The New York Giants don’t just have a high draft pick heading into tomorrow night — they have two of them, sitting at five and ten. And according to ESPN NFL Draft expert Peter Schrager, the most important person in that war room isn’t the general manager. It’s the head coach.
In an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday, Schrager made it crystal clear that John Harbaugh’s arrival in New York fundamentally changes how the Giants approach everything — including how they use those picks.
“The Giants have a new coach who is making estimated hundred million dollars in their building right now and their decision-making process will now be really funneled through Harbaugh’s vision,” Schrager said, via YouTube.
When you pay a head coach that kind of money, you’re not just buying his game-day expertise — you’re buying into his entire football philosophy. And if Harbaugh’s track record in Baltimore tells us anything, it’s that he builds teams from the trenches outward.
When the conversation turned to whether the Giants might take wide receiver Jordyn Tyson at pick five, Schrager didn’t dismiss it. In fact, he leaned in.
“I believe he could go as early as five to the Giants,” Schrager said, while also noting Tyson could realistically go seven to the Commanders, eight to the Saints, or nine to the Chiefs.
The Tyson question is one of the most fascinating in this entire draft. The Arizona State product widely considered the most dynamic receiver in the class when healthy — but that qualifier is doing a lot of work.
He’s dealt with three separate injuries, and while doctors and medical personnel have given varying levels of confidence about his long-term durability, it’s still the kind of uncertainty that makes front offices sweat.
But here’s the counterargument, and it’s a compelling one: the Giants’ offensive weapons situation is genuinely dire.
Malik Nabers is coming off an injury. Wan’Dale Robinson is gone. Darius Slayton is a number two at best.
To compete in the NFC East — against the Cowboys, Eagles, and Commanders — you need weapons. If Tyson is truly the best wide receiver in this class, and he’s sitting there at five, does Harbaugh’s personality override his tendency toward conservatism?
That’s the tension at the heart of New York’s draft night. And the fact that Tyson had dinner with Giants GM Joe Shane just days before the draft only adds fuel to the speculation fire.
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