The New York Giants choice at No. 5 in the 2026 NFL Draft will come down to linebacker Sonny Styles and safety Caleb Downs, and Miami offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa if Todd McShay and Albert Breer are correct.
McShay, NFL Draft insider for The ringer, and Breer, NFL insider for Sports Illustrated, offered that conclusion on a recent edition of the ‘McShay Show’ podcast.
McShay said the Giants face “one of the most intriguing decisions” in the draft. Provided running back Jeremiyah Love goes to the Tennessee Titans at No. 4 as McShay expects, he believes the pick will be between Styles and Mauigoa.
Breer made the case for Downs based on Harbaugh’s history with elite safeties.
One other interesting note from Breer. In reference to Mauigoa, Breer said his understanding is that Jermaine Eluemunor does not want to play guard, so Mauigoa would have to start his career inside. That is something I have been writing and saying for months. Eluemunor sees himself as a right tackle, and feels that this deep into his career and playing as well as he has the last couple of seasons he deserves the right to play the position he wants to play.
Mock draft tracker: Styles in a landslide
Styles, as has been the case for several weeks, remains the most popular choice among mock drafters. This week, he was chosen in 35 of 69 mock drafts (50.7%). Downs was chosen 11 times (15.9%), Love 10 times (14.3%), wide receiver Carnell Tate seven times (10%) and Mauigoa four times (5.7%).
Date |
Mock |
Pick |
|---|---|---|
| 4/9 | Sporting News (Iyer) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 4/9 | Athlon Sports (Easterling) | Francis Muaigoa, OT, Miami |
| 4/8 | CBS (Sullivan) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 4/8 | CBS (Podell) | Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State |
| 4/8 | Pro Football Network (Infante) | Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State |
| 4/7 | Draftwire (Popejoy) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 4/7 | NFL Media (Lewis) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 4/7 | CBS (Acosta) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 4/7 | USA Today (Dragon) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 4/7 | ESPN (Schrager) | Francis Muaigoa, OT, Miami |
| 4/7 | Draftplex (Pruett) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 4/6 | FOX (Wright) | Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State |
| 4/6 | CBS (Prisco) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 4/6 | USA Today (Davis) | Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State |
| 4/6 | The Athletic (Baumgardner) | Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame |
| 4/6 | Pro Football Focus (Carragher) | Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State |
| 4/6 | Detroit Lions (Twentyman) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 4/5 | USA Today (Brinkerhoff) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 4/5 | A to Z Sports (Roberts) | Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State |
| 4/4 | Sun Sentinel (Furones) | Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame |
| 4/4 | PFSN (Randall) | Arvell Reese, LB, Ohio State |
| 4/4 | Draft Countdown (Bosarge) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 4/4 | A to Z Sports (Crabbs) | Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame |
| 4/3 | NFL Media (Reuter) | Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame |
| 4/3 | The Big Lead (De Lima) | Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame |
| 4/2 | USA Today (Camenker) | Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State |
| 4/2 | NFL Media (Shook) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 4/2 | CBS (Edwards) | Jermod McCoy, CB, Tennessee |
| 4/1 | CBS (Fornelli) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 4/1 | The Athletic (Feldman) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/31 | NFL Media (Zierlein) | Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State |
| 3/30 | Sharp Football (Donahue) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/30 | CBS (Wilson) | Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State |
| 3/30 | SB Nation (Schofield) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/30 | Pro Football Network (Moran) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/30 | USA (Ostly) | Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State |
| 3/30 | SI on Draft (Melo) | Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame |
| 3/30 | ESPN (Miller) | Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State |
| 3/28 | Pro Football Network (Cummings) | Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State |
| 3/27 | NFL Media (Band) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/27 | Football Guys (Kluge) | Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State |
| 3/26 | Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State | Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame |
| 3/26 | USA Today (McKessy) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/25 | FOX (Arthur) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/25 | The Athletic (Tafur) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/24 | NFL Media (Brooks) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/24 | ESPN (Yates) | Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State |
| 3/23 | Sharp Football (Donahue) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/23 | Todd McShay (The Ringer) | Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame |
| 3/23 | Touchdown Wire (Barbieri) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/23 | USA Today (Middlehurst-Schwartz) | Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame |
| 3/23 | Philadelphia Inquirer (Jackson) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/23 | Pro Football Focus (Plocher) | Francis Muaigoa, OT, Miami |
| 3/21 | Sun Sentinel (Perkins) | Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State |
| 3/19 | NFL Media (Edholm) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/19 | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/18 | Draft Countdown (Guillermette) | Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State |
| 3/18 | San Diego Union Tribune (Brown) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/17 | NFL Media (Jeremiah) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/17 | ESPN (Kiper) | Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State |
| 3/17 | NBC (Rogers) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/17 | Real GM (Risdon) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/17 | CBS (Renner) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/17 | LA Times (Farmer) | Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame |
| 3/16 | FOX (Klatt) | Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State |
| 3/14 | NY Post (Serby) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/14 | PFSN (Elijah) | Francis Muaigoa, OT, Miami |
| 3/12 | Draft Countdown (Menendez) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/11 | Draft Network (Sanchez) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
| 3/11 | Pro Football Focus (Swaim) | Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State |
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