With the 2023 NFL Draft almost here, the NY Giants have a pretty big decision to make with the No. 25 overall pick in the first round. While there are many positions the Giants need support in, that doesn't mean Joe Schoen can't be too careful with who he goes with.
This year's draft class is an incredibly deep and talented one, don't get us wrong. However, there are certainly some prospects the Giants must avoid picking. Entering a massively important 2023 season, the Giants can't afford to draft a bust in the first round.
Whether it's because of overall talent, lack of scheme fit, or the fact that they aren't worth a first-round selection, here are five players the Giants must avoid selecting in the first round.
5. LB Drew Sanders, Arkansas
The likelihood of Drew Sanders realistically being selected in the first round are pretty low. However, some mock drafts have had him going anywhere from 25 to 32 and so on. While Sanders may be a very solid player with some upside, we find it hard to believe that he is worth a first-round pick, especially when looking at the other linebacker options in this year's draft class.
With players like Jack Campbell and Trenton Simpson being more versatile and having higher floors, it's pretty hard to see a team picking Sanders before either of these two. Sanders will make a great second or third-round pick for whatever team selects him, but there is no way he should touch the first round.
For starters, Sanders has a massive tackling issue, missing 22 over the course of the 2022 college season. This could be solved as he develops, but when the other top two linebacker prospects don't have this problem, why take the risk?
In addition to this, while Sanders may not be a total liability in coverage, he is nowhere near as polished in that department as Campbell or Simpson. The good thing with Sanders, though, is that he is an elite pass rusher, one would fit in well with Wink Martindale's system.
Maybe if the Giants decide to select a linebacker in the second round, Sanders will be their guy, but taking a project player in the first round with the situation New York is currently in simply would not be wise.
4. TE Dalton Kincaid, Utah
Similar to Sanders, Dalton Kincaid is a player that not many would suspect the Giants to even consider drafting. However, after a mock draft from NFL writer Lance Zierlein, the discussion surrounding whether the Giants should take another TE has apparently come up.
Kincaid is an absolutely fantastic player that most teams would love to have, but with the success of Daniel Bellinger and the recent Darren Waller trade, there really isn't a reason for the Giants to draft a TE in the first round, or even the second/third rounds as well.
If the Giants are looking to add an offensive weapon in the first, then select a wide receiver, it's that simple. There is no need to select a TE this high regardless of talent when you have so much depth at the position.
Through 12 games last season, Kincaid caught 70 passes for 890 yards and eight touchdowns. Again, a very great player, but not one the Giants should even consider taking in the first round. Honestly, it's pretty silly that someone like Zierlein would even suggest that the Giants would draft him.
3. John Michael-Schmitz, Minnesota
There is an incredibly high chance that the NY Giants look to address their gap at the center position through the draft this season, and while John Michael-Schmitz may be the top guy in this year's class, picking him 25th overall may not be the best decision value wise.
Now, if the Giants did decide to select him in the first round, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, as Schmitz is an incredible player with a super high floor. However, the next two guys at the position, Luke Wypler and Joe Tippmann, are not that far behind Schmitz and arguably have a higher ceiling.
What makes these two even better is that they will more likely than not be available in the second round, meaning the Giants could address another position in round one while still selecting a steal in Wypler or Tippmann in round two.
Wypler is not only two years younger than Schmitz, but he is by far the more athletically gifted player and simply has more upside. For Tippmann, he is much more physically dominant while having some incredible speed and pulling ability for his size while also being two years younger than Schmitz
2. DL Bryan Breese, Clemson
This is probably the first time we have wanted to not select a player due to talent and not fit. Bryan Breese may be an uber athletic interior defensive lineman with some upside, but he is not nearly refined enough to be in consideration for the NY Giants to draft him.
While his versatility on the defensive line is where he'll make his money and is something the Giants could really use, he has a long way to go before he can become a consistent player in the NFL, especially as a pass rusher.
Far too often Breese relies on just his physical and athletic traits as a pass rusher, which is something that simply won't work at an NFL level. In addition to this, Breese has dealt with an ACL tear and a shoulder injury in the last two seasons that have hampered his level of play.
Breese has tons of upside, thanks in part to his ridiculous athletic traits, running a 4.86 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine which ranks fourth amongst all interior defensive linemen. These athletic tools aren't common at his position.
Despite this, Breese is simply too raw of a prospect to be worthy of a first-round selection. This year's draft class is too stacked on the defensive line to take a project player so high - if the Giants want to address their defensive line depth they should simply look elsewhere.
1. RB Bijan Robinson, Texas
Bijan Robinson is arguably one of, if not the best players in the entire draft class from a talent standpoint and one of the best running back prospects the NFL has ever seen. However, the Giants are in no position to draft a running back in the first round, even if they want to find a potential Saquon Barkley replacement.
While a Robinson and Barkley backfield this season would be one of the best, and most entertaining tandems in the league, it's better to select someone either later in the draft, or next season if Joe Schoen doesn't want to re-sign Barkley to a big deal.
Through 12 games at Texas last season, Robinson ran the ball 257 times for 1,575 yards and 18 touchdowns, averaging 6.1 yard per carry in the process. There are no doubts surrounding his talent, but the value his position holds makes it difficult to want to draft him.
Hopefully, Robinson doesn't fall to a team like the Eagles, though. If he does, things could get very rough for the Giants. Adding a talent like that to an already elite offense would be incredibly scary for the league.
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