D
New York Giants
The Giants let Thomas Jr. fall and pounced. Final grade: D.
by jkase ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 19 picks
· 9 steals
· 2 reaches
The best pick of the weekend was also the simplest. The Giants watched Brian Thomas Jr. slide 96 picks past his grade and did not hesitate. The math is unkind, and the D follows.
The trades bled value they could not afford to lose. Reaching for Wallace left real value on the table behind him.
They punted on interior defensive lineman, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and interior defensive lineman is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
A tidy little value on Marvin Harrison Jr. in slot 6, a step better than break-even. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
In the 8th overall pick they get a go-to option on the outside. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
The board fumbled J.J. McCarthy all the way to the Round 2 slot, and they scooped it up. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Taking Bo Nix in No. 70 is close to grand larceny; a quarterback that good had no business lasting this long. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Cooper DeJean in Round 4, Pick 7 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. The roster fit checks out.
You do not let a wide receiver like Brian Thomas Jr. reach pick No. 123 and blink. They did not. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Javon Bullard in the 127th pick is a gift, value that borders on unfair. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Isaac Guerendo at pick 141 is the proof. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Kitan Oladapo at pick No. 149 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They barely believed it either: Dominick Puni still on the board at the 182nd overall pick. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Caedan Wallace in the 183rd pick, miles early. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Ty'Ron Hopper at Round 6, Pick 12 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. A minor itch, scratched.
A market-rate cornerback, with the board and the slot shaking hands on M.J. Devonshire. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Myles Cole at No. 200 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A straight-up fair deal on Erick All at slot 204, value and slot in agreement. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Jase McClellan in the Round 6 slot. A need, and now a little less of one.
They talked themselves into KT Leveston at Round 6, Pick 38, and the board did not agree. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
No drama and no debate, Jordan Magee went about where he belonged in pick No. 217. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
A wide receiver of that caliber at the 247th pick is the definition of value, full stop. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.