D-
New York Giants
The Giants left with their quarterback, and a D- to match.
by jkase ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 34 picks
· 20 steals
· 7 reaches
Somewhere a scout is still blinking. The Giants spent Round 5, Pick 19 on Caedan Wallace, a name the board had a full 58 spots lower.
On value alone, Smith makes the weekend a net positive. The trade table is where this weekend went wrong.
Whatever Jayden Daniels becomes, the front office has tied its fortunes to the answer. The Giants clearly valued win-now help, adding bodies who have done it before.
In the end, a class the front office will want to grow past quickly.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 8 they get the arm they will build around. A real need, handled.
In the Round 1 slot they get a matchup problem out wide at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In slot 32 they get a go-to option on the outside at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Brock Bowers in No. 43 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Ennis Rakestraw Jr. at the 47th overall pick is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
No drama and no debate, Edgerrin Cooper went about where he belonged in the 51st pick. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
A market-rate interior defensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Braden Fiske. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They will replay Xavier Worthy at the 76th overall pick for years; that is how good the value is. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Steal is underselling it; Payton Wilson at Round 3, Pick 13 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
Renardo Green is a better player than No. 92 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Jaylen Wright in pick No. 99 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A need, and now a little less of one.
Taking DJ James in pick 107 is close to grand larceny; a cornerback that good had no business lasting this long. The roster fit checks out.
They liked Spencer Rattler enough to skip the value, taking him in the Round 4 slot. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A tidy bit of business in slot 119, where Maason Smith graded well above the range. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Mekhi Wingo slipping to the 125th overall pick is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Value said wait; Kitan Oladapo in pick No. 129 says they were not listening. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Nice patience on Theo Johnson, who had no business lasting to the Round 4 slot. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A top-tier offensive lineman at a bargain, Javon Foster in pick 141, plain and simple. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Walter Rouse at slot 145 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A big swing on Caedan Wallace at the 155th pick, well ahead of any board in the building. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Nehemiah Pritchett in Round 5, Pick 23. It fills a real need, too.
Kamal Hadden in No. 167 is fair value, right on his grade. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Tyrone Tracy Jr. at pick No. 168. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A reach on Fabien Lovett in the 170th pick; the board had better options right there. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They reached into another round for Steele Chambers, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
Xavier Thomas slid further than he should have, and the 178th overall pick is lovely value for the edge rusher. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Tommy Eichenberg at Round 6, Pick 8 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Gabe Hall in pick 190 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A straight-up fair deal on Ryan Flournoy at the Round 6 slot, value and slot in agreement. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Jordan Travis at No. 210 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Circle this one: Cody Schrader at Round 6, Pick 38 is a fall that decides a draft. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Erick All in pick 239 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Trey Knox at No. 240 is the proof. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Somehow Tykee Smith was still sitting there in pick No. 241, and they pounced on premier safety value. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.