Regrade of Giants' 2023 Draft Class Exposes Key Roster Holes

Joe Schoen secured a contract extension, but a painful look back at his 2023 draft class reveals two still glaring roster holes that John Harbaugh inherits.

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen knocked it out of the park with his 2025 draft class. It's too early to judge the 2026 class, but he looks to have put together yet another strong group. In fact, his work over the last two offseasons has been impressive enough to earn a contract extension.

The 2023 class, on the other hand, hasn't lived up to expectations. The group produced just one current starter and multiple players who never made an impact for New York.

It's no surprise that the Giants' 2023 class received harsh marks in a regrading of all 32 teams’ draft hauls by CBS Sports analyst Pete Prisco, who dropped the Giants' original draft grade from a B- to a D.

Pick	Player	Career Starts
Round 1, No. 24 overall	CB Deonte Banks	35
Round 2, No. 57 overall	C John Michael Schmitz	41
Round 3, No. 73 overall	WR Jalin Hyatt	10
Round 5, No. 172 overall	RB Eric Gray	0
Round 6, No. 209 overall	CB Tre Hawkins III	4
Round 7, No. 243 overall	DT Jordon Riley	5
Round 7, No. 254 overall	S Gervarrius Owens	0

The biggest disappointment, hands down, might be the team’s third-round selection of receiver Jalin Hyatt, a player for whom the Giants traded up to acquire, sending the Rams their third and fourth round picks to move up six spots to select the receiver.

Prisco wrote of liking the Hyatt pick, but the problem is that despite the former Vols’ reputation of being a speed burner who can slice the top off the defense, he has struggled to learn the route tree and has been a limited contributor.

Hyatt has appeared in 41 games and has caught just 36 out of 73 targets for 470 yards and no touchdowns. According to PFF, he also has six career drops and has drawn only four DPIs via his route running.

As a result of his stalled development, Hyatt has seen his pass targets diminish each season and that his chances of making the 2026 roster are not very promising.  

Just One Constant Starter

New York Giants center John Michael Schmitz Jr. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Giants' 2023 draft class has yielded just one consistent starter: center John Michael Schmitz, their second-round pick, who enters the final year of his rookie deal this season.

Schmitz has been serviceable, having shown improvement every year. Still, per PFF data, out of 44 centers who played a minimum of 900 snaps since 2023, Schmitz’s 1.99% pressure allowed rating ranked 38th, while his run blocking grade peaked in 2024 (67.0), dipping to 63.3 last year after he played a career-high 60.2% of his run blocking snaps in the zone scheme.    

Cornerback Deonte Banks was being counted on to be a consistent starter as well, but that hasn’t come to fruition either. Banks, who showed promise as a rookie, struggled badly and regressed after defensive coordinator Wink Martindale left the team following the 2023 season.

Last year, Banks went on to lose the competition with Cor’Dale Flott for the starter role and was reduced to a return specialist, something he was good at.

Not surprisingly, the Giants didn’t exercise Banks’s option year on his rookie deal, but the hope is that, with defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson having planned a system that more closely resembles what Martindale ran during his time with Big Blue, Banks’s fledgling career can be salvaged.

And the Rest

New York Giants running back Eric Gray | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

Three of the Giants’ Class of 2023 members failed to finish their rookie deals: defensive back Tre Hawkins III (sixth-round), defensive lineman Jordon Riley (seventh round), and safety Gervarrius Owens (seventh round).

Running back Eric Gray (fifth round) is still on the roster, but his status appears to be hanging by a thread.

Last season, Gray, whom the Giants hoped would become a kickoff returner, was brought back to reality. 

He spent the majority of last season on the PUP list, where he had been placed at the start of training camp with a knee injury. Gray returned to the active roster in Week 12–a month after Cam Skattebo’s season-ending injury.    

Final Thoughts

There's a realistic possibility that none of the players New York picked in 2023 will be with the team after this season. That's a clear sign of a failed draft.

Consecutive draft flops can quickly set franchises back years, as the Giants have experienced with their 2022 and 2023 classes.

The good news is that Schoen and his staff have started to dig themselves out of that hole and make smarter selections that better fit what the coaching staff needs to win. And that can only mean that better days lie ahead for Big Blue.

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