving games. In fact, in 11 of the 12 games, Nabers had 87 or more receiving yards. His lowest output in a game this season was 67 receiving yards. He’s a flat-out stud.
Keon Coleman falls to the second round in this scenario. Schoen should pounce if Coleman is on the board in round two, even if a wide receiver is the pick in round one.
The most recent instance of an NFL team grabbing a receiver in rounds one and two of the same draft was the Denver Broncos in 2020 (Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler). Coleman, a 6′ 4″, 215-pound receiver, would give the Giants a big-body receiver, something their offense has lacked for a viciously long time. Kenny Golladay was supposed to be that guy, but we all know how that worked out.
Keon Coleman Breakdown:
A literal HIGHLIGHT reel at FSU, his high’s are as entertaining as it gets fellas.
6’4 (89th percentile)
215 lbs (81st percentile)Outside X receiver that can thrive in intermediate and short routes. ELITE size, very good hands, quickly locates and… pic.twitter.com/q8Jf9t5rhq
— Austin Abbott (@AustinAbbottFF) December 21, 2023
In three college seasons, the first two at Michigan State and the final at Florida State, Coleman caught 115 passes for 1,506 yards and 19 touchdowns. His figure and play style, identical to prime Golladay, would allow Brian Daboll to play vastly different wide receiver body types on the field simultaneously. Coleman was also a punt returner at Florida State, and we know Schoen craves versatility.
NY Giants second-round pick: Iowa State DB TJ Tampa
The Giants need a corner to play alongside Deonte Banks on the outside for the long haul. TJ Tampa could be the perfect fit and a great use of the pick New York acquired for trading Leonard Williams to Seattle.
Tampa ( 6-2, 200 pounds) is a physical corner with great instincts. His build is very similar to Sauce Gardner, as is his play style. Tampa picked off two passes in 2023 and gave up just 240 receiving yards (an average of just 20 per game). He also gave up just 99 yards after the catch in 2023 (an average of just 8.25 yards per game). That is significant given the rate at which New York’s secondary members missed tackles in 2023.
#IowaState DB T.J. Tampa has excellent size, physicality and his closing speed on routes is apparent on tape and allows him to undercut routes.
Turns and finds the football in air on vertical routes and if he’s in trail position, has awareness to play through receiver’s hands. pic.twitter.com/0c6rZAYY2p
— Devin Jackson (@RealD_Jackson) October 12, 2023
NY Giants third-round pick: Boston College G Christian Mahogany
The Giants are set along the offensive line at left tackle (Andrew Thomas), center (John Michael Schmitz), and right tackle (Evan Neal) to start the 2024 NFL season. The two guard positions are wide open, and it would be prudent to add some veteran leadership to the young offensive line and not continue to throw premium draft assets at the position. Schoen will study the 2024 offensive line class very hard over the next few months.
Christian Mahogany 💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾 pic.twitter.com/qgYrpDFdxv
— EJHolt_NFLDraft🏈 (@EJunkie215) December 22, 2023
Christian Mahogany will be a player that intensely intrigues him. Mahogany balled out in 2023, allowing just eight pressures, no hits, and no sacks in 862 offensive snaps. He also threw in a couple of pancakes like these.
TRADE ALERT: NY Giants trade 2024 fourth-round pick to the Chicago Bears for QB Justin Fields
The Bears will own the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft thanks to a shrewd trade by Ryan Poles with the Carolina Panthers before last year’s draft, and will likely take Caleb Williams. Subsequently, they will trade Justin Fields.
I am by no means a huge Fields fan, but if the Giants are out of range in round one to take a quarterback they love, taking a flier of Fields instead of signing a veteran journeyman like Ryan Tannehill, Jacoby Brissett or Jaemis Winston makes a ton of sense.
For starters, Fields will likely not command a day one or day two pick, given the Bears have no leverage in the negotiations, and because the acquiring team would immediately have to decide whether to pick up his fifth-year option and potentially hand him a contract extension in a year or two.
Fields says I'll do it myself
📺: #AZvsCHI on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/UIg1XAk0MB pic.twitter.com/hZhu2siIVD— NFL (@NFL) December 24, 2023
From the Giants standpoint, Schoen loves getting value from spots, and no fourth-rounder could give Big Blue more value in 2024 than Fields. Given Daniel Jones’ contract, the Giants cannot sign a big-time veteran like Kirk Cousins this spring, but they can add Fields (or a draft a quarterback), whose base salary is just over $1.6 million, to the payroll.
Fields could duke it out with Jones in camp for the starting job. Fields has refined his game a ton in 2023, and his legs, paired with Saquon Barkley’s (if re-signed), would be a nightmare for opposing defenses. In this scenario, we think a fourth-rounder and a 2025 third-rounder would get the job done for Fields.
NY Giants fifth-round pick: Michigan C Drake Nugent
Schmitz has played very well down the stretch and appears to be Big Blue’s center of the future. Adding center depth, someone who can develop chemistry with New York’s quarterbacks in case Schmitz suffers an injury, like he did this season, is critical.
Michigan Center Drake Nugent this season:
〽️ 302 Pass Block Snaps
〽️ Zero Sacks Allowed
〽️ One QB Hit Allowed pic.twitter.com/b5KCX0FKkc— PFF College (@PFF_College) November 30, 2023
Nugent isn’t just a center, though. He is one of the leaders of Michigan’s offense, the No. 1 college football team in the country. The 2023 first-team All-Big Ten member also has versatility. Prior to transferring to Michigan last year, Nugent played four seasons at Stanford. In his freshmen season, he played left guard, and in his sophomore season, he played left tackle before making the switch to the middle of the offensive line for his last three collegiate seasons.
NY Giants sixth-round pick: Alabama S Malachi Moore
Jason Pinnock has developed into an NFL starting safety, but the depth chart behind him in 2024 is murky. Xavier McKinney is a free agent this spring, and the only other safeties on the roster are Dane Belton and Gervarrius Owens, neither of whom profile as starters.
Malachi Moore may not be a starter, but he would add depth to a room that needs it. The Giants have had success in drafting Alabama safeties in the last decade (Landon Collins and McKinney), and it may be worth going back to that well.
BIG-TIME interception by Malachi Moore 💪
Alabama is looking to close out USF late in the 4th quarter 👀https://t.co/EfOdCy05Nf
— College Football On ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsCFB) September 16, 2023
In four seasons at Alabama, Moore picked off five passes. The 6’0″, 198-pounder is one of the leaders of Alabama’s defense and has the considerable game experience that will prepare him for the NFL and playing in New York.
