Giants take Caleb Downs, Francis Mauigoa in Dane Brugler’s final mock draft

I strongly suspect that sentiment is pinned entirely on the selection of Kyle Hamilton at 14th overall in 2022. However, Hamilton was widely regarded as a Top 5 (if not The Top) talent in that class and was likely several tiers higher than the surrounding talent at that spot.

Will the Giants will have Downs graded THAT much higher than anyone else currently on the board that Harbaugh, Schoen, and the rest of the front office will “agree to agree” to make a historic investment in a position that already has multiple young players?

Second is the ground shift on Sonny Styles. In the matter of a few days we’ve gone from Styles being The Guy for the Giants who checks all of Harbaugh’s boxes and fits a key role in Wilson’s defense to the Giants being utterly and completely out on him.

Over the last 48 hours or so we have seen a 180° about-face from every single outlet, with Daniel Jeremiah, Todd McShay, and Brugler all declaring that the Giants won’t take Styles.

I call shenanigans.

Either something big has come up behind the scenes with regards to Styles, or someone with a loud voice connected to many ears is producing a LOT of smoke.

The Giants have been remarkably good at playing their cards close to the vest under Joe Schoen. A year ago, even with the “chalk” path forward plain to see, insiders at national outlets still had little conviction when talking about what the Giants might do.

That makes it remarkable that every outlet is suddenly in lockstep in definitively declaring the Giants intentions and what they will (or in this case won’t) do. All the more remarkable, in fact, given that this is a new regime with new schemes, and a renovated front office. Nobody has a clue what their tendencies will be, because they haven’t established them yet.

Something’s up, so keep an eye on this space.