Two days left until the NFL draft. Here’s what I’m hearing …
• In yesterday’s column, we mentioned the New York Giants’ efforts to trade up to No. 1—efforts that were quickly shut down by the Tennessee Titans. Presumably, the Giants were trying to land Miami QB Cam Ward. Instead, they’ve got a complicated decision to make at No. 3.
But at least they’ll be looking at an elite player there, with Penn State’s Abdul Carter or Colorado’s Travis Hunter almost certain to be on the board for them. If the Giants take Carter, the position the New England Patriots will be in at No. 4 is actually worse since there’s a significant drop-off from Hunter and Carter to the rest of the class.
So what we’re about to say here is for the anti-tanking crowd.
Both teams would be positioned better absent wins in the last two weeks of the 2024 season.
Had the Giants lost to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 17—Drew Lock threw for over 300 yards in that one—New York would be sitting there at No. 1 today, in the Titans’ position, set to take Ward atop the draft.
Given that New York won, then, had the Patriots lost to the Buffalo Bills’ backups in Week 18, they might be in an even more enviable position, with the Giants, Titans and Cleveland Browns just behind them, bidding for Ward in what would eventually shape up as a possible one-quarterback first round. That would’ve enabled them to pick up capital via trade and still end up with Hunter or Carter.
Instead, the Giants are now having to contemplate reaching at No. 3, or taking a quarterback in the second round, and the Patriots probably aren’t going to end up with Carter, Hunter or the extra pick they’d have gotten in a trade. Meanwhile, Tennessee is sitting pretty.
And we’re left to wonder whether some bottom-feeding teams remember this around Christmas 2025 and make s conscious decision to engage in some creative late-season roster management.
• We’ve mentioned the dynamics the offensive line class should benefit from Thursday night—it’s a good-not-great group, with players likely to be pushed up because there isn’t a ton of Day 2–quality depth either at tackle or on the interior—and one GM pointed out a silver lining to all of this for himself and his peers.
The group of prospective first-round O-linemen this year is exceptionally young.
LSU OT Will Campbell and Arizona G Jonah Savaiinaea turned 21 in January. Missouri OT Armand Membou and Texas OT Kelvin Banks Jr. turned 21 in March. Oregon OT Josh Conerly Jr. turned 21 in November. Alabama OG Tyler Booker celebrated his 21st birthday two Saturdays ago. Georgia C Jared Wilson is also 21 (will turn 22 in June), Ohio State’s Josh Simmons and Donovan Jackson are 22. North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel is the old guy, having turned 23 in March.
And this is actually relevant, more so with the big men than anyone else. It means, in a nutshell, there could still be some growth coming. Physical maturity is vital in a grown man’s NFL, and some linemen are still getting there as they come into the pros. It’s why there are times where guys struggle a little bit early on, and come on a few years into their careers—as they continue to fill out, and build up their functional football strength.
• Speaking of linemen, we have another team that has at least started sniffing around on a trade up, and that’s the Houston Texans. It’s no secret that Houston needs offensive line help, and I’d expect the Texans to target strong-character players as they continue to remake that room.
With the possibility that Campbell, Membou and Banks are all gone inside the top 10, the next group of linemen could get moved up the board a bit. And the Texans have two teams in front of them, the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings, that could take an offensive lineman.
Thanks to the Laremy Tunsil trade, the Texans do have three picks on Day 2 (Nos. 58, 79 and 89) to work with, though they’re without fourth- and sixth-rounders.
I could see where that sets up for a short move up, potentially to try to land someone like Zabel; or, if they’re feeling froggy and include 2026 picks, maybe a more significant move up for Banks. One player I’ve heard the Texans have done plenty of work on is Jackson. Again, right now, this is just sniffing around. But it’s notable because there aren’t a lot of teams looking to climb in the draft order this year, and Houston has a pretty specific reason to at least explore doing it.
• Mark down Jalon Walker as one of the class’s most complex prospects.
The plusses are numerous. He led Georgia last year with 11 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. The son of a coach, one team told me he was like a “defensive coordinator” on the board in predraft meetings. He can easily toggle between playing on the line and off the ball, with Kirby Smart having used him in a Micah Parsons–type of way. His highlights are as entertaining as any player’s in the draft—and he got the best of Texas’s Banks, a potential top-10 pick, twice, to the point where he might’ve cost Banks some money.
At the workout in Athens last week where we told you (in my takeaways) that Mykel Williams struggled, Walker wowed the scouts in attendance. In these settings, NFL teams have seen a guy who moves, in the words of one GM, “like a 5' 9" skill player.”
But that’s the thing: He’s only 6' 1" and 243 pounds, dimensions that’ll make it hard for Walker to play every down on the edge in the NFL. Some folks believe he can do it. Those who don’t will have to have a plan for him. Some think he’s the second-best defensive prospect in the class, behind only Carter. Other teams have him, because of his size, slotted in the second round.
Most think he’s a future team captain. There’s less agreement on the kind of player he’ll be. And a lot of folks have him pegged for the Carolina Panthers, who sent a contingent to see him at his pro day in March, at No. 8.
• While we’re on the topic of Banks, I had an interesting exchange with a GM on Monday night where I said that I thought the Texas big man would go higher than people thought.
“You mean non-NFL people?” the GM joked.
The implication, of course, was that coaches and scouts have been high on Banks all along.
The whooping Banks took at the hands of Walker and the Bulldogs in the fall, in the regular season and SEC title game, did give teams some pause. But with a chance to pull back and look at the bigger picture again, it feels to me like most saw the player they thought coming into the season would be a top-10 prospect.
Banks is more of a prototype left tackle than Campbell, and is more polished and pro-ready than Membou—even if his tape’s not as good as Campbell’s and his athletic ceiling isn’t as high as Membou’s. I think he could go as high as No. 6 to the Raiders, and I wouldn’t be stunned to see him land at No. 9 (Saints), No. 10 (Bears) or No. 11 (49ers), either. Chicago, for what it’s worth, sent a big crew to his pro day in Austin.
• Until yesterday (see my note on the Texans above), the Denver Broncos were the only team I could find that was actively exploring a trade up. If the Broncos move up, it would likely be for an elite skill player such as Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, and Jeanty is one player I have circled as a trade-up target in a class that doesn’t have many of those.
• I figured this would be a good place to expound a little on what I said in the takeaways Monday morning, on some teams liking Michigan TE Colston Loveland a little more than Penn State TE Tyler Warren.
Here’s one GM’s take: “It’s flavor. Loveland’s the more complete route runner, where Warren is the Swiss Army knife. He’s not [Rob Gronkowski], but he’s a damn good player.”
• The closer we get to Thursday, the more I think the Jacksonville Jaguars are going to go offense and not defense at No. 5. I don’t know where that’ll leave Michigan DT Mason Graham (I’ve heard the analytics people with some teams aren’t wild about Graham), but it could cause him to slip a few spots—plenty of people see him behind Ole Miss OT Walter Nolen as a prospect. Nolen, though, has character questions to work through.
• We’ve mentioned the lean-body-mass question with Carter. He weighed 250 at the combine, which is good enough size to play on the edge. But teams expect, based on where he was at Penn State, that he’ll play in the 240s. That said, having what some believe is 4.3 speed can mitigate a lot of problems. My guess remains that he’ll wind up with the Giants.
• And as such, right now, my bet would be we’ll get just one quarterback in the top 20. Want some more on that? Check out my annual story scouting the QBs on the site today.
Editors’ note, April 22 at 11:35 a.m. ET: This post originally said the Panthers sent a group to meet Jalon Walker on campus last week. It has been updated to note that was at his pro day in March.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Giants Would Be In Position to Draft Cam Ward Had They Lost In Week 17.
