The New York Giants have spent a chunk of their offseason bolstering the offense round Daniel Jones and that almost continued in the opening round of the 2023 NFL Draft. New York, a club that has been starved of wide receiver talent over the last few seasons, tried trading up for one of the top prospects in this year's class -- Zay Flowers. The Giants were actively trying to trade up on Thursday night to select and it is believed that it was specific to acquire the Boston College product, according to The Athletic.
New York had the No. 24 overall pick in the draft and was ultimately unable to find a deal for them to move up and take Flowers. Just ahead of them, a run of wide receivers occurred with most of the top talent -- including Flowers, who went No. 22 to Baltimore -- were off the board by the time they were on the clock. After Jaxon Smith-Njigba was taken No. 20 by Seattle, Quentin Johnston was selected by the Chargers at No. 21, Flowers went to the Ravens at No. 22, and Jordan Addison was plucked by the Vikings at No. 23. At that point there were no viable wide receiver options for the Giants to bring aboard, so they opted for Maryland cornerback Deonte Banks.
Flowers was looked at as arguably the top wide receiver in this class. He was CBS Sports' No. 3 ranked wideout and came off a final season at BC where he totaled 78 catches for 1,077 yards and 12 touchdowns.
While that certainly would have been a fascinating piece to inject into Brian Daboll's offense, Banks will be a great addition to their secondary and arguably the better prospect. He was the No. 3 ranked corner in this class and the 10th overall player in CBS Sports' prospect rankings.
The Giants also were still able to come away from the draft weekend with a receiver, taking Tennessee wideout Jalin Hyatt in the third round at No. 73 overall. That selection earned a B+ from CBS Sports draft analyst Chris Trapasso. Hyatt now joins a Giants wide receiver room that consists of Wan'Dale Robinson, Parris Campbell, Isaiah Hodgins, Sterling Shepard, and Darius Slayton.
