Jeremiyah Love & CJ Allen Go in Top Two Rounds for NY Giants in New Mock Draft

The New York Giants are a team with a lot of intrigue going into the 2026 NFL draft, but they’re also in a position where they only have two picks in the top 100, thanks to having traded away their pick in the third round last year to move up to acquire quarterback Jaxson Dart.

The good news, though, is the Giants, through their free agency activity, have set themselves up to go in any number of directions with those first two picks while also not necessarily having to make a trade to pick up the missing third rounder.

And in a new mock draft by ESPN’s draft analysts, Mel Kiper Jr, Field Yates, and Jordan Reid, Kiper made the choices for the Giants, his picks–Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love and Georgia linebacker CJ Allen–pretty much fortifying areas of weakness on the Giants roster.

A running back at No. 5?

Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love speaks to the media during a press conference. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

If this song sounds familiar, it’s because the Giants have done this before, that being in 2018 when they drafted running back Saquon Barkley with the second overall pick.

But Kiper argues that Love is worth it.

“Love is so much more than just a running back, he said. “He’s a dynamic playmaker who could elevate Jaxson Dart and this Giants offense to another level,” Kiper Jr. wrote.

Love is, without question, a strong talent, and yes, it seems like every year a running back goes very high in the draft, but only 6 have been chosen in the top 10 over the last 10 years.

But is a running back at that spot smart? A case could be made for Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles, who could help reinforce the middle of the Giants' defense and help in areas that the Giants' defense lacked last year.

Or some might argue that an offensive lineman would be the better way to go, given how the Giants currently don’t have a starting right guard nailed down or any notable depth to speak of along the interior.

Running back is perhaps a huge gamble this high up in the draft. For every Bijan Robinson, there’s a Todd Gurley.

And while adding a high-powered back like Love would lessen the pressure to have Jaxson Dart execute high numbers of designed runs, the Giants, in our estimation, have a more pressing need in trying to shore up the run defense than to further enhance the running game.

A first-round linebacker in the second round?

Georgia linebacker CJ Allen speaks during the NFL Scouting Combine. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Kiper wrote that Allen is his 23rd-rated prospect on his board, and if the Giants agree, this would certainly be a tremendous value pick at this spot.

“He does a little bit of everything, from chasing down ball carriers to blitzing from the second level,” Kiper said of Allen.

We’re not against the Giants drafting a linebacker, and getting a player like Allen early in the second round would be a big steal for New York.

Allen is an All-American linebacker with over 200 tackles across three seasons with the Bulldogs, and he has a knack for finding running backs and opposing backfields. He had eight tackles for loss in his junior season at Georgia and recorded 3.5 sacks for the team.

New head coach John Harbaugh has always flourished with a strong linebacker. Edmunds is expected to take over that role this season for the Giants.

However, we’d rather the Giants look at the offensive line in this round, where many mock draft simulations seem to indicate that there will be a cluster of interior offensive linemen to select from.

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