by Collin Lindsay of the Great Blue North Draft Report
As we noted yesterday, Saturday’s college football fare is a little more appealing than Friday’s with a number of huge games on the docket including THE game between #1 Ohio State and Michigan, along with Alabama at Auburn and LSU at Oklahoma in the SEC, and Miami at Pittsburgh in the ACC. And it’s potentially a big day for the Giants as a good portion of the players they’ll likely be looking at this spring, assuming they do in fact end up with a top-10 pick this coming April, will be playing Saturday.
And It starts with THE game between #1 Ohio State and #15 Michigan (Noon ET; FOX) at the Big House where the Buckeyes FS Caleb Downs (#2, 6-0, 205) and LB Arvell Reese (#8, 6-3, 245), both of whom will likely be in the mix if the Giants end up with a top-5 pick, will be front and center. Downs is generally considered to be one, if not THE very top non-QB prospects in college football, irrespective of position, while Reese is one of the top LB prospects to come along in a while, although there are some questions whether the latter would be better fit at the next level as a true off-ball backer or an edge rusher more in the mode of what the Giants are already getting from Abdul Carter. In fact, Reese’s partner-in-crime at OSU, fellow LB Sonny Styles (#0, 6-4, 245) who has some later first-round potential of his own,might be just attractive an option for the Giants.
The Buckeyes would actually have a third opening round target for the Giants in WR Carnell Tate (#17, 6-2, 195), but he may not play this week because of an undisclosed injury. Meanwhile, other Buckeyes to watch include rising DT Kayden McDonald (#98, 6-3, 330), a legit 2nd-round prospect for the Giants, rising DE Caden Curry (#92, 6-3, 260), who leads the team with 9 sacks on the season, TE Max Klare (#86, 6-4, 245), and CBs Jermaine Matthews (#7,5-11, 190) and Davison Igbinosun (#4, 6-2, 190).
For its part, Michigan doesn’t have the depth of talent of Ohio State, but does play stout defense with a unit featuring DE Derrick Moore (#8, 6-3, 260), who has 9.5 sacks on the season, along with edge rushing LB Jaishawn Barham (#1, 6-3, 245), ILB Ernest Hausman (#15, 6-2, 235), and CBs Jyaire Hill (#20, 6-1, 190) and Zeke Berry (#10, 5-11, 200).
Giants’ fans may need to keep their clickers handy because while most of the football world will be focused on THE game over at Michigan, Miami will face off with Pitt across the dial (ESPN) and like Ohio State, the Hurricanes also have a couple of legitimate top-ten prospects in DE Rueben Bain (#4, 6-3, 270) and RT Francis Mauigoa (#61, 6-5, 315), although both have issues that scouts will have to sort out. Bain, for example, is a powerfully-built guy who can get to the QB on the bull-rush, but also has plenty of dip and bend in his outside rush arsenal, although the fact that he hasn’t actually got to the QB as often as team’s would like is a little disconcerting. At the same time, Mauigoa, the consensus top offensive lineman in the 2026 draft class with a plug-and-play grade, has concerns about his lack of overall length that might force him to kick inside at the next level, which if we had to be honest would not be the worst deal for the Giants
Bain, in fact, isn’t the only Miami DE to have a shot at being a #1 pick as fellow DE Akeem Mesidor (#3, 6-3, 265), an Ottawa native who cut his football teeth playing in the local NCAFA league, the same league in which our two grandsons play, already is the top-rated prospect for the CFL draft and has actually outplayed Bain at times this year as he leads the Canes with 5.5 sacks to Bain’s 3.5. The Canes also feature a couple of other decent mid-to-late round candidates in LB Mo Toure (#1, 6-2, 235), a Rutgers transfer who has been an outstanding player when healthy, but has had his career path interrupted by a couple of torn ACLs, and steady DT David Blay (#11, 6-3, 305). For its part, Pitt also features a couple of decent LB prospects in Kyle Louis (#9, 6-1, 220) and Rasheem Briles (#3, 6-1, 220), although both are somewhat undersized; they’re also both juniors with another year of eligibility.
College football Saturday wraps up with Alabama playing Auburn in the Iron Bowl Saturday evening (7:30 PM ET; ABC). And while 6th-ranked Alabama is, as usual, pretty much loaded with draft prospects – the Tide is working on a record 16-year streak of having at least one player selected in the opening round – the guy the Giants likely will be most interested in in this game is Auburn DE Keldric Faulk (#15, 6-6, 285). He is a massive 3-4 DE type who can move, although like a number of other top prospects at the position, he hasn’t posted many sacks this year with just a couple to date.
In fact, if the Giants were to draft an Alabama player early this coming April, it actually could be more likely in the 2nd round among a group that might include LT Kadyn Proctor (#74, 6-6, 365), who is currently considered to be a top 15-25 prospect, although his grade has slipped over the course of the season, DE LT Overton (#22, 6-5, 280), LB Deontae Lawson (#0, 6-1, 230), NT Tim Keenan (#96, 6-2, 320), and WR Germi Bernard (#5, 6-1, 205) – should any or all still be available when the Giants get on the board in the second round. Meanwhile, C Parker Brailsford (#72, 6-2, 290), who anchors the OL, is a very athletic, technically-sound IOL, but is somewhat undersized, especially for an OG, and as such is more of a later second-day type.