The New York Giants now are back to having three picks in the first three rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft after trading their first second-rounder to the Carolina Panthers for Brian Burns. Now, Big Blue has to use these picks to replace departed free agents like running back Saquon Barkley and safety Xavier McKinney, as well as add blue-chip talent around Daniel Jones or whoever is the quarterback this year. And this is exactly what they do in this Giants' three-round 2024 mock draft.
By trading for a superstar pass-rusher like Burns, signing veterans like RB Devin Singletary and guard Jon Runyan, and re-signing defensive end A’Shawn Robinson to a three-year deal, head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen have signaled that it’s not time for a rebuild. They’re still in it to win it.
This means that while Giants fans may want the team to trade up for a QB of the future like Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye — or even stay put/trade back and draft JJ McCarthy or Bo Nix — the Giants’ brain trust seems set on giving Jones one more chance.
With that in mind, the G Men try to give Jones more support on both sides of the ball to help him succeed this season. This is the reasoning behind New York doing what it does in this Giants' three-round 2024 mock draft.
Round 1, Pick No. 6: WR Rome Odunze, Washington
The Giants haven’t had a top, true No. 1 WR since Odell Beckham Jr., and before that, while Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer, and Victor Cruz all came close, they never truly had one.
Now, with the draft still over a month away, the rumors are coming out that the Giants are in love with Michigan QB JJ McCarthy. With all the moves they’ve made, though, it’s hard to believe Schoen and Daboll would go for a signal-caller who most scouts agree is a few years away from being a legitimate NFL quarterback.
Plus, with teams like the Vikings gathering picks to trade up, it would be bad for the New York brain trust to let this slip this early and allow teams to jump them in the draft if they want McCarthy.
That’s why this Giants mock draft has Washington WR Rome Odunze as the first-round pick.
Odunze is 6-foot-3, 212 pounds, and ran a 4.45 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. He was a team captain on a team that played for the national championship and he put up 167 catches for 2,785 yards and 20 touchdowns in his last two seasons in Washington.
There is almost no world in which Odunze doesn’t become at least a low-end WR1 in the NFL, so this is the smart pick by the Giants.
Round 2, Pick No. 47: S Jaden Hicks
On defense, the Giants have to replace Xavier McKinney, who signed with the Green Bay Packers in NFL free agency this offseason.
After bulking up the pass rush with Brian Burns, the G Men now need to focus on the back end of their defense in the draft.
Washington State safety Jaden Hicks is a promising young defensive back who has the size and skill to be a perfect modern NFL safety. At 6-foot-2, 211 pounds, he can come down in the box to help with the run and guard large, fast tight ends in the pass game.
In two seasons starting for the Cougars, he filled up the stat sheet in a similar way to McKinney. Hicks’ college stats are 155 tackles, eight tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks, three interceptions, 10 passes defended, one fumble recovery, one forced fumble, and an INT returned for a touchdown.
Hicks is a second-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft who could easily be a Week 1 starter in New York.
Round 3, Pick No. 70: RB Braelon Allen, Wisconsin
Remember when the Giants had one of the best rushing attacks in the league with the speedy Ahmad Bradshaw and the monstrous Brandon Jacobs? That was awesome.
Well, the team might have lost Saquon Barkley this offseason, but it signed the shifty Devin Singletary — who Daboll knows well from Buffalo — and they can draft the Jacobs-esque Braelon Allen from Wisconsin in Round 3 to recreate what they had during their 2007 and 2011 Super Bowl seasons.
Allen is 6-foot-1, 235 pounds, and started his college career with a bang, rushing for over 1,200 yards in each of his first two seasons under head coach Paul Chryst. The switch to Luke Fickell and his more pass-based offense slowed Allen down in 2023, but he still managed 984 yards and 12 TDs to bring his touchdown total to 35 in three seasons.
There are a lot of speedy, pass-catching backs in the 2024 NFL Draft, but Allen is a unique player. With Singletary on board, if the Giants take the former Badger as they do in this mock draft, it could give them an offensive weapon, the likes of which few teams have these days.
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