NY Giants: NFL Draft 2024 targets Marvin Harrison, Joe Alt & Laiatu … – NorthJersey.com
Almost nothing has gone right for the New York Giants in 2023.
Between injuries, disappointments and being sellers at this season’s trade deadline, it seems pretty clear the Giants are looking toward next April’s NFL Draft with the playoffs all but out of the equation.
General manager Joe Schoen has stated that QB Daniel Jones will be the starter when he’s healthy, but notably mentioned in his first news conference since July that wherever they land in the draft, they’ll look at all options.
“We’ll take the best player available,” Schoen said. “If the best player available for our team is at a certain position, we’ll take it. We won’t shy away from it. Again, that’s a ways away, the draft in April, so we’re still working through all that.”
With a $69.3 million dead cap hit next season, Jones will undeniably be under center at some point for the Giants in 2024.
If the Giants don’t decide to invest in a quarterback early on in the first round next April, here are the three best non-QB options for them heading into the 2024 NFL Draft:
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Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State wide receiver
The clear and obvious choice if available should be Harrison.
Son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison, the descendent has followed in his father’s footsteps and then some.
Harrison Jr. has recorded 67+ catches, more than 1,200 receiving yards and scored 14 touchdowns in back-to-back seasons at Ohio State in his sophomore and junior campaigns.
The 21-year-old Philadelphia native has posted 100+ receiving yards or a touchdown in 10 of 12 games this season. More impressively, Harrison Jr. has had 100+ receiving yards and scored in eight contests.
The biggest roadblock here is draft order. With Harrison Jr. all but certainly being a top-five selection in late April, the Giants didn’t do themselves any favors with back-to-back wins against the Commanders and Patriots. The G-Men are currently slated for the sixth overall pick after projected to have the second pick just two weeks ago.
While the Giants have “hurt” themselves from having a higher pick, there’s still hope. Over the last five games of the season, they play the NFL’s best Philadelphia Eagles twice and head to New Orleans to take on the Saints in Week 15.
If the Giants miss out on Harrison Jr., LSU receiver Malik Nabers is a great consolation prize, as he’s widely viewed as the second-best wide receiver in college football this season.
Olu Fashanu, Penn State tackle
We stay in the Big Ten and head to Happy Valley with Fashanu.
If the Giants decide to move struggling right tackle Evan Neal inside to guard heading into next season, a book end tackle isn’t out of the question.
Recent history has shown that Schoen and upper management are willing to invest high draft capital into the offensive line between taking Neal with the seventh overall pick in 2022 and center John Michael Schmitz in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Regardless if the Giants take a QB or not with their first-round pick, it’s clear they’ll almost certainly invest highly with one of their first two picks in an offensive line prospect. Giants quarterbacks this season have been sacked an incredible 68 times through 12 games.
If there’s a run on QB ahead of them, the Giants will run to the podium to take Fashanu or Notre Dame offensive tackle Joe Alt if available.
Laiatu Latu, UCLA edge rusher
This 2024 NFL Draft isn’t viewed by draft pundits as having a premier edge rusher or cream-of-the-crop talent on the defensive line.
However, if the Giants decide to go that route, one name to keep an eye on is Latu.
The Sacramento, California, native has been one of the most consistent pass rushers in college football the last two seasons.
What’s most impressive is that Latu built off a successful 2022 season (10.5 sacks, 12.5 tackles for loss and 36 total tackles) with an even better 2023. The 22-year-old had a career-high in sacks (13), interceptions (two), total tackles (49) and tackles for loss (21.5) this year.
With linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux having a tremendous sophomore campaign, the only other player with more than three sacks on the team heading into the bye week is defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.
Having a 1-2 combo of Thibodeaux and Latu coming off the edge would likely give the Giants one of the best young pass rush duos in the NFL.
If the Giants decide to pass on Latu or he’s already selected ahead of their pick, they could go with their choice of defensive prospects from the Alabama in edge rusher Dallas Turner, or beef up the secondary with cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry.
