If you're still wondering how the league let Caleb Downs fall outside the top 10, you're not alone. That left the Dallas Cowboys with an easy decision to trade up one spot to secure not only arguably the draft's best player, but a centerpiece for Christian Parker to build his defense around.
It makes you wonder what caused Downs' slide, and ESPN insider Dan Graziano is looking directly at the New York Giants.
In a recent article, Graziano underlined 10 "lingering" offseason questions, and one of them was, "Why didn't the Giants draft Caleb Downs with the 10th pick?"
"I think there's a chance they'd have taken Downs at No. 5 if Reese had been picked in the top four. But what became clear to me after the draft in talking to people around that situation is that the Giants were determined to use one of their two top-10 picks on an offensive player in an effort to support second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart," Graziano wrote.
A national insider questioning why the Giants didn’t draft Downs -- setting the stage for the Cowboys to grab him one pick later after New York took Francis Mauigoa? That’s the highest form of validation.
The Dallas Cowboys shouldn't stop thanking the Giants for gifting them Caleb Downs
Mauigoa should have a long career, but all signs point to him starting at guard. If the Giants had used that pick on a franchise left tackle instead of passing on Downs, this would be a different conversation. Landing a starting guard, even one with potential at right tackle, doesn’t move the needle.
Equipped with picks No. 5 and 10, everyone and their grandmother thought for sure that the Giants were taking Downs. After all, it was John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens who ended safety Kyle Hamilton's slide at No. 14 overall back in 2022, and New York's secondary needs a lot of help.
Former first-round cornerback Deonte Banks has been a bust, while big free-agency investments Paulson Adebo and Jevon Holland have not lived up to their contracts.
Protecting Jaxson Dart is obviously important, but it's not like Big Blue was desperate for offensive line help. In fact, Andrew Thomas is an elite left tackle, and Jermaine Eluemunor is as steady as they come at RT, even if he isn't a household name.
Yes, the Cowboys used the No. 12 pick on Tyler Booker last year, but the situations aren’t comparable. Hall of Fame guard Zack Martin had just retired, the offensive line had far more question marks -- looking at you, Tyler Guyton and Terence Steele -- and there wasn’t a slam-dunk prospect available at that spot.
It’s just one man’s opinion, but the Giants would actually strike fear in me if they came out of Round 1 with Arvell Reese and Caleb Downs instead of Reese and Mauigoa.
The fact that Graziano is wondering why New York didn’t take Downs suggests he feels the same way and that plenty around the league do, too.
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