Giants have ‘so many options’ in first round
With two top-10 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, how will the Giants choose to attack their board?
Video Transcript
At number five, it is The G-Men.
Here we are again.
Yeah, here we are again.
Four years later.
Yep.
Two top 10 picks, starting with number five.
Kayvon Thibodeaux, still on the team.
Yep.
Now, fifth pick again.
What are, what are you, what are you hoping for?
You're hoping for Jeremiah Love.
I'm hoping for Jeremiah Love, yes.
That- that's what I would really like.
I would, but I would not be mad at Sonny Stiles.
Middle linebacker would, would be good, too.
You know, really, I, I look at it, as a Giants fan, as just pu- purely as a fan, I go, man, Jeremiah Love, Jordan Tyson, I would love to come away with at least one of those two in the top 10.
That's, that's at least my thought there.
I'd like them to use one pick on offense, one pick on defense.
That's So, yeah, who's gonna be available here?
And that's gonna be the, the big thing as we go.
You know, we, we would think that, yes, the two pass rushers are gone, and Jeremiah Love would be gone with pick two, three, and four.
So now you're at pick five, and it's like, what do you do here?
Do you take Jordan Tyson at five because you're a little worried of going, the Commanders could take him.
They need a receiver.
The Saints could take him.
Ugh.
The Chiefs are crazy.
They could definitely take him.
We know the Chiefs are always like, "Hey, if he's a baller, we don't care.
We'll take him" So he might not be there at 10.
So that's to me the interesting thing there about how they balance this.
Yeah, there's Caleb Downs, the safety from Ohio State, there's Sonny Stiles there, and there could be a receiver there that's a superstar, and, and that's where I don't know where it goes.
It's gonna be very interesting right now to, to me, Mike.
And look, there's still a chance that they'll try to move up with the five and the 10.
That's a lot to give up, though.
You're giving up two players to try to move up a few spots to get, you know, someone.
I mean, the Yeah, I- Who do you think that they would want?
I, right.
How far would they, they go?
Would they want Arval Reece, they want David Bailey?
Would they wanna try to do that- I, um- and go up there and make that ba- They don't need those guys.
Exactly.
They got Brian Burns.
What am I saying?
Yeah, exactly.
That's what I'm saying.
They got Brian Burns.
Right.
They got Abdul Carter.
Yeah.
And they got Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Ex- Yes yeah.
So, you know, that's like, we talk about team building, and you go, that's just too many important assets in one position.
That doesn't make sense.
So yeah, I don't really look at them as a trade up type of team.
I could see them trading down in some ways.
You know, in, in my mock, because I had it kinda like, hey, you gotta worry about Cleveland might take a receiver too at number six.
The Commanders, you know, maybe they'd wanna jump the, the Cleveland Browns, and then the Giants go back to seven.
That's just something I threw out there.
But yes, I don't think there's anybody you're gonna trade up for at five, but maybe they decide to go, hey, we can trade down a few spots and get Caleb Downs, and then get an offensive lineman.
Or maybe get Caleb Downs and the wide receiver.
There's a lot of ways you can go here, and this is where, yeah, this is really at the part of the draft where you start to go, ooh, I don't know what the possibilities are.
There's a lot of them.
The problem with having so many options is you eventually have to pick one.
Sometimes it's better to not have an entire universe of choices, because at the end of the day, someone's gotta have the vision, someone's gotta have the commitment, and someone's gotta have the resolve to say, "This is what we're gonna do."
And a lot of it's driven by people reaching out to you and giving you these options, but then there's the reality of being the one who initiates it.
What can we do with this pick?
What else could we get?
What are our choices?
What would this team want if we would trade down?
Of course, only teams trading up are trading up for a player.
Yeah.
So you'll know.
That's the thing.
Plenty of teams wanna trade down and accumulate picks.
The teams trading up aren't just trying to shrink the number of picks they have.
They don't wanna make They don't wanna go golfing with Mike Ditka, you know, 1999.
They, they have a player that they want.
And they're trading for a player, not for a pick, so- No.
That, that's to where it could get- Those teams will declare themselves.
Yeah.
And that's when you have your opportunities.
That's where it could get interesting, right?
And, and Pete just said this in my ear, but it, it's right on cue with what you're saying here, of going, let's just say, yeah, the Jets go Bailey.
Let's say that the Cardinals go Jeremiah Love.
Let's say the Tennessee Titans go, J- What, well, hold on.
I, Stiles, Sonny Stiles.
Excuse me, I lost my thought there.
Now on the board is Arval Reece, right?
That, to me, is when you're gonna go, oh, the Giants are gonna have a cha- chance to trade down.
Like, if Bailey or Reece- Yeah are on the board at five, that's to your point where, uh-oh, there's a player there that teams at, you know, down the line here are gonna go, "Whoa, we want that player.
We're that close to getting him?
Hold on.
We'll, we'll This isn't gonna cost, you know, the house and the kitchen, whatever.
We can get up to here and make this move and get this player."
And that, to me, is where it would get interesting, too.
Seems unlikely, but we've seen crazier things happen.
And if you have Reece or Bailey are on the board, the Giants could have that opportunity to trade down and get picks.
And here's the other thing to keep in mind if that happens, because I know that they still use the Jimmy Johnson trade chart with the points, even though I thought it kinda became outdated when the rookie wage scale came along.
I, because I think that that, that reshuffles what the picks are worth, because you don't have to make the same financial investment when you move up for the player.
But remember, you're trading for a player at that point.
You're not trading the fifth overall pick if you're the New York Giants.
You're trading Arval Reece or David Bailey.
That may allow you to put the thumb on the scale a little bit more.
And if it's the Chiefs who call up, if, if John Harbaugh's former boss, Andy Reid, wants to do business, Harbaugh's gonna say, "Hey, I know it's only four spots.
You're trading up for Arval Reece or David Bailey.
So I want 9, I want 29, and I want this on top of it."
And think about that, the possibility of the Giants emergingWith 9 and 10 back to back, and 29.
Three picks in round one.
At a time when that roster has plenty of needs.
Yeah.
So it wouldn't be crazy, and even though it's only four picks, I mean, look, the, the Jaguars gave up a first round pick this year to go from 5 to 2 'cause they were trading up for a premier talent in Travis Hunter.
Yeah.
The guy that was regarded as the guy that you gotta have.
Right.
It's not, "We're just moving up three spots," whatever.
It's the, "We're trading for Travis Hunter."
Now, we talked yesterday, maybe it wasn't the best trade in the world, but that, that's the projection you're making now.
So if one of those guys is there, that's good news for the Giants, 'cause number one, they don't need him, and number two, man, they could get a lot.
They could, they could, they could hold a quick little con- Like, "All right, w- we got eight minutes."
Yeah.
"What do you M- make your best offer right now- Right for this player.
Not this spot, f- f- f- for this player."
Yeah.
No, I, I think that, that would be ideal, and if that does, you know, if that does happen and they do tend to get two players, I like, you'll know it.
C- And then an extra pick, 'cause I'll, I'll That would be one of the first videos I make on Instagram.
Sh- I mean, shit, I might FaceTime you and just go, "Gmen."
So we'll see what happens, but I'm, I'm pumped, and I'm pumped for the Giants especially.
You know, basically having the greatest control and power in the top 10 because of these two picks.
So, let's see what they do.
Hey, this eight minutes really is gonna be a problem- It, it is- for these teams trying to jump if there's these trades going on.
You're right.
You're right.
Yeah.
It's gonna be like- And it could be.
Yeah.
It could be a little, little Minnesota Vikings situation from 20-plus years ago.
Remember that?
Yeah.
Two years in a row.
One year they had the opportunity to jump in when the clock went out on the team in front of them, and then the next year, 2003 I think it was, the Byron Leftwich year, that was the year that they ultimately took Bryant McKinnie, but they got jumped by, like, one or two.
They didn't get the card in.
Yeah.
That was embarrassing.
Yes, it was.
It's pretty hard to screw up the draft.
They screwed that up.
And was it And it was Was it 15 minutes then?
Yeah, it was.
Was it?
I believe so.
It, it was 15 minutes.
Yep.
That's your team.
Think about that one longer.
That's your team.
15 to 8.
15 to 8.
Well, Mike Tice was the head coach then.
I'll blame him.
15 to 8 minutes to make your pick.
It'll be I'm gonna start that clock tonight when the commissioner comes out and says, "The Las Vegas Raiders are on the clock," boom.
Got the app, hit the button, and we'll see how long it is.
It could be as short as three hours.
This thing's gonna-
