Most Disappointing Giants Draft Picks of Last Five Years

These players haven’t lived up to the hype since being drafted by the Giants.

Author:
Andrew Parsaud
Publish date:
Mar 3, 2024 4:00 PM EST

In this story:

When it comes to drafting, the New York Giants have had many whiffs that span over multiple regimes. The last five years have seen some hits, but unfortunately, there have been many picks the team would like to get back.

In those five years, most of those misses came from former general manager Dave Gettleman, but current general manager Joe Schoen has had some unfortunate luck in a few picks thus far. Here is the most disappointing Giants draft picks list over the last five classes.

Giants 5-year draft record, 2019-2023
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5. OL Joshua Ezeudu

Some may say it’s too early to put Ezeudu on this list, but the former third-round pick hasn’t been good in the little time he’s spent on the field. Ezeudu was taken with the 67th pick in the third round during Schoen’s first draft as general manager, touted as a project but with tools to work with and hopefully mold into a potential starter down the line.

Fast forward two years later, and Ezeudu simply hasn’t shown anything. While some of that can be attributed to coaching, he hasn’t been available, having a string of injuries in such a short time.

He appeared in his first ten games as a rookie, then missed the final nine due to a neck injury. During the offseason, Ezeudu underwent shoulder surgery but was ready for Week 1. His 2023 season wasn’t any better, missing the last 11 games due to a toe injury suffered against the Bills.

He’s played just 16 games over two years, but it hasn’t been pretty when he was on the field. He hasn’t had the best circumstances, but Ezeudu has been a disappointment thus far.

4. OT Matt Peart

When Peart was drafted in 2020, many believed the Giants had found two starting tackles in the same draft. (They took Andrew Thomas with the fourth overall pick and decided to double down on the position, given how bad the offensive line was the season before.) Standing at 6-foot-7 and over 300 pounds, Peart had the size and strength to at least be a solid option for the Giants as he developed.

Injuries were a big hindrance to his development. Peart was solid as a backup in 2020 as a rookie, then even better playing more snaps in 2021. He suffered an ACL tear late that season and missed the first eight games in 2022, but only played 116 offensive snaps over the remaining 11 games. He hasn’t been consistent enough to say that the third-round pick used on him was worth it.

3. CB Deandre Baker

Baker was regarded as the top cornerback in college coming out of the draft in 2019. The Giants, who had already drafted Daniel Jones and Dexter Lawrence in the first round, decided to trade back into the first round to draft Baker, giving up the 37th, 132nd and 142nd picks to the Seahawks to do so despite there being other cornerback options on the board.

Baker appeared in all 16 games during his rookie season, recording 61 tackles, eight pass breakups, and two tackles for loss. However, he was poor in coverage, allowing 850 yards and six touchdowns while surrendering over 15 yards per catch. Despite the rough rookie year, Baker was expected to improve, especially with the addition of cornerback James Bradberry in the 2020 offseason to learn under.

However, none of those aspirations came to be as Baker not only struggled to embrace being a pro, but he ran afoul of some legal issues from which he was later exonerated, but which nevertheless led to his one-way ticket off the team.

He spent two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs afterward but is currently a free agent and likely finished as far as an NFL career goes.

2. OT Evan Neal

Neal’s career as a Giant hasn’t been good at all up to this point. After being the seventh-overall pick in 2022, he had high expectations coming in, expected to be the team’s starting right tackle of the future.

Neal was a standout tackle coming out of Alabama, but he spent most of his time at left tackle and made the switch since Thomas already occupied the left side.

Injuries have also hindered Neal’s short career so far. In 2022, he started the first seven games before spraining his MCL against the Jaguars, causing him to miss the next four games.

It’s believed that those four missed games hindered Neal’s development, as he had begun to string together a few solid performances against the Bears, Packers, and Ravens before then. In 2023, Neal missed ten games after he fractured a small bone in his left ankle.

Getting into his play hasn’t been good at all. He’s shown a few flashes but no progress from year one to two. Some believe coaching was the issue, but Neal allowed two sacks and surrendered five penalties in limited time this past year. As a rookie, he allowed seven sacks and over 50 pressures.

Schoen said earlier in the offseason that Neal would get another chance at right tackle, but he would have to earn it. The team expected to bring in competition for the former first-rounder, which, if it wins out over Neal, would be a disappointing development for a guy who was a top-seven draft pick.

1. WR Kadarius Toney

In 2021, the Giants originally had the 11th pick, and their draft plans quickly diminished as the top wide receivers in the class were taken early. The Eagles even traded ahead of the Giants with the Cowboys to take DeVonta Smith. Jaylen Waddle was taken five picks before the Giants by the Dolphins. That left the Giants, then run by Dave Gettleman, deciding to trade down with the Bears to pick number 20, though he did pick up an extra first-round pick in the following year's draft (which later became Evan Neal).

However, Gettleman's selection of receiver Kadarius Toney with the 20th pick compounded a headscratcher. Toney had injury problems from the jump, missing seven games during his rookie year. However, when he was on the field, Toney was part of an inept offense, recording 39 catches for 420 yards and no touchdowns. When the new regime came in, Toney, who also had attitude problems in that he never seemed to want to be in New York, was never part of the offensive plans, as evidenced by his first two games of 2022.

He played 35 snaps in two weeks and had two catches for no yards. Toney was then sidelined for the next five weeks with an injury. Seeing how he wasn’t involved anyway and would rather bite the bullet earlier than later, Schoen dealt Toney to the Chiefs for third- and sixth-round picks. Toney ended his Giants tenure playing 12 games, catching 41 passes with no touchdowns.

Instead of trading the 11th pick and selecting Toney nine picks later, the Giants could’ve had either edge Micah Parsons or tackle Rashawn Slater taken 12th and 13th, respectively. And at No. 20, instead of Toney, the Giants could have taken Christian Darrisaw, who the Vikings took 23rd. Both scenarios had better options on the board, and it’s safe to question what Gettleman was thinking when he made this pick.