NY Giants 3-Round Mock Draft: Bold Trade-Down Nets Explosive RB and OL Depth

Very soon, we’ll see just what the New York Giants have in store for draft weekend and if the countless mock draft trades come to fruition.

One thing not widely discussed in mock drafts is the possibility of the Giants trading down in the first round. This could let them pick up that missing third-rounder they sent to the Texans last year to move up for quarterback Jaxson Dart.

In this three-round mock draft, we used Pro Football Focus’s simulator along with consensus big board data to create a scenario involving a bold trade that addressed the Giants' missing third-rounder. With that in mind, let’s dive into how the first three rounds played out for Big Blue.

Round 1: TRADE with New Orleans

Giants get No. 8, No. 73, and a 2027 fifth-round pick.
Saints receive No. 5 (moving up to target their preferred player) and No. 186 (the highest of their three sixth-round picks)

The Pick: RB Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame

Before you click off this article, both Ohio State linebackers, Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles, were already off the board when the Giants’ turn came at No. 5. Reese went third to the Arizona Cardinals, and Styles went fourth to the Tennessee Titans.

I went with Love for two reasons. First, the young man is a playmaker as both a runner and a receiver out of the backfield.

For what it’s worth, Giants offensive coordinator all but confirmed that the running game, which had sort of been an afterthought with the last coaching staff, is going to be a big part of the new offense being installed.

“That running back room is a big part of the offense. You look at what we want to try to do and what we want to get to. That's going to be a big part of it,” Nagy said.

“With the running backs in the draft, there's quite a bit of good guys there,” he added.

A player of Love’s abilities will undoubtedly lead to the Giants reducing the number of designed runs (and thereby the risk of injury) for quarterback Jaxson Dart.

Last year, Dart rushed 86 times; of those, 41 were designed runs, and 32 of those designed runs came with Brian Daboll as the head coach.

For those who think selecting Love would be a repeat of the mistake made when the Giants picked Saquon Barkley second overall in 2018, times were very different back then compared to now.

Back then, the Giants had no offensive line. They had an aging quarterback in Eli Manning, who was coming off two straight seasons with at least 600 pass attempts. The Giants' core foundation was not nearly as solid on both sides of the ball as the 2026 team. That roster was nowhere near ready to compete.

Head coach John Harbaugh believes the Giants can make a postseason run. And if it takes the addition of the best running back in this class to bolster the power rushing game the Giants apparently want to run, then the selection of Love makes all the sense in the world, given how the board has fallen up to this point.

Round 2, Pick No. 37: Guard Emmanuel Pregnon, Oregon

Oregon’s Emmanuel Pregnon (75), center, takes the field before the game against Oklahoma State at Autzen. | Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Don’t let the number of guards the Giants finally decided to bring in fool you; the long-term answer is not yet on the roster.

Even if Evan Neal, Joshua Ezeudu, Aaron Stinnie, Jake Kubas, or newcomer Daniel Faalele work out, there’s another issue. Jon Runyan, on the other side of the line, is in the final year of his contract.

That means we’ll be singing this same song about a need for guard again next year unless the Giants address the position now so that they have someone ready to step in when needed.

Pregnon, 6-foot-4 and 314 pounds, is an older prospect who will be 25 by the end of the 2026 season. He is intriguing, ranking as PFF’s second-best run blocking guard among draft-eligible players at his position. He was also the fourth-best pass-blocker among that group.

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein lauded Pregnon as someone “who projects as a good plug-and-play starter and immediate run-blocking upgrade.”

Again, going back to what Nagy said, if there is a chance that Love could land with the team in this draft, an upgrade of run-blocking interior offensive linemen who can also pass block would make far too much sense.

Pregnon, who has a career pass-blocking efficiency of 98.6, has played most of his 3,201 career snaps (2,504) at left guard, but he also has played a healthy number of snaps (689) at right guard, making him a versatile plug-and-play athlete who, with some fine-tuning, could develop into a quality starter on that Giants offensive line.

There might be some who question why I didn’t go with a defensive lineman here, given the Dexter Lawrence situation. First, I personally believe the two sides will “kiss and make up” and that Lawrence will be a Giant this year.

Whether he gets a new deal is another story–I don’t think he will, though a strong argument can be made that if the Giants were to give him a new deal, they could clear some much-needed cap space.

Second, aside from Caleb Banks of Florida, who suffered a broken foot at the combine and required surgery, I don’t think there are any defensive tackles worthy of a Day 1 or Day 2 pick who can stop the run and give a team any semblance of a consistent pass rush.

For me, the offensive line was the higher priority at this pick, and the board just happened to fall in such a way that taking a guard made too much sense above all other positions of need from a value perspective.

Round 3, Pick No. 73 (from NO): CB Davison Igbinosun, Ohio State

Ohio State Buckeyes cornerback Davison Igbinosun (1) celebrates an interception during the first half of the Big Ten Conference championship game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Dec. 6, 2025. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Again, people might be wondering why I didn’t go defensive line or receiver here. To my thinking, cornerback depth is a far greater need. I have repeatedly argued that the Giants lack anything close to a true No. 1 shutdown cornerback, and nothing the Giants have done in free agency has convinced me that has changed.

I don’t know if Davison Igbinosun can fill that gap, but what I do believe is that, given the depth the Giants have at the cornerback position, Igbinosun can be an upgrade.

Igbinosun has 53 career starts under his belt and excels as a press-cover corner, with elite play strength in staying with the more physical receivers in the game.

Igbinosun posted a career coverage rating of 76.7, which includes 19 pass breakups, only 10 touchdowns allowed (none in 2025), and four interceptions. He’s primarily a perimeter corner, but he can give a team occasional snaps in the slot.

Igbinosun is also solid in run support; his 82.2 PFF run defense grade ranked 16th among draft-eligible corners who have played at least 600 defense snaps.

Final Thoughts

Typically, having a top-five draft pick makes forecasting what a team might do in the first round fairly straightforward.

This year’s draft lacks a strong quarterback group and an overflow of blue-chip talent. It is hard to find consensus on how the draft will play out beyond Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza going to the Raiders at No. 1 overall.

To their credit, the Giants set themselves in free agency to have options given the unpredictability of the board from Picks 2 onward.

I won’t go so far as to suggest there’s no such thing as a “safe pick” for the Giants, regardless if they say at No. 5 or trade down, but if nothing else, give credit to head coach John Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen for setting themselves up to go in any number of directions spending on how the board falls.

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