Update emerges on if Giants could select Jeremiyah Love with fifth pick in NFL Draft

Earlier this week, New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen suggested that he wouldn't want to make Notre Dame Fighting Irish star running back Jeremiyah Love the fifth pick of the 2026 NFL Draft. 

Of course, new Giants head coach John Harbaugh and not Schoen is truly running the team's football operations this spring. For a piece published on Friday, Giants reporter Jordan Raanan of ESPN suggested that Harbaugh is hoping four teams pass on drafting Love on the night of April 23. 

Giants won't pass on drafting Jeremiyah Love?

"Coach John Harbaugh and the Giants are especially high on Love," Raanan explained. "If he's available, it's hard to see them passing up that opportunity." 

The "if he's available" portion of the update is doing some heavy lifting. Recent reports have indicated that the Arizona Cardinals could shock the football world by making Love the draft's third overall pick. According to Matt Miller of ESPN, "anonymous scouts from around the league" think that the Tennessee Titans will select Love at choice No. 4 if the Cardinals pass on grabbing the dynamic playmaker. 

While Love is widely viewed as the best overall offensive prospect in this year's draft class, many members of the football community continue to say it's silly for any team to spend a high-value draft pick on a running back. That said, it now seems unlikely Love will still be on the board when the draft's sixth pick is spent.

Who will Giants draft if they can't get Jeremiyah Love?

"In an ideal world," Raanan added, "the Giants would like to move back a few spots, add more picks (they have just two in the top 100), and draft a player like Ohio State safety Caleb Downs. But that's easier said than done. Staying at No. 5, the three players who seem to be most squarely on their radar are [Love], Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles and Downs."

NFL and Giants insider Connor Hughes of SNY thinks that Downs would be the pick for Big Blue if Love isn't available. However, one AFC college scouting director who spoke with Miller believes the Giants will select Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate at pick No. 5.