4 Current Giants Players Who Could Lose Their Jobs on Draft Night

The addition of new players via the annual NFL draft is widely viewed as an exciting time for NFL teams and for their fan base, but it can also be a nerve-wracking time for certain players whose statuses on their team are far from being secure.

This is especially for a New York Giants team that has a new head coach in John Harbaugh who has no prior ties to players who were on the team before he arrived..

It goes without saying that draft weekend could change the statuses of several players either in terms of their role with the team or their roster spot. And there are already four players who come to mind who could either see a change in their role–or a loss of their roster spot–by the time the draft is done.

SAF Tyler Nubin

Oct 9, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants safety Tyler Nubin (27) celebrates after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

If the Giants pick Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, which is still very much a strong possibility depending on how the board shakes out, Nubin could be the one who ends up getting the short end of the stick.

Nubin, who split his snaps between the box and at free safety (with a slight lean more toward free safety), badly regressed in his second season.

His missed tackles rose from 10 to 15, his reception percentage-allowed jumped from 73.1 to 77.1, he allowed two touchdowns after not giving up any as a rookie, and his overall coverage rating ballooned from 95.7 to 119.5, all of this while playing mostly in the same scheme.

If the Giants draft Downs, whom head coach John Harbaugh has likened to having Hall of Fame potential, that will almost certainly spell the end of Nubin’s two-year rocky road as a starting safety for the team, though there’s no reason to think that his roster spot could be in jeopardy.

LB Darius Muasau

New York Giants linebacker Darius Muasau (53) is shown on the grid iron after coming close to completing an interception against the Commanders, Sunday, December 14, 2025. | Kevin R. Wexler-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Muasau was originally drafted with an eye toward special teams, having previously worked with former Giants special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial at the University of Hawaii.

While Muasau hasn’t been a disaster since joining the Giants two years ago as a sixth-round pick, he also hasn’t progressed to the point where one can look at him as a potential starter, similar to the path that fellow inside linebacker Micah McFadden’s career took before a season-ending injury last year put a halt to that.

As far as special teams go, Muasau finished with the 13th-highest grade among the Giants in the special teams category.

With this being a deep linebacker class and with the additions the Giants made on special teams in free agency, Muasau’s hold on a roster spot seems a little less secure than it did at the start of the offseason.

RB Eric Gray

Sep 8, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants running back Eric Gray (20) returns a kickoff against the Minnesota Vikings during the first half at MetLife Stadium. | John Jones-Imagn Images

The Giants tried to find a role for Gray, their fifth-round draft pick in 2023, but it just hasn’t happened on offense or special teams. In 175 offensive snaps, Gray has carried the ball just 31 times for 79 yards, having struggled to carve out a larger role on offense.

As a return specialist, he’s been even less of a factor, having returned seven punts for 28 yards and 27 kickoffs for 65 yards, showing an alarming lack of vision and quickness in a returner’s role.

If the Giants add a running back at some point in this draft, Gray’s future with the team will, in all likelihood, be sealed. He’s in the final year of his rookie deal as it is, and with him having struggled to carve out a larger role on a consistent basis, that doesn't bode well for him moving forward.

WR Jalin Hyatt

New York Giants wide receiver Jalin Hyatt (13) catches a pass in the second quarter during a Thursday Night Football game between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Oct. 9, 2025. | Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Harbaugh has granted every player on the roster a fresh start, and no one can benefit more from the fresh start than receiver Jalin Hyatt, whom the Giants traded up for in the third round of the 2023 draft.

While Hyatt hasn’t been lazy in working at his craft, unfortunately, the work he’s put in hasn’t translated into enough production to where he’s anywhere near being secure on this roster.

His pass targets have decreased every season since his rookie year, when he had 40 –he had 14 last year–and with it, his production on the offense.

Even his rookie season, in which he got a high amount of opportunity (as compared to the last two years), wasn’t all that stellar. He caught 57.5% of his pass targets and had four of his six career dropped passes that year.

And when it came to contented catches, which is a sign not only of skill but also of play strength, Hyatt has come up short in that department as well, logging a 42.1% career contested catch rate.

With the Giants needing an X-receiver to complement Maik Nabers, Hyatt thus far hasn’t risen to that challenge, which puts his roster spot in jeopardy.

With the possibility of the team either drafting a receiver this weekend or maybe even signing veteran Odell Beckham Jr., a proven X-receiver who worked out for the team this week, Hyatt’s time as a Giant could be winding down.

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