The New York Giants are hours away from making a potential franchise-altering selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. With the No. 6 overall pick, they can take an offensive weapon that has the chance to spearhead the team for the next decade.
Will the esteemed analyst’s final big board materialize on the first day of the 2024 NFL Draft?
ESPN NFL analyst Mel Kiper released his final big board for this year’s draft on Tuesday, and positioned one of the Giants’ main targets at their slot (h/t Matt Citak of Giants.com):
“He looks the part of a big-time NFL signal-caller. He can make every throw with ease. He’s accurate on the move and can pick up first downs with his legs.”
The Giants are strongly considering Maye. He went for 3,608 passing yards with a 24-9 TD-INT ratio in his junior season at UNC. He is looked at as one of the top three quarterbacks in this year’s class, but Kiper has him as his No. 3 QB behind USC’s Caleb Williams and LSU’s Jayden Daniels respectively.
Most projections have Maye as the No. 2 QB and going in the top four, but if the Giants see his name on the board when they go on the clock, they’ll luck up on a projected franchise player that can reach Pro Bowl and potentially even All-Pro status in the league. Their heavy recruitment of the Tar Heels leader during the season would pay its dividends.
Mel Kiper likes TE Brock Bowers and OT Joe Alt as the best players at their position in the 2024 NFL Draft
Kiper also has two other game-changing offensive weapons directly beneath Maye that the Giants would also have the opportunity to take, saying this first about Georgia tight end Brock Bowers.
“Though he’s not huge — former teammate Darnell Washington made him look small at times — he’s a matchup nightmare for defenses,” Kiper said of Bowers.
The word out on Bowers is that he is the best tight end prospect to come out of college in years. Most scouts view him as a dominant playmaker after the catch on offense and a superb pass-and-run blocker on the offensive line. The Giants have TE Darren Waller mulling retirement but would benefit from having the 6-4 talent on their roster. However, tight end is not of the highest priority for the team at the moment.
Giants could target one of the draft’s top offensive tackle prospects instead
Notre Dame offensive tackle Joe Alt got this appraisal from Kiper:
“Alt started 33 games at left tackle for the Fighting Irish, and I was most impressed by his technique on a snap-to-snap basis.”
The Giants gave up an NFL-leading 85 sacks in 2023. They could use help on an offensive line that imploded within the first three weeks of the season last year.
Alt helped the Fighting Irish’s backfield gain 5.3 yards per carry and average 185.7 yards per game while only allowing one sack and two hurries to quarterback Sam Hartman in 2023. The Giants would welcome Alt’s services but seem primed to take a QB of the future and transition off of Daniel Jones when the time comes.
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