Three Intriguing XFL Prospects That Could Draw Giants' Interest

With the XFL season wrapped up, NFL teams are starting to sign players from the league that impressed. With some of the top names available, who might be some targets for the New York Giants? We have three.

CB Raleigh Texada, Houston Roughnecks

The Giants did a solid job of adding to their cornerback room in the 2023 NFL Draft with first-round pick Deonte Banks, sixth-round pick Tre Hawkins III, and undrafted free agent Gemon Green. It’s 2023, however, and you can never have enough cornerback talent, as the Giants learned last year when injuries wrecked their depth at the position. So it certainly couldn't hurt to add to the room.

Enter Raleigh Texada. While at Baylor, Texada was the top corner for a defense that consistently was near the top of the Big XII. Texada’s athleticism was elite, as he posted a Relative Athletic Score of 8.27 at Baylor’s Pro Day.

Texada is experienced in both man and zone coverage working under Phil Snow and Dave Aranda at Baylor and Wade Phillips and Brian Stewart, finding success under all of them. While he doesn’t possess elite size (5-foot-10, 188 pounds), his experience and versatility are worth a look for a Giants secondary that still should address their depth.

WR Chris Blair, DC Defenders

For a team that lacks both size and depth on the outside, Chris Blair (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) should be someone the Giants consider adding to their receiver room in 2023. Blair was the leading receiver for the DC Defenders this past season (594 yards o 26 receptions). But more importantly, he was a dynamic playmaker who worked mostly outside.

The one thing that showed up consistently from Blair was that he could be a catch-and-run weapon in the short and intermediate game over the middle of the field. In 2022, the short and intermediate middle of the field accounted for 38.9% of Daniel Jones’ targets, which is unlikely to change in Year 2 of the Brian Daboll-Mike Kafka era.

While the Giants have plenty of options over the middle of the field, adding one that can work from the outside in is somewhat lacking on the roster.

DL Jacub Panasiuk, DC Defenders

The last player on our list that the Giants should look to add is someone who could help breathe some life into the pass-rush from multiple alignments and help on special teams. Jacub Panasiuk (6-foot-3, 266 pounds) was a stud defensive lineman from Michigan State who won consistently with active hands and power that translates in both the run and pass games.

While he doesn’t have an impressive athletic profile (which likely limits his ceiling at the NFL level), he could stand up as an edge rusher or put his hand in the dirt and work as a depth defender from multiple spots along the defensive line.

Injuries during the pre-draft process in 2022 limited his draft status, but after a strong showing in the XFL that saw him finish 12th in the XFL in pressures and sixth in quarterback pressures, he should find his way onto an NFL roster this preseason.

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