10 sleepers the NY Giants should target in the 2023 NFL Draft

It's the best time of the year, as we are only two days away from the 2023 NFL Draft getting started. For the NY Giants, yes, there are a ton of options for them with the No. 25 overall pick, but fans can't wait to see the late-round targets who could prove to be gems for this class.

The projected first-round picks get all the buzz in the lead up to the draft, but the late-rounders are special as well. Will there be some diamond in the rough players on the way to East Rutherford soon? Here are 10 sleepers the Giants should target this week:

10. Max Duggan, QB, TCU

The Giants have 10 picks in this week's draft. It is likely they will use one of their later-round picks on a quarterback. Daniel Jones' cap hits will start to balloon in 2024, so the Giants need to find creative ways to save money. Having a young backup quarterback would be one way to do that.

Max Duggan has the tools to be a solid backup. He is a true-dual threat quarterback, which is exactly what you want in a backup quarterback. NFL offenses tend to hand the ball off a lot when they are playing with their backup quarterback. If the backup quarterback can run, it makes the defense's job stopping the run much harder.

Duggan had 1,856 rushing yards in his four seasons at TCU and 28 rushing touchdowns. In 2022, Duggan threw for 3,698 yards and 32 touchdowns, which earned him honors as a Heisman finalist. Duggan led TCU on a Cinderella run to the National Championship Game, and he beat undefeated Michigan in the semifinals. As an added benefit, the Cowboys reportedly like Duggan. Stealing him from our rivals would be awesome.

9. Sean Tucker, RB, Syracuse

The New York product would like awesome in blue. Sean Tucker had three phenomenal seasons at Syracuse, where he served as a workhorse back. Despite playing on terrible teams, Tucker was an All-American and First-team All-ACC member in 2021 and a Second-team All-ACC member in 2022.

In his freshmen season, Tucker rushed 137 times for 626 yards and four touchdowns. Tucker ran for 1,496 yards on 246 attempts and scored four rushing touchdowns in his sophomore campaign in 2021. Tucker's 2021 season set the Syracuse single-season rushing record. In his senior season in 2022, the star running back found the endzone 11 times on the ground. He had 1,060 rushing yards on 206 attempts.

Tucker was not medically cleared to participate at the NFL Combine, but was recently cleared, and he had a Pro Day for scouts on Monday. He is currently projected to be a fourth or fifth-round pick. Tucker has a similar playing style to Saquon Barkley, which would make him an ideal backup.

8. Roschon Johnson, RB, Texas

Roschon Johnson is a sleeping giant in this year's draft. Johnson was Texas’ backup running back for the majority of his career. For the last three seasons, Johnson backed up Bijan Robinson, who many consider the best running back prospect since Barkley.

Speaking of Barkley, Johnson would be an outstanding backup to the superstar. Unlike the vast majority of the backs in the 2023 draft class, Johnson knows what the role of a backup entails and what it takes to succeed in that role.

He had great production despite playing limited snaps in college. Johnson ran for 649 yards in 2019, 418 in 2020, 569 in 2021, and 554 in 2022. PFF gave Johnson an 88.3 rushing grade and a 90.0 zone grade for the 2022 season, both of which are phenomenal. 

Some of his underlying statistics are insane. In 2022, Johnson forced 46 missed tackles, ran for 402 yards after contact, had 9 carries of 15+ yards, and had 4.28 yards after contact per attempt. By the way, Johnson had 10 touchdowns in one game when he was in high school.

7. Marvin Mims Jr., WR, Oklahoma

Marvin Mims is the most underrated wide receiver in this draft. The only thing pushing Mims down the board is that the wide receiver class is incredibly deep. Mims is currently projected as a late second-round or early third-round pick.

Mims has blazing speed, evident by his 4.38 40-yard dash during the 2023 Combine.  Mims is known for his big-play prowess. The Oklahoma product averaged 19.5 yards per reception throughout his three-year college career. In 2022, Mims averaged 20.1 yards per reception, which ranked third in the country. His 602 deep yards ranked fifth in the country.

The Giants are desperate to add big-play weapons to their offense and Mims certainly fits that bill. If the Giants love Mims (they hosted him for a top-30 visit), they could take a cornerback in the first round and then circle back and take Mims in round two - if he's there in the third round, Schoen must strike.

6. Andrei Iosivas, WR, Princeton

The Giants love local products, so we know Andrei Iosivas is on their radar. Iosivas stands at 6-3 and weighs 205 pounds. If he were to be drafted by Big Blue, he would be tied for the second tallest wide receiver on the roster.

The wideout's senior campaign at Princeton in 2022 was a smashing success. The Tiger had 66 catches for 943 yards and seven touchdowns, all of which led the Ivy League conference. He finished his Princeton career ranked sixth in school history in receiving yards, third in touchdown catches, and 12th in receptions.

5. Trey Palmer, WR, LSU

Joe Schoen absolutely loves speedy receivers. This offseason alone Schoen added Parris Campbell Jr., who ran a blazing 4.31 40-yard dash, to the receivers room. He also re-signed Darius Slayton who ran a 4.39 40-yard dash. You can never have enough speed! 

The best NFL teams are building track teams and Palmer is an ex-track star. At the 2023 NFL Combine, Palmer ran a 4.33 40-yard dash. Palmer struggled to find footing while at LSU, but broke out in 2022 playing for Nebraska. The speedster caught 71 passes for 1,043 yards and nine touchdowns in 2022 for the Cornhuskers. Palmer displayed his versatility, playing 226 snaps in the slot and 108 out wide. 

4. Olusegun Oluwatimi, C, Michigan

I’ve written about Olusegun Oluwatimi on this website more than any other draft prospect. It continues to befuddle me. Lance Zierlein projects Oluwatimi as a fifth-round pick. No center was better than Oluwatimi during the college football season in 2022, and it wasn’t even close. Oluwatimi anchored a Michigan offensive line that dominated every defensive line they played in 2022, including Ohio State and TCU.

For his outstanding 2022 season, Oluwatimi was awarded the Outland Trophy, given to the best interior lineman in college football. He also was awarded the Remington Trophy given to the nation's best center. So why is he a fifth rounder and not a Day 2 pick? If he is available on Day 3, I would be sprinting to the podium to announce it.

3. Ricky Stromberg, C, Arkansas

In NFL.com’s latest seven-round mock draft, analyst Chad Reuter has Rocky Stromberg being selected in the seventh round. That would be a steal for any franchise. Stromberg started at left guard and right guard during his freshmen season. He then transitioned to center and played the position for Arkansas for the last three seasons. In those three campaigns, the center gave up just four sacks and three hurries.

NFL next-gen stats gave Stromberg the highest center athleticism score at the 2023 NFL Combine and scored him as the third-best center overall. NFL.com’s prospect ranking graded Stromberg as 6.22, which according to their grading scale, means they “will eventually be an average starter.” Big Blue can get an average starter in round seven? Schoen will take that.

2. Brodric Martin, DL, Western Kentucky

The Giants interior defensive line depth wore down as the 2022 season winded down, which makes adding depth to that group imperative. Yes, the Giants just signed A'Shawn Robinson to a one-year deal on Monday, but Schoen wants to bring in more bodies to help out Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence.

Martin is a Day 3 pick who could contribute right away. He is a monster of a man, standing at 6-5, 330 pounds. Martin has three sacks, two hits, three batted balls, and 29 hurries over the last three seasons. He almost exclusively plays inside, splitting time between the A-gap and B-gap. 

1. Brandon Joseph, S, Notre Dame

The Giants let defensive captain and starting safety Julian Love depart to Seattle this offseason, creating a big void at the safety position. Xavier McKinney is locked in as one of the Giants two starters, but the second starting position is wide open. Jason Pinnock, Dane Belton, and Bobby McCain will compete for the job, but why not add another player into the mix?

Joseph would be a beautiful fit for Wink Martindale’s defense. Joseph has a ton of versatility. In his last three seasons of college football, two of which were at Northwestern and the final for Notre Dame, Joseph played 708 snaps in the box, 666 as the deep safety, 467 snaps in the slot, and even played 16 snaps on the D-Line plus another 10 at corner.

Joseph is 6-0 and weighs 202 pounds, a pretty solid build for a modern safety. He was targeted 73 times in his college career and he intercepted 10 of those targets. None were cooler than this wild one handed interception while covering Garrett Wilson in the 2020 Big Ten Championship. Bears QB Justin Fields threw the pass.

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