This Non-Quarterback Considered an Early Draft Possibility for Giants

Pro Football Focus picked Tahj Brooks, a running back from Texas Tech, to be the New York Giants first-round selection in 2025.

Sep 21, 2024; Lubbock, Texas, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders running back Tahj Brooks (28) rushes against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the first half at Jones AT&T Stadium and Cody Campbell Field. / Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images

Although it’s still early to talk about the 2025 NFL Draft, some analytical and draft sites are trying to match emerging prospects with various NFL teams based on early team needs.

Pro Football Focus believes one of the Giants’ early draft needs is a signature running back they can count on. Draft analyst and author article Trevor Sikkema has the Giants matched up with Texas Tech running back Tahj Brooks for the first round of the 2025 draft. 

"While the Giants' backfield combination of Devin Singletary, Eric Gray, and Tyrone Tracy, Jr. is intriguing, Saquon Barkley is no longer in that group," Sikkema wrote in his preseason analysis. 

"New York will likely be looking to upgrade that position with fresh faces in the 2025 offseason. Brooks earned a 92.1 PFF rushing grade in 2023 with a 0.33 missed tackles forced average. He brings great vision to the position."

Brooks, 5-10, 230, has rushed for 379 yards on 71 carries. He has scored two touchdowns in three games for the Red Raiders.

The idea of the Giants taking a running back in the first round is about as unrealistic as can be, especially given some more glaring needs on the team, such as cornerback and interior defensive line help. The Giants might also be in the market for a new franchise quarterback, depending on how incumbent Daniel Jones’s 2024 campaign unfolds. 

ESPN’s Field Yates, in a late-August first-round mock draft, projected Georgia quarterback Carson Beck of Georgia, who he had going to the Giants with the first overall pick in the draft.

"Daniel Jones has no guaranteed money left on his contract past this season, and if the Giants finish with a record commensurate with the sixth pick, it's safe to assume they'd be in the quarterback market," Yates said 

"Beck, my early QB1 for the class,is a silky-smooth pocket passer with excellent 6-foot-4 size and enough mobility to navigate inside and outside the pocket. He's coming off a season in which he finished third in the FBS in passing yards (3,941) and fourth in completion percentage (72.4%)."

The 33rd Team also had the Giants picking first in the draft, based on futility and not due to a trade, with their pick for the Giants being University of Miami quarterback Cam Ward, currently the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy.

Right now, it’s far too early to plan draft needs and projections but given how the season has unfolded so far, unless the Giants have a top-5 pick that puts them in line for a quarterback, cornerback and defensive line help have to be a higher priority.  

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