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Giants Draft Color Coding System Revealed on Hard Knocks Series Finale

So what do the colors potentially mean?

Andrew Parsaud

Apr 25, 2024; Detroit, MI, USA; LSU Tigers wide receiver Malik Nabers poses with fans after being selected by the New York Giants as the No. 6 pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza.
Apr 25, 2024; Detroit, MI, USA; LSU Tigers wide receiver Malik Nabers poses with fans after being selected by the New York Giants as the No. 6 pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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The New York Giants’ appearance on the first-ever offseason edition of the popular Hard Knocks series ended with Tuesday’s series finale during with time something might have slipped through the cracks that maybe the Giants would hae preferred not been sown.

That something was a color-coded draft board bearing all the selections made by the 32 NFL teams over the seven rounds of this year’s draft. The screen capture of the board immediately set internet sleuths and reporters on a quest to decode what the various colors might have represented. 

X (formerly known as Twitter) user @Doug_Analytics surmised that blue meant blue-chip or all around good leader/teammate; red meant medical concerns (though could it have also meant “red flag”?), and purple character concerns.

The Athletic tried to fill in the rest of the blanks, offering that pink represented measurement/size concerns and gray highlighted positional flexibility.

As for how the color-coded system applied to the Giants’ own draft picks, safety Tyler Nubin, selected with the No.47 pick, received a blue designation, presumably, again, for being classified as an all-around good leader, teammate and person. 

Nubin, who returned to practice Thursday after sitting out with a calf issue, had five interceptions last season for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Giants hope his ball-hawking skills can translate well to the league. 

The other Giants draft pick to get a blue designation was sixth-round linebacker Darius Muasau out of UCLA. 

Muasau was named a second-team All-Pac-12 player due to his play in 2023, when he totaled 43 tackles, 10.5 tackles for a loss, and four sacks in 13 starts. If he makes the 53-man roster, he'll likely start out as a special teams player as a rookie.

The last highlighted draft pick for the Giants was cornerback Andru Phillips, selected in the third round. Phillips was given a grey designation, signaling his positional flexibility. 

He played both on the boundary and slot in college, totaling 82 tackles and 10 pass deflections over his career at Kentucky. Phillips has been competing for the starting nickel spot so far in camp and has made plays, both in the run and pass game. 

He didn't have much ball production in college, but the Giants liked his physicality and willingness to tackle enough to draft him in the top 100. Joe Schoen stated that Phillips would be the last cornerback they'd be "excited with" in the draft.

The Giants are hoping that their months of scouting and spending time with players will pay off. Whether it be immediate impact players like Malik Nabers or developmental prospects like Muasau, their draft class projects to be one of the better ones of Schoen's three-year tenure.

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Andrew Parsaud

ANDREW PARSAUD

Andrew Parsaud is currently attending Penn State, where he is studying digital journalism and media. He is an avid follower of the major New York sports teams. 

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