Do the New York Giants need help at linebacker? That answer could change with free agency, but the play they got from the unit for most of 2025 wasn’t good enough.
Even if the Giants make multiple moves at linebacker in free agency, the team could still draft one if the board falls to them. If so, Cincinnati’s Jake Golday is an intriguing option. Golday has throwback size at 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, but also has the athleticism to be a rangy modern off-ball linebacker.
The question is whether he could fall to the Giants on the third day of the draft.
Prospect: Jake Golday (11)
Games Watched: vs. Kansas (2025), vs. Baylor (2025), vs. Arizona (2025)
Red Flags: Undisclosed injury (2025 – Suffered in November, kept him out of the Shrine Bowl)
Measurables
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 240 pounds
Strengths
Best traits
- Instincts
- Athleticism
- Size
- Versatility
- Space play
Jake Golday has a prototypical blend of size (6-foot-4, 240 pounds) and athleticism for an off-ball linebacker at the NFL level. In addition to the size to live in the box or play on the line of scrimmage, he’s highly athletic and has true sideline-to-sideline range.
Golday typically processes the play accurately and rarely takes an incorrect first move toward the play. He also tends to take efficient angles to the ball, while his athleticism allows him to be aggressive in his choice of angles.
While he can be outrun by very athletic offensive players, Golday’s speed in the open field allows him to cut off plays that may otherwise generate chunk yardage. He’s also fully capable of dropping into coverage and plays with excellent discipline in zone coverage. He’s generally great at picking up receivers as they enter his area of responsibility and passing them off as they exit without compromising the structure of the defense.
He’s a reliable tackler in space, with his athleticism and discipline generally ensuring that he’s in good position to make a secure tackle. Golday is also a useful blitzer, with his speed allowing him to knife into the backfield or rush from unexpected alignments.
Golday is willing to take on bigger blockers, including offensive linemen, doesn’t shy away from contact, and gives great effort to pursue across the field.
Weaknesses
Worst traits
- Block deconstruction
- Processing
There are few real weaknesses in Golday’s game, and most of the ones he has should improve with work and coaching. The two biggest weaknesses are in how he deals with offensive linemen’s blocks and a slight hesitation in his downhill trigger.
Golday can be a bit slow in neutralizing blocks from linemen, particularly if he doesn’t engage with excellent technique. He needs to get better at keeping himself clean as well as defeating blockers’ hands to avoid their blocks being “sticky” and slowing as he disengages to make a play.
He also shows a slight hesitation as he diagnoses the play before triggering downhill from the second level. Golday is decisive and plays fast when he’s near the line of scrimmage with a defined job. However, he can be a bit slow when reading the play from zone coverage. He doesn’t show indecision, but rather it seems as though he doesn’t quite trust his eyes or initial read and needs to verify before launching into motion.
Game Tape
(Golday is the Cincinnati linebacker wearing number 11 with bands on his right bicep and a sleeve on his right forearm. He’s aligned over the slot at 1:00.)
Projection
Golday projects as a starting off-ball linebacker at the NFL level. He has the size to be an inside linebacker, however he also has experience as a WILL linebacker as well as covering the slot.
Golday is still only scratching the surface of his upside as long as he can improve his technique taking on blocks and play a bit faster when he doesn’t have a defined read. He flies to the ball when his read is defined, and he’s a very useful player against a mobile quarterback. Likewise, his upside is apparent when playing coverage or tracking down a running back. The moments before triggering from the second level, however, stand out. His athleticism made up for any hesitation at the collegiate level, but he won’t have the same margins for error at the NFL level.
He has the upside to be a good every-down player with scheme diversity if he can fill in those gaps.
Does he fit the Giants? Yes
Final Word: A Day 2 value
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