D
New York Giants
The Giants left with their quarterback, and a D to match.
by jkase ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 23 picks
· 14 steals
· 5 reaches
When a board-topper like Kamal Hadden slides to pick No. 253, you do not overthink it, and the Giants did not. A weekend that fought the value and lost, hence the D.
If Lovett pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about. So much rides on Drake Maye that the rest of the class almost grades on a curve behind him.
They lost the exchange badly enough to drag the whole class down.
A rough weekend that leaves the roster with more questions than answers.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a No. 1 receiver. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In the 16th pick they get their quarterback of the future, outstanding value to boot. A clean fit for the roster.
In No. 20 they get a building block for the line at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
They robbed the room for Michael Penix Jr. here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It fills a real need, too.
Xavier Worthy at pick No. 70 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A safety of that caliber at the 97th pick is the definition of value, full stop. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They will replay Cade Stover at slot 98 for years; that is how good the value is. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A tidy bit of business in Round 3, Pick 36, where Trey Benson graded well above the range. The roster fit checks out.
Zak Zinter at the Round 3 slot is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Mike Sainristil at pick 101 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Theo Johnson this early at No. 102. A need, and now a little less of one.
Dadrion Taylor-Demerson in slot 107 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Khyree Jackson in Round 4, Pick 8. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
You do not let a wide receiver like Jermaine Burton reach pick No. 110 and blink. They did not. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A reach for Brennan Jackson in pick 141; a little patience would have been rewarded. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A wild overpay on Fabien Lovett in the Round 5 slot, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Steal is underselling it; Anthony Gould at the 179th overall pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Caedan Wallace in the 183rd pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They barely believed it either: Kitan Oladapo still on the board at pick No. 230. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A market-rate linebacker, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Trevin Wallace. A minor itch, scratched.
Circle this one: Kamal Hadden at the 253rd pick is a fall that decides a draft. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They read the board right and KT Leveston was the payoff at the 256th overall pick. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Anim Dankwah at the Round 7 slot is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.