Dane Brugler post-combine mock draft: Jordan Addison to the Giants

Another mock draft, another wide receiver given to the New York Giants.

This time it’s Dane Brugler writing for The Athletic, and he’s sending USC wideout Jordan Addison to the Giants.

Wide receiver has been the pick du jour for the Giants all throughout the off-season, and the only question heading into these mock drafts is which one would fall to 25th overall. Let’s find out what Brugler says about Addison.

25. New York Giants
Jordan Addison, WR, USC

On tape, Addison has some routes that give you flashbacks of Stefon Diggs. Giants head coach Brian Daboll had a front-row seat for Diggs’s game in Buffalo, so the hope would be to replicate that in New York.

At 173 pounds, Addison was smaller than expected at the combine, but he would add a different dimension to the Giants’ passing attack.

Raptor’s Thoughts

Addison, who has been considered the top receiver in the draft since about mid-way through the 2022 college season. He has been wildly productive with both Pittsburgh and USC, racking up 3,134 yards (14.3 per catch) and 29 touchdowns over his three-year college career. He is an excellent route runner and electric with the ball in his hands.

At the end of the college season, it would have been inconceivable that Addison would fall to 25th. But here he’s the third receiver off the board (the first being Jaxon Smith-Njigba at 20th overall), likely in response to an underwhelming combine performance. I’ve also noticed throughout the draft process that Brugler is very much a “height/weight” guy and passes prospects through a size filter first. Viewed through that lens, it’s understandable that Brugler is low on this receiver class. There are a couple places earlier in Brugler’s draft where offensively-needy teams opt to take big linemen (offensive or defensive), as opposed to the smaller skill position players.

We don’t have many data points, but this Giants regime doesn’t seem to care as much about physical thresholds and instead seems to value how prospects use their traits.

I suspect that the Giants themselves would view any of JSN, Zay Flowers, or Addison as a tremendous steal in the bottom third of the first round.