D
New York Giants
A costly weekend of dealing drags the Giants to a D.
by Bill ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 3 steals
· 6 reaches
If confidence were a draft strategy, the Giants would have aced it. Patrick Payton at the Round 6 slot is 72 spots clear of where he belonged. A D that will need time and luck to look better.
The dealing is the wound this class cannot quite close. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped safety, which is a strange place to end up.
Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Rodriguez.
In the end, a class the front office will want to grow past quickly.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 5 they get a blindside protector. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Omar Cooper Jr. in the 37th overall pick is fair value, right on his grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Jacob Rodriguez at the 75th pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
A wild overpay on Nicholas Singleton in Round 3, Pick 31, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A need, and now a little less of one.
Chris McClellan in slot 109 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.
Good price on Trey Zuhn III in the Round 4 slot, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A cornerback of that caliber at slot 145 is the definition of value, full stop. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Malik Benson in pick 151 lands just on the right side of the ledger. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
No drama and no debate, Aamil Wagner went about where he belonged in Round 5, Pick 36. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Patrick Payton at the Round 6 slot is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Kaelon Black in the 191st pick, miles early. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Value said wait; Aaron Graves in No. 192 says they were not listening. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Bryce Foster well ahead of where he belonged. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Eric McAlister at pick No. 227 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.