The Giants Big Board Through An Eagles' Lens

The New York Giants color-coding on NFL Draft prospects was revealed on 'Hard Knocks.'

Eagles rookie Quinyon Mitchell takes the field for practice during training camp. / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA - The first offseason version of “Hard Knocks” is the gift that keeps on giving. 

Pictured on the final edition of the show that followed the decisions of Joe Schoen and the New York Giants was the organization’s color-coding for draft prospects.

The Giants used six colors to identify things. The presumed are Blue-chippers and/or high-character players (blue),  medical concerns (red), character concerns (purple), measurement size/concerns (pink), positional flexibility (grey), and potential position change candidates (yellow).

Was planning to dig into this today, but seems like @Doug_Analytics already nailed it. Here’s his interpretation:

• Blue: A+ character
• Red: Medical concerns
• Purple: Character concerns
• Pink: Measurement/size concerns
• Grey: Position flexibility
• Yellow: Potential… https://t.co/YmAA3AMB3G

— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) July 31, 2024

The final draft results were shown and six  Eagles’ draft picks were color-coded by the Giants, an organization where former Eagles’ director of player personnel Brandon Brown serves as Schoen’s assistant GM.

The Eagles’ top two picks – cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell (No. 22 overall) and Cooper DeJean (No. 40) were listed as medical concerns by New York as were fifth-round receiver Ainias Smith (No. 152) and sixth-round center Dylan McMahon (No. 190). 

That designation makes sense with DeJean and Smith, who had obvious concerning marks on their records. The former suffered a fractured fibula that cut short his final season at Iowa and Smith had a stress fracture uncovered during the scouting combine that kept him out of some voluntary work in the spring. 

McMahon did have a right knee sprain last season at North Carolina State. There are no overt injury signs from Mitchell’s stint at Toledo but something popping up in medical evaluations in Indianapolis could explain why Mitchell lasted a little longer than most expected coming into Day 1 of the draft.

DeJean started training camp on the Active/NFI list and has missed the first five Eagles’ practices this summer with a hamstring injury suffered in off-site preparation for the camp. He should miss another two weeks or so.

Two other Eagles’ draft picks were color-coded by the Giants for size/measurement concerns: fourth-round running back Will Shipley (No. 127) and fifth-round offensive guard Trevor Keegan (No. 172).

Shipley is certainly undersized at 5-foot-11, 209 pounds but is off to a solid start, especially as a receiver. Keegan, 6-5, 306, finished Tuesday’s practice getting first-team reps at left guard when Landon Dickerson went down with an undisclosed leg injury.

The Giants had no overt concerns with third-round edge rusher Jalyx Hunt (No. 94), fifth-round linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (155), and sixth-round receiver Johnny Wilson (No. 185).

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