D-
New York Giants
Daniels is the Giants' new face under center. Grade: D-.
by jkase ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 19 picks
· 11 steals
· 3 reaches
The Giants bet big and early on Joe Milton III, 33 picks ahead of the board. Bold does not always mean right. It grades a D-, and the process earned it.
They lost the exchange badly enough to drag the whole class down. Jayden Daniels is the bet, and the class will be judged on how it pays off.
The Thomas pick is the one they will point to when this weekend is judged. On the needs board they went 9 of 9, with interior defensive lineman the one that mattered most.
In short, the board sent warnings, and they will be hoping it was wrong.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 5 they get a home-run threat at receiver. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In the Round 1 slot they get a long-term answer under center at fair value. A clean fit for the roster.
They let Ja'Tavion Sanders come to them and pounced at pick No. 58. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
The board had T.J. Tampa higher than No. 69, and the cornerback fell to them anyway. A need, and now a little less of one.
A slide stopped in the 70th overall pick, with Chris Braswell worth more than the price. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Christian Haynes at pick 71 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Javon Bullard in No. 72 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Trey Benson at the Round 3 slot is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
T'Vondre Sweat slipping to pick No. 79 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Dadrion Taylor-Demerson is a better player than the 89th overall pick suggests; smart patience, rewarded. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
By-the-book stuff, DJ James at Round 3, Pick 29 squarely in line with his ranking. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
You do not let a wide receiver like Javon Baker reach slot 107 and blink. They did not. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Brennan Jackson at pick 110 is a conviction pick that outran the value. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They will replay Erick All at the 166th pick for years; that is how good the value is. It fills a real need, too.
They reached into another round for Joe Milton III, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Steal is underselling it; Sataoa Laumea at No. 195 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They paid sticker price for Steele Chambers in pick No. 219, and that is fine. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Trente Jones in the Round 6 slot is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Nathan Thomas at the 245th overall pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.