The Giants were concerned Thursday night a few teams — including the Cowboys, lurking right behind them, with pick No. 26 — were eying cornerback Deonte Banks and considering a trade up in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft to get him.
Banks was the last player the Giants had targeted at that spot in the draft.
When there was a run on corners (two) and wide receivers (four) from picks No. 16-23, the Giants knew they could not wait.
General manager Joe Schoen was not blindsided by this scenario.
Earlier in the day, he called Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke and proposed a possible trade.
The Jaguars had the No. 24 pick, just ahead of the Giants at 25.
“You try to go through as many of those scenarios as you can, and you know, you make the phone calls with the other general managers throughout the league and you have good dialogue and conversations, where if you get on the clock and there’s an opportunity,” Schoen said.
Schoen’s inquiry to Baalke went like this: “’Hey, I don’t know if there may be a scenario where I’m worried about somebody coming behind us to this position, would you be open to it, these would be the parameters,’ and we stayed in communication throughout the draft.”
The latter stage of the first round fell the way it did and Schoen made the move, sending a fifth- and seventh-round pick to the Jaguars to move up one spot.
That allowed the Giants to select Banks and fill one of their greatest needs.
If it denied the Cowboys a shot at a top prospect at corner, all the better for the Giants.
Here are five other thoughts as we move into Day 2 of the NFL Draft:
— The second round will tell us how confident the Giants are that they indeed do have in-house options at starting center.
No centers were selected in the first round — not a big surprise — and the top two, John Michael Schmitz of Minnesota and Joe Tippmann of Wisconsin, are prime second-round picks.
Luke Wypler of Ohio State might be, as well.
Schoen has said he is confident that someone currently on the roster — Ben Bredeson, Shane Lemieux, Jack Anderson or newly signed J.C. Hassenauer from the Steelers — could make a claim to be the starting center.
Jon Feliciano started 15 games at center in 2022 and is now with the 49ers.
Last season’s backup, Nick Gates, is now with the Commanders.
— Bang, bang, bang, bang. Not one wide receiver was selected in the first 19 picks in the first round and then four of them went, one after another.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba at No. 20 to the Seahawks; Quentin Johnston to the Chargers at 21; Zay Flowers to the Ravens at 22; Jordan Addison to the Vikings at 23.
The Giants were interested in several of these receivers. Do they go in that direction in the second or third round?
Catch up with the entire list of Giants picks from the 2023 NFL Draft, including round-by-round analysis.
The leading candidates: Jalin Hyatt (Tennessee), Jonathan Mingo (Ole Miss), Jayden Reed (Michigan State), Josh Downs (North Carolina) and Cedric Tillman (Tennessee).
Watch for Mingo, who is built like a running back and has the versatility to play multiple spots, a characteristic Brian Daboll craves in his receivers.
— In the past five drafts, starting with 2018, the Giants selected players in the second round in the following overall spots: No. 34, 30, 36, 50 and 43.
This year, based on their winning record and playoff berth in 2022, they own overall pick No. 57.
It would not be shocking at all to see Schoen trade up a few spots to get a receiver or center.
Even after trading away two picks to the Jaguars, the Giants still have one pick apiece in rounds 4, 5 and 6 and two in round 7.
— You know those 30 player visits teams are allowed to have with draft prospects?
The media usually makes a big deal about what player is traveling where to meet with which team.
Sometimes, these visits reveal interest, and sometimes they are simply intelligence-gathering visits to gather information to be used down the road.
The Giants had Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker in for a visit.
They are clearly highly unlikely to take him, given the four-year, $160 million contract they gave Daniel Jones.
It is not only the media having the 30 visits on the radar. The teams are in on it, as well.
“We track the 30 visits,’’ Schoen said.
The Giants knew Deonte Banks visited with the teams directly behind the Giants at No. 25, a big reason why Schoen traded up to get him.
— Asked who he models his game after, Banks mentioned Jalen Ramsey and Marshon Lattimore.
“I love how they play,” Banks said.
At 6-2 and 205 pounds, Banks has the body and temperament to play a physical style and the Giants have not had much of that at cornerback in a long while.
Their incumbent starter, Adoree’ Jackson, is more of a coverage runner.
If Banks can develop his other techniques, his size could help him emerge as a newer version of Corey Webster, who started for the Super Bowl teams after the 2007 and 2011 seasons.
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