NY Giants Mock Draft: Joe Schoen pulls off 2 first-round trades in wild turn of events

The calendar has flipped over to April. Draft season is officially on. With the first night of the 2024 NFL Draft just a few weeks away, the anticipation of what the NY Giants will do has been a major topic of conversation since the regular season ended in January. Will NY stay at No. 6? There are plenty of scenarios that can go down.

We’ve tried to cover them all in our mock drafts. We’ve envisioned the scenarios for the Giants and what Joe Schoen might do. A year ago, he moved up one spot in the first round during the 2023 NFL Draft to get cornerback Deonte Banks. He also moved up in the third round to get wide receiver Jalin Hyatt.

Schoen also traded down twice the year before in the second round before selecting wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson. Again, the options for Schoen are endless. So will be the phone calls he may receive for potential deals.

TRADE ALERT: The Giants trade No. 6 and a third-round 2025 pick to the Atlanta Falcons for No. 8, No. 43 and No. 143

Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye all go in the first three picks, as expected. Marvin Harrison Jr. is taken fourth. The curveball for the Giants was Malik Nabers going fifth. So, the Giants have a choice. Trade down or potentially select J.J, McCarthy.

In this scenario, the Atlanta Falcons call to move up, and in this mock draft, they move up to select Joe Alt in order to protect Kirk Cousins for the next four years. But wait, Schoen’s phone isn’t done ringing.

TRADE ALERT: The Giants trade No. 8 and a fifth-round 2025 pick to the Minnesota Vikings for No. 11, No. 23 and a 2025 third-round pick.

With McCarthy still on the board, the Giants decide to take an offer from the Vikings, who use both of their first-round picks to move up and get McCarthy. The Giants have not only moved back twice, but they have another first-round pick for later that night.

NY Giants first-round pick: Georgia TE Brock Bowers

The Giants do not know what Darren Waller is doing, and NY can’t afford to wait much longer for his decision. They'll decide to draft his replacement in Brock Bowers at No. 11 overall. Even if Waller plays, having another option like Bowers is extremely helpful for the offense, as he’s considered a unicorn type player who can do everything well.

Bowers hauled in 26 touchdowns in his three seasons at Georgia. His final year at Georgia saw him haul in 56 receptions for 714 yards and six touchdowns. Some people are nervous about taking a tight end so early in the NFL Draft, but in this case, Bowers is way too good to pass up, especially with some of the wide receiver options being snagged off the board with the Giants trading down twice. The fans will forget about the wide receiver options being off the board with this and the next pick for the first night.

The Giants can kickstart their rebuild by winning the offseason, and you can try to do the same thanks to FanDuel! All you have to do is sign up, deposit $10 or more and then bet $5 or more on any team to win. If your team wins, you'll get $200 in bonus bets! Click this link to sign up with FanDuel today!

NY Giants first-round pick: Washington QB Michael Penix Jr.

In the last mock draft, we took Michael Penix Jr. from a trade down. In our second straight mock draft, the Giants will decide not to wait until Round 2 to risk Penix still being there. The expectation is that Penix won’t be there on Friday night when it’s time to pick again at No. 23, NY will strike.

Following his Pro Day in Seattle, the Giants had a dinner meeting with Penix, as they seem to really be interested in him, or if nothing else, are doing their due diligence on the star signal-caller.

The Giants quarterbacks room is currently Daniel Jones, who can be released after 2024 for a $22 million dead cap hit, Drew Lock, who is on a one-year deal, and Tommy DeVito, who may not even be on the team in 2024.

That QBs room is enough for the Giants to take a quarterback like Penix who has all the potential in the world to be very good. Again, with Jones likely gone after the 2024 season, it will give Schoen and Brian Daboll a chance to start the rebuild and start from scratch with their next quarterback of the future.

NY Giants second-round pick: Georgia CB Kamari Lassiter

The Giants tried to add two veteran corners in free agency, but they struck out on landing both, mostly because they weren’t going to spend what they were looking for. So, with the Giants clearly not paying big money on veterans, they instead look to the draft and take one of Bowers' teammates in Kamari Lassiter with one of their now two second-round picks from a previous trade.

Lassiter finished with 37 total tackles, 0.5 sacks and eight pass deflections during the 2023 season for the Bulldogs. The Giants drafted Banks in the first round last year and he looked solid in his first season. They also drafted Tre Hawkins in the sixth round. He showed a ton of promise in the preseason and training camp, but struggled during the regular season.

Having another corner like Lassiter would give the Giants more options and depth in a secondary that wore thin during the end of the season. The Giants brought back Nick McCloud and Darnay Holmes as depth moves to the cornerbacks room, but they need more and someone who tackles as well as Lassiter does is an extremely ideal move for the Giants.

NY Giants second-round pick: Penn State defensive end Adisa Isaac

Earlier in the offseason, the Giants took a massive step in addressing their pass-rush when they traded for Brian Burns from the Carolina Panthers, who was quickly given a five-year, $150 million extension.

With this particular pick being the one the Giants got in the trade back in October from the Seattle Seahawks that sent Leonard Williams out of town, the Giants use this pick to fortify the defensive line and spruce up the pass-rush with the selection of Adisa Isaac.

The Giants met with Isaac back in Indianapolis during the NFL Scouting Combine, which already gave many a chance to think of Isaac, who grew up in Brooklyn before going off to Penn State. Isaac had 7.5 sacks for the Nittany Lions in 2023 with 14.5 total for his career.

Putting Isaac next to Dexter Lawrence, who is already a force to deal with in the middle, would help, especially with Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux on the outside. On paper, the Giants pass-rush has gone from decent to really good in the offseason.

NY Giants third-round pick: Washington wide receiver Jalen McMillan

This isn’t the first time seeing Jalen McMillan on our mock draft, as we have selected him before as a pick for the Giants. With the Giants taking Penix before, getting him a target he is familiar with is an ideal option.

The Giants wide receivers room is already thin with Robinson, Hyatt and Darius Slayton, who has been the Giants leading receiver in four of his five seasons with the team. The Giants drafted Bowers earlier in this mock draft and whether Waller decides to play football in 2024 or not, the Giants need options for the quarterback to throw to and with Penix now in the fold for the future, someone like McMillan makes sense to add.

McMillan had 45 catches for 559 yards and three touchdowns in his final season for Washington. The season before was his best one, as he hauled in 79 receptions for 1,098 yards and nine touchdowns. A season like that would be ideal for the Giants, as their last 1,000-yard receiver was Odell Beckham Jr. back in 2018.

NY Giants fourth-round pick: Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen

Braelon Allen is another player that we have picked before in previous mock drafts, and with him available in the fourth round, we select Allen as well, who has been given a lot of comparisons to former Giants running back Brandon Jacobs.

With the loss of Saquon Barkley in free agency, the Giants will likely transition to a back-by-committee approach, as they did bring in veteran Devin Singletary and already have Eric Gray, who was drafted a year ago in the fifth round.

However, Gray didn’t exactly impress in his rookie year and didn’t do enough to make anyone think he can replace Barkley. But with Singletary, Allen can give the Giants a possible glimpse of the old “Thunder and Lightning” they once saw with Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, a tandem that helped the Giants win two Super Bowls.

NY Giants fifth-round pick: Michigan offensive lineman Zak Zinter

If you have spotted a theme, it’s a lot of players who were already taken in previous mock drafts that are appearing again, and that’s the case with Zak Zinter, who we’ve selected multiple times. The Giants spent a lot of their focus in free agency on revamping and overhauling the offensive line. They signed Jon Runyan Jr. from the Green Bay Packers, who will occupy one of the two guard spots.

They also signed Aaron Stinnie from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who started 11 of 13 games at guard in 2023. They also signed Jermaine Eluemunor, who could play either guard or tackle, depending on what happens with Evan Neal, who might still be expected to play right tackle in 2024.

However, counting on Neal to play an important role again is asking a lot right now, and the Giants drafting someone like Zinter to help rebuild an offensive line that surrendered 85 total sacks is imperative.

One of the boldest moves the Giants made in the offseason was replacing Bobby Johnson as the offensive line coach with Carmen Bricillo, who produced tremendous results over the last two seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Whether Zinter starts Week 1 or ends up sitting and learning depends on who makes the most progress coming out of training camp under Bricillo, but Zinter could be a potential force to be dealt with and a future cog in the middle of the line that prevents another disastrous season on the offensive line for the Giants like we all saw in 2023.

NY Giants fifth-round pick: USC wide receiver Tahj Washington

The Giants went with one wide receiver earlier in the draft to go along with their new quarterback. The wide receivers room was already thin to begin with, so the Giants will decide to add another one and take Tahj Washington from USC.

Washington was the No. 1 receiver in 2023 for future first-round pick Caleb Williams in 2023, as he had 59 catches for 1,062 yards and eight touchdowns in his final season for the Trojans. Washington fits the receiver type the Giants have at 5-11 and 175 pounds.

However, he’s also considered a high-IQ receiver who has great hands and makes plays by adjusting his body. Washington also lined up in different formations for USC, doing so in the slot and out of the backfield, so he could easily give the Giants and their offense a boost due to his versatility with the ball in his hands.

NY Giants sixth-round pick: Auburn safety Jaylin Simpson

One of the tougher players for the Giants fan base to let go of was Xavier McKinney, who ended up taking a four-year deal with the Green Bay Packers. His departure was expected after the Giants didn’t place the franchise or transition tag on him.

They have Dane Belton, who was drafted two years ago and got more playing time in 2023. The Giants also have Jason Pinnock, who was claimed off waivers before the 2023 campaign - he also started and played the majority of the season next to McKinney. They have Jalen Mills as well, who has played both cornerback and safety, and he’ll add some experience to the position.

A year ago, the Giants selected Gervarrius Owens in the seventh round, but he played all of three games in his rookie year. Whether he factors to see more playing time in 2024 remains to be seen, so the Giants will add Jaylin Simpson with their sixth-round and final pick of the draft.

Simpson finished the 2023 season with 36 total tackles and four interceptions, one of which is featured in the video clip above. His ability to find the ball in coverage would be an asset for the Giants, especially with the loss and departure of McKinney, who was not only a fan favorite, but also a captain and one of the leaders on the defense in his four seasons in East Rutherford.