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USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams (13) Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports

NFL draft guru chooses surprise pick for Giants in 2024

By Bruce Ewing | Last updated 12/29/23

When it comes to the Giants in 2024, mock drafts offer little consensus beyond three pressing needs for New York: offense, offense and more offense.

Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports suspects three quarterbacks will be going in the top three of the 2024 NFL Draft. With the Patriots taking Ohio State wide receiver and Heisman Trophy finalist Marvin Harrison Jr. at No. 4, Trapasso believes the Giants will select offensive tackle Olumuyiwa Fashanu from Penn State.

Fashanu is widely considered the top tackle in the draft, and at just 21 years old, he still has room to grow. Many saw him as a top-10 pick in 2023 before returning to school where he was named Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year by playing 324 snaps without giving up a sack.

New York signed left tackle Andrew Thomas to a record five-year, $117.5M extension in the offseason, which means Fashanu would have to battle Evan Neal, a first-round pick in 2022 for the right tackle job. Neal has disappointed in two years with the team, making Fashanu a logical choice with the No. 5 pick.

Nate Tice of Yahoo! Sports also believes the draft’s top-three quarterbacks will be gone before the Giants make their pick, but he sees the team getting some much-needed help at wide receiver with LSU’s Malik Nabers.

LSU strikes first in Tuscaloosa

Jayden Daniels hits Malik Nabers for 46-yard touchdown pic.twitter.com/jGHo4Zv62x
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) November 5, 2023

Nabers had 186 catches for 2,690 yards and 21 touchdowns in three years with the Tigers. He had 14 scores in 2023 while averaging 18 yards per catch to earn first-team All-SEC honors.

With enough size and speed to be a threat at all three levels, the unanimous All-American can only help the Giants’ league-worst passing game in 2024.

Hold onto your hats, Giants fans. Not only does Pro Football Network’s Joe Broback believe New York will take a quarterback with the No. 5 pick, but sees them getting who many consider the top quarterback in the draft.

Believe it or not, Broback has a pair of wide receivers, Harrison and Florida State's Keon Coleman, going first and second in the draft followed by Alabama linebacker Dallas Turner. He has the Patriots drafting North Carolina QB Drake Maye, leaving USC’s Caleb Williams on the board for New York.

CALEB WILLIAMS 71 YARD TOUCHDOWN PASS TO TAHJ WASHINGTON!!pic.twitter.com/2tLa7xGUUh
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) September 30, 2023

ESPN’s Mel Kiper sees the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner as this year’s top college prospect, citing his creativity and ability to make off-platform throws when plays break down. He’ll need to get creative behind an offensive line that’s allowed a league-high 77 sacks in 15 games.

USC lost five of its last six games in 2023 but Williams finished the year with 3,633 yards, 30 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Williams had 93 touchdowns and just 14 interceptions in three years as a Trojan.

Quarterback Daniel Jones had six interceptions in six starts with the Giants this year after signing a four-year, $160M contract in the offseason. But with an out clause at the end of the 2024 season for Jones, New York would jump at the chance to take Williams if he were available.

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