Russell Wilson on March 26, soon after the Giants signed him to a one-year, $10.5 million contract with $10 million guaranteed:
“I expect to be the starter and come in here and be ready to rock and roll every day. This team is really looking for somebody to lead them in every way in terms of process and the offseason, during the season, our habits and our thought process, how we create a great winning culture, and how do we continue to establish that, to really build on things that we do well and things we need to continue to do.”
Jameis Winston on March 31, soon after the Giants signed him to a two-year, $8 million contract with $5.25 million guaranteed:
“My role was explained to me as there is an opportunity at the quarterback position that we’re looking forward to getting better at. I signed up for that because I’m looking forward to getting better and being my very best self. So that’s how it was. I didn’t get a clean explanation of my role because I played so many different roles already. I’ve played every role that the quarterback room has to offer, so I’m ready for anything.”
With those two signings, the Giants’ long-term plan at quarterback isn’t any more clear now than it was before. These are two spackle deals in order to address a position of desperate need as the team looks to redefine things at several other positions. Coming off a 3-14 season in 2024, and with one winning season in the last eight years, it’s past time for Big Blue to look past easy solutions and take the medicine. There is no quarterback in the 2025 class who will take this team close to contention; the best possible thing to do is to get any many other ducks in a row as possible before the 2026 quarterback class comes around.
Now, if they love them some Jaxson Dart or Jalen Milroe (I would love to see if Brian Daboll could do with Milroe what he did with Josh Allen), could that be a thing? Perhaps. But given the long, slow build this franchise really needs right now, here’s how I would do it from Rounds 1-7 of the PFF Mock Draft Simulator engineered reality.
Round 1
1.3 Travis Hunter, CB/WR, Colorado
With Cam Ward off to Tennessee, and Abdul Carter becoming Myles Garrett’s best buddy in Cleveland, the Giants get the best player in this draft class at two positions, which is pretty cool. I’ve said before that Hunter reminds me of DeAndre Hopkins as a receiver, and Darius Slay as a cornerback. Take a second and think of how remarkable that is.
Whoever your comps may be, and wherever you want to play him… well, for me, he’s one of my outside cornerbacks 100%, and you throw a few package plays in for him on offense. Both Richard Sherman and Dick LeBeau have told me that cornerback is Hunter’s better position, and they’re certainly a lot smarter about this football thing than I am.
So, Hunter takes the spot as Paulson Adebo’s bookend, and the Giants secondary becomes infinitely better than it was when the season ended. What to do with Deonte Banks and his meltdowns is another matter, but Adebo was one of the NFL’s most underrated cornerbacks over the last two seasons when healthy, and Hunter has every attribute to come in right away and start shutting people down.
Round 2
2.34 Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan
I do not have supreme confidence that Loveland will be available at any point in the second round. Perhaps the right shoulder injury he suffered last September that he played through all season (he’s expected to be ready for training camp post-surgery) would be an impediment for some teams, but after watching the tape, especially with the injury proviso? If I’m Daboll and Schoen, I am sprinting to make this pick. Personally, I had an LOL/OMG moment when I saw that he was there with the 34th pick in the simulator.
Will Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka be happy adding Loveland to a thin TE depth chart? They certainly should be. Even with the injury last season (which caused him to miss three games), he caught 56 passes on 82 targets for 582 yards and five touchdowns. In 2023 with J.J. McCarthy as his quarterback, and a clean bill of health, Loveland is the kind of multi-route force multiplier who can line up anywhere in the formation, and though he won’t make the Pro Bowl on his blocking alone, he’s more than just a big receiver.
Round 3
3.65 Tate Ratledge, OG, Georgia
Are we entirely confident regarding any of the five spots on the Giants’ offensive line?
Not entirely.
Are we least confident in a right guard rotation that currently consists of Greg “I gave up seven sacks and 35 total pressures last season” Van Roten and Jake “I’m a second-year undrafted free agent who played four games in my rookie year” Kubas?
Perhaps.
So, let’s get something more going there. This is an offensive line in need of both attitude and aptitude, and Tate Ratledge has both in droves. Last season for the Bulldogs, he allowed no sacks, three quarterback hits, and two quarterback hurries in 418 pass-blocking reps. Over three seasons as a starter, he gave up two sacks, six hits, and 10 hurries in 1,179 pass-blocking reps. And though the 6’6 ½, 308-pound Ratledge can get in over his skis a bit when the leverage isn’t right, he is a nasty dude in the run game at his best.
Any combination of technician and mauler is a good addition to an offensive line, and Ratledge comes in that way – plug-and-play. Ratledge has missed time in each of the last four seasons with various injuries, which might be the only reason he’d even be available in the third round.
“I love it,” Ratledge said at the combine, when asked how it felt to be described in various circles as a ‘dirtbag.’ on the field. “I feel like to be a good offensive lineman, you’ve got to have a little bit of that in you, but know how to control it at the same time. So, for somebody to say that about me, I appreciate it, because I feel like that’s how I play.”
Enough said.
Round 3
3.99 Damien Martinez, RB, Miami
Last season, the Giants had a trio of halfbacks in Tyrone Tracy, Devin Singletary, and Eric Gray who totaled 1,307 yards (4.09 yards per attempt) on 319 carries, with nine touchdowns, seven fumbles, 885 yards after contact (2.77 YCOA), 59 missed tackles forced, and 14 runs of 15 or more yards.
Last season, Miami had one running back in Damien Martinez who totaled 1,006 yards (6.3 yards per carry) on 160 carries, with 10 touchdowns, one fumble, 722 yards after contact (4.51 YCOA), 42 missed tackles forced, and 13 runs of 15 or more yards.
One back who will probably go in the middle rounds basically matching or outpacing an NFL team’s entire depth chart by himself tells you all you need to know about the post-S****n B*****y era.
A 2024 transfer from Oregon State, where he averaged 6.1 yards per carry in each of his two seasons, Martinez led the way for the Hurricanes behind predominantly man and inside zone blocking, which fits perfectly into what the Giants prefer to do with their run game.
Martinez’ lack of a fifth gear is the primary reason he’s not discussed in the same space as Ashton Jeanty and Omarion Hampton, but if you need a pure bulldog who absolutely hates to be tackled, and would prefer to deliver the pain as opposed to taking it – and Lord knows, the Giants should be desperate for just that – Martinez could help a ton right away.
Round 4
4.105 Jacob Parrish, CB, Kansas State
For me, this is a case of a player who looks great on tape, and may or may not best fit what the Giants are doing at the present moment. But the value here is tough to argue. Last season, defensive coordinator Shane Bowen had no cornerbacks in press coverage on 67% of Big Blue’s snaps – the third-highest rate in the NFL behind only the Carolina Panthers (70%) and the Los Angeles Chargers (69%). This may be one of the reasons, by the way, that the whole Deonte Banks thing isn’t working out. Banks was the best press cornerback in his draft class, but Wink Martindale was in charge of things on that side of the ball back then.
In any event, taking Jacob Parrish in the fourth round would give the Giants a rangy defender who can play outside credibly at 5’10 and 191 pounds, and he can also kick inside to the slot with no trouble. Parrish was unusual in 2024 in that he had more targets in press coverage than in off coverage. Overall, he allowed 40 catches on 72 targets for 371 yards, 158 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, three pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 73.3. And in off coverage, Parrish can still get it done with his transition ability and closing speed. It’s just that… well, the NFL is in the middle of a press coverage revolution for all kinds of reasons, and it might be time for Bowen to get a membership.
Round 5
5.154 Isaac TeSlaa, WR, Arkansas
The Giants do have two receivers who can get downfield in Malik Nabers and the returning Darius Slayton (and one who can do so hypothetically in Jalin Hyatt), so why not add another speed freak to the equation, especially if we also now have Colston Loveland in the mix? In the case of Isaac TeSlaa, we’re really all about improving the prospects for the slot position. Last season, for whatever reason, Wan’Dale Robinson was the NFL’s most targeted receiver on third down with 58. Robinson caught 34 of those targets for a 29% success rate, and two explosive plays. No bueno.
The 6’4, 214-pound TeSlaa came out of the scouting combine with the kind of Relative Athletic Score that should have NFL teams beaming, and he lined up in the slot 70% of the time for the Razorbacks last season. Overall, he caught 28 passes on 36 targets for 532 yards and three touchdowns. On third or fourth down, he caught eight passes on 11 targets for a 64% success rate, and four explosive plays. If the Giants want to make one guy their third-down buttercup to the exclusion of all available logic, let’s at least give them half a chance with it.
Round 7
7.219 Hollin Pierce, OT, Rutgers
Remember when the Giants selected 6’6, 330-pound offensive tackle Ereck Flowers out of Miami with the ninth overall pick in the 2015 draft, and people in the building were comparing Flowers to a “battleship” and an “aircraft carrier?” Fair enough if you’d prefer not to, because Flowers turned out to be about as agile as an aircraft carrier, and that pick didn’t exactly work out.
If the Giants would like to add another nautical weapon of war with much better value a decade later, might we suggest Hollin Pierce? At 6’8 ⅜ and 341 pounds, with a wingspan and arm length right out of Starship Troopers, Pierce could be an entire fleet of battleships. And for his amazing size, he doesn’t carry that weight badly. Per Dane Brugler’s indispensable “The Beast” draft guide, Pierce got up to 455 pounds in high school after battling depression following his mother’s death in 2012. Then, he took it off, sent out his own videos to try and generate college interest, and got a bite from Rutgers.
Over four seasons with the Scarlet Knights, Pierce allowed five sacks, 15 quarterback hits, and 50 quarterback hurries in 1,568 pass-blocking reps. There are times when he proves vulnerable to outside moves and inside counters, but it isn’t as chronic as you’d expect. And the size proves advantageous when he wants to just Godzilla a guy right out of the frame. Maybe he gets in an NFL conditioning program, shaves even more of that mass into good muscle, and becomes more than a swing tackle? In this case, taking a seventh-round flier on that potential doesn’t seem outrageous at all.
Round 7
7.246 Ty Robinson, DI, Nebraska
I’m not sure what the good folks at PFF have against Ty Robinson, but having this guy pop up in the seventh round, after watching his tape following a combine in which he availed himself quite well? Yes, I get that he’s a tweener at 6’5 ⅛ and 288 pounds, but you don’t just blow off his play style and production.
And alongside Dexter Lawrence (who we all know is one of one in the Universe), the Giants have some interesting rotational guys. There’s no reason that Robinson couldn’t be another one of them. Last season, playing at every spot along the defensive line, Robinson totaled six sacks, 42 total pressures, 25 solo tackles, and 28 stops. Robinson strikes me as the type of later-round pick who comes into the NFL, and after a couple years has everyone wondering, “How did we miss on this guy?”
So, maybe the Giants don’t miss.
Do you love this mock draft? Hate it? Scroll on down to the comments and let us know.
[NOTE: Doug Farrar is a freelance writer who has covered the draft for two decades. He is currently doing projects for SB Nation].
