This team has made my life so much more stressful and difficult for close to a decade straight now. This draft feels like the most important one in a long time. For the first time since GM Joe Schoen took over, I believe the roster that he envisioned is finally coming together.

Schoen made a lot of high gamble moves thus far to restructure both our finances and roster in order to set this franchise up for future success.

We now have a great defense with Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, and Kayvon Thibodeaux fronting the defensive line, and our secondary has improved greatly this offseason with the additions of Jevon Holland and Paulson Adebo.

Offensively, we’ve made solid progress over the past two years, finally building a competent unit—which, as a fan, is all I can really ask for right now. With a talented wide receiver group led by Malik Nabers, a promising back in Tyrone Tracy, and, most importantly, Russell Wilson at quarterback, there’s real potential to build on.

All this positivity aside there is still a lot of work needed to be done to really take that leap forward in becoming a team that people will no longer laugh at. With the third overall pick in the draft I will go over who I hope we draft and who I hope we pass on.

Round 1, Pick 3

There are four players in this draft who I believe can all get drafted in the top three picks. Quarterbacks Cam Ward and Sheduer Sanders, cornerback Travis Hunter, and edge rusher Abdul Carter.

Cam Ward is the ideal pick for the Giants and, in my opinion, the top quarterback prospect in this draft. However, as the favorite to go first overall and with little chance the Giants trade up, I’m shifting my focus to the other three available prospects.

I Want

Travis Hunter

Travis Hunter is who I want the most in this draft (excluding Cam Ward). He is one of the most unique prospects we have seen being able to play both sides of the football as a corner and a receiver.

In college he won the Fred Biletnikoff award – given to the best defensive player in the country, the Chuck Bednarik award – given to the best receiver in the country, and was awarded the Heisman Trophy – given to the best player in the country. He is not a normal prospect and should not be treated as such.

The Giants secondary was embarrassing to watch last year. Rookie safety Tyler Nubin was the only real bright spot for us. Now that we added Adebo and Holland, the addition of Travis Hunter would make our defense one of the best in the league.

Paulseon Adebo is a strong corner, but the Giants still lack a reliable counterpart. Deontae Banks hasn’t filled that role, making another cornerback a key need. Adding Hunter would give Adebo a true partner and instantly elevate the defense.

Drafting Hunter would also give us another potential offensive weapon as well. Hunter has made it clear he wants to and believes he can play both offense and defense in the NFL the same way he did in college. If that is true we would be adding an elite wide receiver that would be a great weapon for Russell Wilson.

Abdul Carter

If it is not clear now, I am fully in the belief the Giants need to focus on taking the best player available. Many argue Carter is the best overall prospect in this draft. If we did not already have a strong defensive line and a clear positional hole at the cornerback position, I would want Carter over Hunter.

Carter wrapped up his college career at Penn State with an unanimous All-American selection and Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year award. He is an elite defensive end and I fully expect to transition seamlessly into the NFL.

The Eagles showed us the blueprint of what loading up on the defensive line could do for a team. Carter would fit into the team perfectly and would make an already great defensive line even greater.

Avoid

Finally, I hope we avoid with the third pick in the draft, Sheduer Sanders.

To preface my take, I do not believe Sanders is bad and I would not even be that disappointed if we got him. This is simply a scenario where I believe Hunter and Carter are too good to pass on.

Although we signed Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, we still are in need of a quarterback to take over in the future. With that said, the beauty of signing Russ and Jameis is we do not need to do it this year if the right fit is not there.

Shedeur is a talented quarterback and a clear first-rounder, but I don’t see him as a top-three pick. The hype around him going that high seems driven more by the quarterback needs of teams like the Giants and Titans than his actual draft grade.

I would much rather either wait to draft a quarterback in the second round or wait all together and use next year’s draft as one to get our guy. In 2019 we were in a similar spot and with the sixth pick we reached for Daniel Jones, which ultimately set the franchise back for the next six years.

Round 2, Pick 34

I Want

Tyler Booker

Tyler Booker is a standout offensive lineman from Alabama. The Giants took strides in addressing the offensive line last free agency, however there is still more needed to be done if we want our quarterbacks to thrive.

Booker is the type of player that can dominate a defender one-on-one. He allowed 0 sacks in 13 games played last year at Alabama. He is a great leader and super intelligent football player as well.

What really made me fall in love with Booker as a prospect is his comments at the combine.

Speaking with the media, Booker described his thought process when playing football. “It’s legal assault out there, and I love football because the brand of football that I play, I make guys not love football anymore.”

That is the type of thinking I want my offensive line having. A dog eat dog mentality that I would love to have playing in a Giants jersey.

The Giants have tried to address our offensive line issues through the draft every year and have missed every single time with an exception to Andrew Thomas. Normally I would prefer signing a proven talent in free agency to block however Booker is the one exception to that.

Jaxson Dart

I would love Jaxson Dart in the second round. Will he fall that late? Probably not. But if he does, he should be taken in a heartbeat.

He is the perfect quarterback prospect for this team. He has qualities that in some ways could make the case he is the second best signal-caller in this draft. He is a true dual-threat quarterback that put on an impressive display at the combine showing off his arm accuracy.

His biggest concerns are his ability to quickly process a defense and his deep ball strength. With a year sitting and learning from two extremely experienced and knowledgable quarterbacks in Jameis Winston and Russell Wilson, I believe he could develop quickly to being the Giants quarterback of the future.

Cobee Bryant

Cobee Bryant is a cornerback from Kansas. He is small, coming in at only only 6-feet tall, and has gotten his weight up to 180 pounds. This is a pick that I would of course love if we do not draft Travis Hunter.

His draft projection is very hard to predict as some reports project him to be taken in the second round while others predict he goes as late as the fourth round. If the Giants believe he is worthy of a second round pick then it is something I would fully support.

Like I mentioned before, filling that second corner spot on defense is extremely important. Bryant may be small in size but a different story is told when you watch his film.

He is put up an impressive career with 35 pass breakups and has 13 interceptions at Kansas. He is very athletic and knows how to find the ball very well.

The intangibles however are what makes him really stand out. He is an ultra competitor, known to outwork everyone around him, and is not afraid to make a tackle. These are the kind of qualities that made Daboll and the Giants fall in love with star receiver Malik Nabers.

Bryant has had a formal meeting already with the Giants and from his tape to his personality I think he would be a great fit to this team and provide a lot in a position that we need.

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