The New York Giants final episode of the offseason edition of Hard Knocks aired on HBO on Tuesday night. The main focus of that episode was the three-day NFL draft period. General manager Joe Schoen mentioned during the episode that he let the draft board talk to him about which players would be available and which players would not be available.
He did pretty well with his draft evaluation process. In the fifth episode, he was hoping that the Los Angeles Chargers wouldn’t select wide receiver Malik Nabers from LSU. Los Angeles selected offensive tackle Joe Alt from Notre Dame. The Giants front office was relieved when that happened.
When they were on the clock, Schoen did not hand in the card right away for them to select Nabers. He gave other teams a chance to call him about the pick and see who would call. That was a very smart business move for general manager Joe Schoen.
The Indianapolis Colts First Called the New York Giants
The first general manager to be shown calling the Giants general manager was Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard. The Colts had the 15th pick and they would have swapped picks with New York. Indianapolis also offered the number 46 pick and a 2025 second-round pick for that selection.
The New York Giants did not want to make that trade because it was too far down and they would have missed out on everyone. The Colts needed another playmaker, but they could have gone with tight end Brock Bowers from Georgia had they traded up in the 2024 NFL Draft. Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze could have been an option for them as well at wide receiver because they needed another weapon for quarterback Anthony Richardson.
The New York Jets Also Called the Giants
The Jets also decided to call the New York Giants about the sixth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The New York Jets had the 10th pick at the time. General manager Joe Douglass did not say what he was going to give up in a potential trade.
The New York Jets at the time needed an offensive lineman or a wide receiver. Could there have been a chance they would have jumped the Tennessee Titans to get JC Latham from Alabama? One could speculate, but they also could have gotten another wide receiver for quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The New York Giants made the smart choice by keeping the pick and selecting wide receiver Malik Nabers from LSU sixth overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.
