Caleb Downs tops annual most likely Giants draft pick list - ESPN

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Caution: Beware of the red-hot roller.

For four years straight, the top player on my most likely Giants draft pick list has been selected by the team, starting with Evan Neal in 2022, followed by Deonte Banks, Malik Nabers and then Abdul Carter. For good measure, I hit on Jaxson Dart when New York traded back into the first round for the quarterback last year, too. Yahtzee!

This is the equivalent of the guy in the casino at the craps table in the middle of a legendary roll — except that's a hard proposition to keep going.

This year's draft is wonky, making matters difficult. Some of the best players are at traditionally non-premium positions: Jeremiyah Love at running back, Sonny Styles at inside linebacker, Caleb Downs at safety and Olaivavega Ioane at guard. It makes figuring the top 10 and first round borderline impossible.

It's safe to say this is an unusual draft.

«Maybe it's not the surplus positions or the higher-paying positions when you get into free agency [at the top of this year's draft].» Giants general manager Joe Schoen said at his pre-draft news conference. «We're going to take the best player available and we're not going to rule any of those [positions] out.»

A safety is entirely possible as the Giant's No. 5 pick this year. A guard seems plausible with their second pick, No. 10 in the first round.

How rare would it be if the Giants took Downs with the fifth pick? Only two safeties in the 21st century (Sean Taylor and Eric Berry) have been selected in the top five.

«I could never do it,» one NFL executive said recently.

Guard is almost as uncommon in the top 10. Only four guards (Quenton Nelson, Brandon Scherff, Jonathan Cooper and Chance Warmack) have cracked the top 10 this