Thursday is the NFL deadline for teams to formally pick up the 5th year option on their first round rookies from the 2022 draft, and while it was just three years ago it really underscores just how monumentally the New York Giants screwed this one up.
The Giants will be one of two teams to not option a 1st round pick they drafted, and the only team not to option a top-10 pick. Offensive tackle Evan Neal was taken with the No. 7 overall pick, and has been an absolute disaster since he arriving. A decent run blocker, Neal has been a total liability in the passing game finishing with a 49.6 protection grade from Pro Football Focus in 2024.
This should have been a franchise-defining draft for the Giants. With two picks in the top-10 it was a chance to shape both sides of the ball with impact, franchise players — in turn freeing up ample money in free agency to repair their holes. Instead the team is left with one guy on the way out, and another who the team is trying to justify — but has struggled as well.
That other player is Kayvon Thibodeaux. The Oregon EDGE rusher was taken with the No. 5 pick in the draft, and now he’s fundamentally been replaced in the starting lineup, relegated to a situational pass rusher. Thibodeaux struggled early in his career, which led to the Giants trading for Brian Burns. The addition of Burns was supposed to open things up for Thibodeux, but in 2024 he only managed 38 pressures — ranked 47th in the NFL.
Now with the additional of Abdul Carter with the No. 3 pick in 2025 it’s an admission the team doesn’t see Thibodeux as part of their long-term plans, despite picking up his option and saying “You can never have too many pass rushers.” Sure, that’s true — but when you’ve invested trade capital, a massive amount of salary cap, and now a No. 3 overall pick a few year after taking a guy top-5, it’s a sign things aren’t going well.
To be fair, Thibodeaux isn’t terrible. He’s a middling pass rusher who would probably be coveted on the open market by several teams if made available. The issue is that he’s nowhere close to the other pass rushers from that 2022 class with both Aidan Hutchinson and Travon Walker emerging as two of the best young pass rushers in the NFL.
Sure, there’s a large element of this which benefits from hindsight. The Giants’ two first round picks were almost universally loved — which makes this a question of whether the players were the mistake in this, or the Giants’ inability to develop them. If only one of these picks truly failed it would be one thing, but botching both feels endemic.
What could the Giants have done? Perhaps more importantly: What should they have done? If we look back at that class there’s a clear pivot point that would have changed everything.
If the Giants were hellbent on an offensive tackle they would have been better taking either of the other guys on the board at No. 5. Ikem Ekwonu, who Carolina took with the No. 6 pick is already one of the league’s best road grading right tackles. In addition his pass blocking took massive strides last season with Dave Canales as head coach.
Perhaps more of a miss was Charles Cross, who Seattle took at No. 9. Cross has become a very solid all-around left tackle, where he’s a good pass blocker and a plus in the run game. No unicorn traits, but a guy who the Seahawks can count on for the next decade.
From there the Giants should have used the No. 7 pick on safety Kyle Hamilton. Hamilton is already a top-3 safety in the NFL, and the argument can be made that he’s the best in the NFL. The Ravens getting him at No. 15 that draft was stupid, because teams above them made bad choices. Purely on a talent level Hamilton projected as a Top 5 pick in that class — and he is a difference maker.
This has a knock-on effect. If the Giants solved their safety position with Hamilton they wouldn’t need to spend a 2nd round pick on Tyler Nubin in 2024, or potentially still draft Nubin, but save a warchest of free agency money in 2025 without the need to sign Jevon Holland.
Bad draft picks just don’t hurt in isolation, but shape everything a franchise does. Unfortunately the Giants squandered the opportunity to take two game-changing players in 2022, and now they’re on the verge of parting ways with both. Meanwhile we might be doing this again next year, because in 2023 the Giants took cornerback Deonte Banks — who has been terrible as well.
History just keeps repeating for New York — and in the worst way possible.
