{"id":389578,"date":"2026-01-05T18:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T18:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/389578\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T18:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T18:12:09","slug":"todd-mcshay-nfl-mock-draft-ny-giants-build-around-jaxson-dart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/389578\/","title":{"rendered":"Todd McShay NFL mock draft: NY Giants build around Jaxson Dart"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The 2026 offseason is here for the New York Giants, and with it the lead up to the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Now that the draft order of the first 18 picks has been set, The Ringer draft expert Todd McShay released his first mock draft of the off-season early Monday morning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Giants will hold the fifth overall pick thanks to their 4-13 record as well as wins by the Cleveland Browns and Washington Commanders. McShay<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Before we get to the Giants\u2019 pick, let\u2019s set the stage with the first four selections.<\/p>\n<p>Las Vegas Raiders &#8211; Dante Moore (QB, Oregon)New York Jets &#8211; Fernando Mendoza (QB, Indiana)Arizona Cardinals &#8211; Jeremiyah Love (RB, Notre Dame)Tennessee Titans &#8211; Arvell Reese (LB\/EDGE, Ohio State)<\/p>\n<p>5. New York Giants &#8211; Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1teeyfa8 ls9zuh1\">This offense could really take off with Jaxson Dart at the helm in 2026. I like the idea of giving him an excellent no. 2 receiver opposite a healthy Malik Nabers to pair with a grind-it-out run game led by Cam Skattebo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1teeyfa8 ls9zuh1\">Tate was having a monster year before a lower leg injury derailed his season in November. He improved his contested catch rate from 60 percent in 2024 to 85.7 percent in 2025 and has been one of my biggest risers of the college season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">I can\u2019t help but agree with McShay that the Giants offense could be an absolute blast next year. That obviously depends on getting the coaching hire right and that coach installing an offense that allows Jaxson Dart to play free and easy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">I also can\u2019t argue too loudly against taking Carnell Tate here, not after advocating that the Giants trade for Garrett Wilson at the 2025 trade deadline. I strongly believe that the best way to protect Dart is to give him the weapons to be aggressive without feeling as though he needs to do it all himself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">For his part, Tate has great length (6-foot-3, 200 pounds, estimated) excellent hands, ball skills, and body control. He\u2019s an NFL-ready route runner who\u2019s already gotten excellent coaching from Brian Hartline at Ohio State. There might be some concerns that Tate doesn\u2019t quite have the measurables and rare athleticism to warrant a Top 5 pick, though I doubt the Giants would complain if he develops into a Tee Higgins (4.53-sec 40 yard dash) or A.J. Green (4.50-sec 40 yard dash).<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Tate finished the season with 875 yards (17.2 per catch), 9 touchdowns, with no drops. He also finished 33rd in deep catches and 37th in deep yardage, per PFF.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Adding Tate to Malik Nabers, Cam Skattebo, Theo Johnson, and Tyrone Tracy (who is the only skill position player from the 2024 draft to have back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons) would make for a dangerous offense. That could get even better if Wan\u2019Dale Robinson and Daniel Bellinger are re-signed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Giants would still need to address right guard, and potentially right tackle if Jermaine Eluemunor isn\u2019t re-signed, but those spots could be filled more economically through free agency or in later rounds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">I understand those who would want to draft a defender or offensive lineman at this spot. I\u2019ll write about this more soon &#8212; as in later today &#8212; but I\u2019m not sure the Giants haven\u2019t landed in a no-man\u2019s land as far as need and value are concerned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Stepping back a bit, it\u2019s incredibly interesting that McShay has Oregon quarterback Dante Moore going first overall to the Raiders. McShay is well-connected at both the collegiate and NFL levels, and isn\u2019t shy about incorporating what he\u2019s hearing into his predictions. The bigger news here is Moore being in his mock draft at all, after McShay has said on multiple occasions that he believes Moore &#8212; a 20-year old red-shirt sophomore with one season of starting experience &#8212; should return to school.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Right now, the more quarterbacks that declare, the better for the Giants.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">See the full mock draft here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 offseason is here for the New York Giants, and with it the lead up to the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[189201,189202,349,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-389578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-new-york-giants-draft","9":"tag-new-york-giants-mock-draft","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}