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Pick a word that describes Giants general manager Joe Schoen during the 2023 NFL Draft: Aggressive, attentive, astute.
The list goes on as long as they all start with the letter ‘A.’
Because Shoen aced this draft.
For way too long, the Giants were way too far behind in the game of draft-board maneuvering.
Former general manager Jerry Reese didn’t make a first-round trade (up or down) in 11 drafts as a general manager. He didn’t trade down in his last 77 turns on the clock.
Reese’s successor, Dave Gettleman, was a more active trader by comparison, but he never fully grasped value.
Enter Schoen, who traded down twice in 2022 when the Giants needed improved depth and traded up twice this weekend when the goal was quality over quantity.
The result was three players selected over the first three rounds that different expert mock drafts had earmarked to the Giants as first-rounders.
Here are The Post’s pick-by-pick grades for the Giants’ draft class:Round 1, No. 24 overall: Deonte Banks (CB, Maryland)
When four straight receivers went off the board (No. 20-23), the Giants didn’t reach. They traded up one spot and pivoted to their biggest need on the other side of the ball to get Banks lower than expected.
Judging by Wink Martindale’s overjoyed reaction in the draft room, the defensive coordinator got who he wanted to play press man-to-man coverage. Banks paired a 4.35-second 40-yard dash with a 42-inch vertical leap (tops for cornerbacks) at the NFL Combine.
He jumps to the front of a slew of young players (Aaron Robinson, Cor’Dale Flott, Nick McCloud, Rodarius Williams, etc.).
Grade: ARound 2, No. 57 overall: John Michael Schmitz (C, Minnesota)
Don’t play poker with Schoen.
