Giants banked on first-round move to set up rest of their draft
Giants first round draft pick Deonte Banks speaks during a press conference at the team's training center in East Rutherford, N.J., on Friday. Credit: AP/Stefan Jeremiah
In a few years, maybe sooner, it will be interesting to see how the Giants — and the rest of us — look back on their 2023 draft.
It already seems as if general manager Joe Schoen pulled off a heck of a trifecta, selecting cornerback Deonte Banks, center John Michael Schmitz and wide receiver Jalin Hyatt in the first three rounds.
The stage for securing that trio was set in motion days, weeks and months earlier and reached a crescendo on Thursday night. As the first round of the NFL Draft played out, Schoen watched a four-pick run on wide receivers (Nos. 20-23). He knew he had to act, knew that staying put at No. 25 might leave the Giants without their desired selection.
So Schoen reconnected with Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke. The two had spoken earlier in the day, and they have a long-standing rapport based on trust. It was time to make a deal.
The Giants traded the 25th pick and two others in this draft (a fifth-rounder and seventh-rounder) to leapfrog the Jags. Schoen then drafted Maryland cornerback Banks with the 24th pick. There was jubilation in the Giants’ draft room. They had their guy.
A source later told Newsday that Schoen believed securing Banks set the tone for the rest of the draft. Without him — Banks projects as a starter opposite Adoree’ Jackson — the Giants would have had to further pivot.
Banks is a 6-foot, 197-pound cornerback who can run. He recorded a blazing 4.35 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine and posted a 42-inch vertical jump and an 11’4” broad jump. Those are outstanding measurables.
And so began a Schoen-led Giants draft that has drawn rave reviews.
Giants second round draft pick John Michael Schmitz poses for photos after talking to the media on Saturday April 29, 2023 at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, NJ Credit: AP/Evan Pinkus
That the Giants were able to fill two other needs in the second and third rounds also was important. Second-rounder Schmitz will be expected to start at center immediately. That Schmitz also was a high school wrestler likely will continue to help him when it comes to leverage and an ability to attack defensive linemen in the NFL.
Hyatt, the third-round pick out of Tennessee, was the Biletnikoff Award winner as the best receiver in college. Hyatt, listed at 6 feet, 176 pounds while at Tennessee, said Saturday that he plans to play at 190 pounds in his first NFL season. That he was available in the third round still seems almost preposterous.
Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt runs for yardage during the second half of an NCAA football game against Missouri on Nov. 12, 2022, in Knoxville, Tenn. Credit: Wade Payne
If you had told Schoen before the draft that the Giants would get Banks, Schmitz and Hyatt, he would have been delighted. “You never know how it’s going to fall,” Schoen said. “We went through a million scenarios.”
The move-up to secure Banks seemed to give the Giants great momentum throughout the seven-round draft. They took running back Eric Gray out of Oklahoma in the fifth round, cornerback Tre Hawkins III of Old Dominion in the sixth round and Oregon defensive tackle Jordon Riley and Houston safety Gervarrius Owens in the seventh round. Schoen said he is “thrilled” with some of the picks.
After the final draft news conference, Schoen and coach Brian Daboll almost seemed giddy.
The Giants’ rookie minicamp begins Friday.
“You don’t know what you’re going to get until they are out there doing it,” Daboll said. “So that’s why we’re big on competition. We’re excited about the players we have, but we’ll throw them in the mix and let them compete it out.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
