D
New York Giants
The Giants drew a line under the quarterback search with Maye: D.
by jkase ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 25 picks
· 16 steals
· 6 reaches
The war room fell hard for Caedan Wallace, and it showed at the 144th overall pick: 69 picks ahead of a board that had other ideas. A D that will need time and luck to look better.
They have staked the next five years on Drake Maye, which is the only story that really matters here. Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. That is a linebacker worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly.
The verdict is not kind, and fairly so; this class has a hill to climb.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 8 they get a No. 1 receiver. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In Round 1, Pick 9 they get a true top target at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In pick 21 they get their quarterback of the future, outstanding value to boot. A clean fit for the roster.
Brock Bowers at slot 43 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They will replay Olumuyiwa Fashanu at the 47th pick for years; that is how good the value is. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A top-tier interior defensive lineman at a bargain, T'Vondre Sweat in the 70th overall pick, plain and simple. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A cornerback of that caliber at Round 3, Pick 7 is the definition of value, full stop. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They barely believed it either: Edgerrin Cooper still on the board at the 107th overall pick. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
They robbed the room for Javon Foster here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Isaiah Davis in the 139th pick is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They let Theo Johnson come to them and pounced at pick 140. A need, and now a little less of one.
Johnny Wilson slid further than he should have, and No. 143 is lovely value for the wide receiver. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Caedan Wallace at the Round 5 slot is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Brennan Jackson at pick No. 145 is a conviction pick that outran the value. It fills a real need, too.
Nehemiah Pritchett in Round 5, Pick 10 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Kamal Hadden this early at the Round 5 slot. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A big swing on Steele Chambers at the 152nd overall pick, well ahead of any board in the building. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
The board had Kitan Oladapo higher than pick 162, and the safety fell to them anyway. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They reached into another round for Joe Milton III, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. The roster fit checks out.
A quiet steal in No. 183: Cody Schrader for less than the market said. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Taking Walter Rouse in slot 184 is close to grand larceny; an offensive lineman that good had no business lasting this long. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Circle this one: Nelson Ceaser at pick No. 189 is a fall that decides a draft. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Jordan Travis at pick No. 203 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Fabien Lovett in the 221st pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A tidy bit of business in slot 225, where Javontae Jean-Baptiste graded well above the range. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.