The New York Giants’ three biggest NFL Draft busts over the last 10 years, including someone still on the roster
The New York Giants’ general managers have had quite the mix bag of results over the last decade. This time, we’re looking at the biggest draft busts that have set the franchise back.
The New York Giants have had three general managers over the last 10 years, and for every strong draft pick, there have been swings and misses that set the franchise back.
With numerous what-ifs, I narrowed it down to three players who were the worst selections in the last decade.
3. CB DeAndre Baker
Baker was the 30th overall pick in 2019, and his time with the Giants was painfully brief. He played in 16 games as a rookie, and his stats were comically terrible.
He allowed seven touchdowns and 785 yards while recording zero interceptions. For a corner who was targeted as often as Baker was, he never committed a single turnover. Plenty of corners in that situation luck their way into at least one or two picks. Baker couldn’t even manage that.
There was a sliver of optimism heading into the 2020 offseason that maybe he could turn things around. He was still a first-round pick with legitimate tools. Then he got arrested in 2020, and the Giants waived him. He had a brief stint with the Kansas City Chiefs, but nothing materialized. He was terrible on the field for the Giants and couldn’t fix his career elsewhere.
2. WR Kadarius Toney
Toney was the 20th overall pick in 2021, and this one is a no-brainer. His career totals tell the story: 82 receptions for 760 yards and three touchdowns. The most frustrating part about Toney is that he gave everyone a glimpse of what he could become. His 10-reception, 189-yard performance against the Dallas Cowboys as a rookie conjured memories of Odell Beckham Jr. exploding onto the scene.
He never came close to that again. His next best game produced 40 yards. The worst busts are rarely the players who lack talent. More often, they’re the players who are physically gifted but lack the focus to sustain long-term careers. Toney embodied that perfectly. He played two games with the Giants in 2022 before getting traded to the Chiefs.
1. OL Evan Neal
This one is as obvious as it gets. Neal was the seventh overall pick in 2022 and has played in only 29 games since. He was awful from the start. There were no flashes where you could point to something and say you saw potential translating to the NFL. Despite being an explosive athlete, he was too big to move laterally.
Neal just didn’t have the fire, the intensity, or the focus to be a dominant offensive lineman. Neal was supposed to be the reason the Giants took a step forward as a physical, ground-and-pound team for the next four or five years. Instead, he set the franchise back. There was no early return on a premium investment, and he was eventually relegated to the last spot on the roster.
