The Giants need a ball hawk, and Big Blue View snags one with Emmanuel Forbes at No. 25

As I sat and watched the New York Giants’ pick (my pick) at No. 25 in Round 1 in the annual SB Nation writer’s mock draft approach, I began to see how the scenario would unfold.

By pick No. 22 (Baltimore Ravens), the top four cornerbacks — Christian Gonzalez, Devon Witherspoon, Joey Porter Jr., Deonte Banks — were off the board. Same with wide receiver, where Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Zay Flowers and Jordan Addison were gone.

I could see a choice between TCU wide receiver Quentin Johnston, Alabama safety Brian Branch, Clemson defensive lineman Brian Bresee and Mississippi State cornerback Emmanuel Forbes developing.

I knew where I was leaning, but like any good GM I reached out to my guys, Chris Pflum and Nick Falato, to see if we were on the same page. If we weren’t, could they convince me to go in a different direction?

Turns out, we agreed. The choice would be Mississippi State cornerback Emmanuel Forbes. Yes, he’s just 166 pounds. He is, though, a ball-hawking cornerback with man-to-man coverage skills and excellent instincts. The Giants need a cornerback who can not only cover, but who can turn the ball over. Forbes had 14 interceptions, six returned for touchdowns, in college.

Falato said:

“I love Forbes…I get the outlier trait but the guy is a ball hawk and the Giants ranked last in interceptions last season.”

Pflum said:

“I do agree on Forbes, and I’m not sure how much Schoen and Co. care about physical thresholds. They didn’t care with Wan’Dale or Flott, but those are also Day 2 picks. I wish we had more data points to get their preferences.

“If we think they don’t care about the size, then I’d go with Forbes. I’d rather take a cornerstone position in the first.”

33rd Team projects Forbes as the No. 2 cornerback in the class. They say he is a first-round pick and Year 1 starter:

Forbes is a lean corner with good length who lacks play strength. While his physical attributes are more than adequate, it is his confidence, instincts and ball skills that make him a likely first round pick and Day 1 starter.

His pesky play style is likely to annoy opponents, but he backs it up by making plays on the ball at an abnormally high rate.

However, he is not just a boom or bust player despite his aggressive style. While picking off six passes and returning three for touchdowns in 2022, he gave up just 17 yards passing per game and a passer rating of just 31.7 against him, both of which ranked in the top 15 in FBS.

DraftKings Sportsbook’s oddsmakers believe the Giants are most likely to take a wide receiver in the first round with -105 odds, but all of our top choices were already off the board when the pick came around. DraftKings has cornerback as the Giants’ second-most likely position to target in the first with +200 odds.