It’s that time when everyone is getting their last mock drafts in before the NFL Draft itself.
Former NFL scout and current NFL Network draft evaluator Daniel Jeremiah released his fourth, and final mock draft, of this year’s cycle on Wednesday evening.
Jeremiah makes a now-familiar selection for the New York Giants, giving them LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers.
6. New York Giants – Malik Nabers, WR, LSU
In this scenario, I think the Giants’ selection would come down to Nabers versus Rome Odunze. To me, that’s a flip-a-coin decision. Taking Nabers here, New York opts to get more dynamic and explosive. I expect the G-Men to try to make a move up the board for Drake Maye, but I don’t think they will be able to pull it off.
The interesting thing here isn’t the pick, so much as everything around it.
Jeremiah’s noted on his podcast that he doesn’t necessarily base his mock drafts on what he believes or would do in a given situation. Rather, he bases them on what he’s hearing from his friends and contacts around the NFL’s front offices and scouting community.
We’ve heard a steady drumbeat since the Scouting Combine that the Giants are a team to watch for a potential trade up. In this case, he projects that while the Giants will try to trade up, the price to do so would be too rich for the Giants’ blood and Maye winds up a Patriot.
He says of the Patriots’ pick,
I feel confident the third selection will be Maye. I lean toward thinking the Patriots will stick and pick. When you need a quarterback, you don’t try to get cute and move around the board.
That would lead the Giants with a decision to make on J.J. McCarthy. And despite (or because of) the time the Giants spent with McCarthy in the pre-draft process, Jeremiah opts to let him fall down the draft board
It’s been widely speculated that the Minnesota Vikings will trade up into the Top 5 for a quarterback — either Maye or J.J. McCarthy. In this case, Jeremiah doesn’t predict any trades into the Top 10. Instead, he projects McCarthy falling to the Vikings at 11th overall. However, he does leaves the door open for McCarthy to go before the 11th pick, saying,
I wouldn’t rule out Minnesota trading up a couple spots for a quarterback, but all the information I’ve gathered in the last couple days suggests the Vikings are not crazy about making a bold move up the board for McCarthy. I believe they’ve grown more comfortable with Michael Penix Jr. as a fallback option if a team were to leapfrog them for McCarthy.
Fans hoping the Giants could potentially draft a top receiver and land their quarterback of the future in the second round would be out of luck in this draft. Michael Penix Jr. goes 13th overall to the Las Vegas Raiders, and Bo Nix going 22nd overall to the Denver Broncos.
Elsewhere in the NFC East
Washington Commanders
2) Jayden Daniels (QB, LSU)
19) Amarius Mims (OT, Georgia) – Trade with the Los Angeles Rams
Philadelphia Eagles
12) Taliese Fuaga (OT, Oregon State)
Dallas Cowboys
24) Graham Barton (OC, Duke)