Current Giants with Most to Gain/Lose Following 2024 Draft

While the NFL Draft brings new opportunities for a handful of eager rookies, it could lead to different stories from a select group of current Giants players.

Nov 8, 2020; Landover, Maryland, USA; A view of the helmets of New York Giants quarterback Daniel / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Giants 2024 draft is over, and as is usually the case on every team, the incoming group of rookies is a double-edged sword that can help some players while jeopardizing the status of others.  

Let's examine the Giants roster members who stand to benefit from each pick's arrival and those who might have something to worry about. 

R1: WR Malik Nabers 

Benefits: QB Daniel Jones

Say what you want about Daniel Jones, but it’s hard to debate the strength of the playmakers he has had around him since he took command of the Giants huddle in 2019. 

After the team traded Odell Beckham Jr. following the 2018 season, the Giants haven’t had a true play-making No. 1 receiver for Jones, who took over the offense in 2019, to target. 

While that's not to say that Darius Slayton, Jalin Hyatt, and Wan’Dale Robinson are solid players in their own right, having a true No. 1 receiver who can be a matchup nightmare and regularly draws double coverage will make what was a very good receiving corps exceptional.

Enter Nabers. The 20-year-old LSU wideout is coming off consecutive 1,000-yard campaigns at the collegiate level which gives heavy kudos to the vertical element of his game that torched opponents at a very high rate.

Per PFF metrics, Nabers had a field day against SEC cornerbacks in 2023, averaging 17.6 yards per catch and posting a career-high 14 touchdowns. His average target was 12.2 yards downfield, and his receptions earned 6.6 yards after the catch due to his aggressiveness. 

Add in a low drop rate and a 45 percent contested catch rate, Nabers can be the elite perimeter weapon that Jones has lacked and create big plays with his speed and separation ability. The Giants can put Nabers on the outside with Slayton and have a full arsenal of pass catchers to work with, the newest one having solid one-on-one potential. 

The key will be whether Jones sheds the jitters that made him reluctant to uncork the deep throws. Having an improved offensive line will help, but so will developing chemistry with his newest wideout.  

Worries: Darius Slayton

Slayton is in the final year of his contract and is looking for some financial security beyond this season. Slayton has been the Giants' receiving yardage leader in four of his five seasons in blue, but it is certainly fair to wonder if his targets will start to decline once the rookie gets fully up to speed.

It's also fair to wonder if the Giants plan to extend him beyond this year. General manager Joe Schoen seemed to poo-poo the idea leading up to the draft; whether he has the same feeling after the season (assuming Slayton isn't traded before then) remains to be seen. 

R2: Safety Tyler Nubin

Benefits: Shane Bowen

New defensive coordinator Shane Bowen has another chess piece in his arsenal. He is a ball hawk and can play all three positions (strong, free, and the slot). The Giants need more big-play makers on the defensive side of the ball. If Nubin, who set a program record at Minnesota for career interceptions, can carry over that production to the pros, Bowen's job will be much easier on Sundays.

Worries: Dane Belton

Following Xavier McKinney's departure during the free agency period, it was widely believed that third-year player Dane Belton would be first on the depth chart, pending a training camp competition.  

Belton began to show his talent towards the end of last season when he substituted for Jason Pinnock during his injury-related absence. Belton recorded his best season statistics to date, making 33 total tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, and two interceptions. By the end of the year, it looked like Belton could be close to assuming the deep secondary if the contract discussions with McKinney soiled. 

Nubin's arrival could change things. While the coaches will have an open competition for McKinney's old spot, it's hard not to envision Nubin earning the starting job. 

Nubin was a four-year starter with the Golden Gophers from 2020-2023, with four seasons of at least 41 total tackles and two pass deflections. He was very active as a ballhawk,  forcing a career-high five interceptions last season that were among the nation's best safeties. 

Nubin’s intangibles have to translate to the pro level, but he is a great zone coverage defender with a keen eye for tracking the football and he can fly across the field to make a play on the pass. He allowed just six receptions on 20 targets for 90 yards and two touchdowns last season, all of which were his best numbers with Minnesota. 

If he can translate it to the NFL, the Giants could feel comfortable plugging Nubin into the starting defense from the start. That would be a downgrade for Belton, who could still compete for the job in camp and potentially be the second man up.

R3: CB Andru Phillips

Benefits: Shane Bowen

Bowen again emerges as the one who will benefit most from this pick. The Giants took a more committee approach last year at slot cornerback, and in Phillips, whom general manager Joe Schoen said is expected to begin his NFL life working from the slot, Bowen now has another set of skills to deploy in what's a very underrated matchup in football.

Worries: Cor’Dale Flott

At first glance, Phillips seems to be a replica of Cor'Dale Flott, the team's third-round pick in the 2022 draft. Flott began his NFL career in the slot before being tried outside.  

Last season, Flott did have an uptick in his tackle production, tallying 36 total takedowns, one forced fumble, and a lone interception. Yet, outside of those two instances, Flott struggled to be an active defender with his hands, holding just three pass deflections while giving up 40 receptions and three scores on 62 targets. 

Flott was one of the most exploited cornerbacks during many games of the past season due to his lackluster pass coverage. Per PFF, he had eight games where he was targeted at least four times and four with at least four receptions against him. He finished with 425 yards of opposing offense to his name, which was a significant increase from 2022. 

Flott also lacked ideal physicality in run support, where Phillips has an advantage. Phillips was an astute player in the slot who battled with bigger receivers and could alter their routes. 

The unfortunate part was he couldn’t get much pressure on the pass when he was targeted. Phillips had ten pass deflections in 29 games with the Wildcats and didn’t post a single interception. He allowed completions on 46.9% of his targets last fall for an average of 8.0 yards per catch.

Phillips is slightly bigger than Flott at 6-0 and 187 pounds. His experience comes mainly in the slot, where he should get his work with the Giants to earn time at one of the two slot corner positions.  

R4: TE Theo Johnson

Benefits: Daniel Jones

Penn State tight end Theo Johnson was ranked among the top prospects at his position despite a lack of tangible production at the college level. Still, his addition to the offense gives the Giants another potential pass catcher to go along with Daniel Bellinger.  

Meanwhile, it's looking increasingly likely that Darren Waller will retire. The longer he drags out a decision that he's been contemplating since the season ended, the more likely he is to move on. 

Waller appeared in just 12 games amid a lingering hamstring injury and recorded only one touchdown on 52 receptions. He wasn’t able to replicate his two 1,000-yard seasons as a Giant, and it is becoming increasingly obvious that his best years are in the rearview mirror.

Although the Giants signed a couple of tight ends in free agency (Chris Manhertz and Jack Stoll), they are primarily blockers. Johnson can be a two-way tight end for the team, who might make for a nice complement to Bellinger.

Johnson is a tall, study-built tight end at 6’6” and 284 pounds who can win the contested catch battle around the sticks and at the pylons. He caught a career-high 341 yards for the Nittany Lions and brought in seven touchdowns last season. 

His overall production needs to be lifted at the NFL level for this selection to earn its true value for the Giants' offense. That said, Johnson has all the speed, route-running ability, and athleticism to be a good target for Jones to rely on in 2024.

Worries: Lawrence Cager

Cager was re-signed during free agency to compete for a spot on the depth chart. Cager, a converted wide receiver, isn't much of a blocker and was mediocre as a receiver. With Johnson now on board, the expectation is that the tight end room will consist of Daniel Bellinger, Johnson, and one of Chris Manhertz and Jack Stoll, assuming Darren Waller retires, as is expected.

R5: RB Tyrone Tracy Jr.

Benefits: Michael Ghobrial, Special Teams Coordinator

Special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial will looks to overhaul a special teams unit that lacked firepower on kickoff returns last year. With the league adopting the new kickoff format, which will bring exciting play back into the mix, the Giants need a solid and experienced returner. 

Enter the arrival of Tracy, who only returned kickoffs for the Cyclones the last two seasons. But at that time, he recorded 17 kickoff returns for 428 yards (25.2 average) and had one touchdown. His explosiveness and ability to weave through traffic from his early days as a receiver should help him with kickoffs if he does indeed get that assignment.  

Worries: Gary Brightwell 

With the Giants taking a committee approach to running back, the room has suddenly become much more crowded.

The team has Devin Singletary as the committee leader. Second-year man Eric Gray, Gary Brightwell, Jashaun Corbin, and recent free-agent signing Dante Miller are also on the team.  

Brightwell is probably more of a special teams player than anyone in that group. If Tracy does, as is expected, take on the kickoff return role and shows he can contribute as part of the committee (more so than what Brightwell has been asked to do thus far in his career), Brightwell could have something to worry about as far as his roster spot goes.  

Offensively, Tracy is new to the running back position, but he's been a solid contributor. In 2023, he finished as the Boilermakers’ second-leading rusher and became their dual-threat guy with some plays in the flat. 

He had a career-high 113 carries for 716 yards (6.3 average), eight touchdowns on the ground, and 19 catches for 132 yards for his fifth season, surpassing 100 yards in the air. 

Tracy built up his penchant for passing catching before transferring to Purdue, posting as high as 589 yards in three seasons with the Iowa Hawkeyes from 2019 to 21. He shows a nice blend of elusiveness and power to gain the extra yards on each carry he receives and has the stamina to keep finding new lanes to pursue.

R6: LB Darius Muasau

Benefits: Michael Ghobrial, Special Teams Coordinator

One can never have enough hard hitters on special teams, and Muasau is just that. New Giants special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial coached Muasau in 2019 when both were at Hawaii, so he has a pretty good idea of what the youngster can bring to the table.

Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen can also stand to benefit. In 2020, Muasau ranked first in all of college football and the MWC in solo tackles (66) and his 260 career tackles currently ranked 11th in college football history since 2005. He'll need to clean up some of the missed tackle opportunities, but as a potential two-down linebacker and special teams contributor, Muasau has a lot of upside.

Worries: Micah McFadden 

McFadden took a big step forward in his development last year when he earned the starting inside linebacker job next to Bobby Okereke. McFadden was steady, but his game had issues, such as missed tackles, struggles in space, and pressures.

McFadden has recorded 20 pressures and 55 stops in two seasons as a pro. He has also missed 30 tackles and a 110.0 coverage rating.

Muasau's numbers are slightly better when one averages out his annual production. Career-wise, he has 107 pressures, 197 stops, and a 94 coverage rating. He also has 87 missed tackles, a problem he'll need to clean up.

Overall, Muasau is an interesting selection. He holds five college seasons (three with Hawaii) with at least 42 tackles and three with at least four sacks, including a career-high seven in 2021.

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