WR Rome Odunze to New York Giants in latest Mel Kiper mock draft

Kiper opts for play-making wide receiver instead of quarterback J.J. McCarthy

Quarterbacks go 1-2-3 and wide receivers 4-5-6 in the latest mock draft from ESPN’s Mel Kiper. The New York Giants, with the sixth overall pick, land Washington’s Rome Odunze, giving them a much-needed potentially game-changing receiver.

Kiper said he went with Odunze instead of quarterback J.J. McCarthy because he felt No. 6 was “too high” for the Michigan quarterback. He wrote:

This would make back-to-back-to-back quarterbacks at the top of the board, and then back-to-back-to-back wideouts right after that. That’s how loaded these groups are. The Giants have improved their receiving corps over the past two years — Darius Slayton, Jalin Hyatt and Wan’Dale Robinson are their top three guys right now — but they don’t have a true No. 1 guy who can dominate on the outside. They could add that in Odunze, a touchdown machine in a 6-foot-3 frame.

There have been rumblings about New York being a team to watch for the quarterbacks, but I just don’t see it. The team is committed to Daniel Jones for at least one more season because of the extension he signed last year, and I think this is too high to take J.J. McCarthy. Are the Giants willing to mortgage their future to try to move into the Patriots’ spot at No. 3? The most likely option might be adding a playmaker for Jones and seeing if he can return to his 2022 form. Then again, if Jones struggles, coach Brian Daboll & Co. might again be drafting around this spot in 2025.

Kiper did not include any trades in his mock. McCarthy went No. 11 to the Minnesota Vikings. A surprise was that Oregon’s Bo Nix went right after McCarthy, No. 12 to the Denver Broncos.

Valentine’s View

If GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll agree with Kiper that this is too early for McCarthy — and we don’t know if they do — I would be thrilled with this selection in the real 2024 NFL Draft.

By now, you likely know that I am in the minority that likes Odunze more than Malik Nabers of LSU. I would be happy with either, and I think the Giants would, too, but it is Odunze who I am drawn to.

Odunze’s size at 6-foot-2⅞, 212 pounds, route running, contested-catch ability, terrific hands and consistency appeal to me. The work ethic and desire to be great Odunze showed at the NFL Scouting Combine check another box for me.

The Giants have pure vertical threats in Darius Slayton and Jalin Hyatt. Odunze would give the Giants something similar to what Plaxico Burress and Hakeem Nicks brought, a quarterback-friendly, open even when he’s not open, receiver.