Giants Draft Board Leaked on ‘Hard Knocks’ Season Finale

For the first time, HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series documented the offseason machinations of an NFL team’s front office. The New York Giants volunteered to have cameras monitor their internal conversations and extensive preparations from free agency to the 2024 NFL Draft.

If another NFL team agrees to HBO’s offseason microscope, it will probably do so on one condition:

Please don’t show our detailed draft board, complete with color codes that symbolize preferences and concerns over players.

Normally, HBO does a good job keeping such secrets. Depth charts and plays scribbled on white boards are regularly blurred for viewers (and curious opposing teams).

But on Tuesday’s season finale of “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants,” someone in post-production forgot to obscure the information displayed on the Giants’ draft board.

Of course, the internet was abuzz on what all of the color codes mean. The consensus: Blue was given to players with favorable evaluations, red signified health concerns and purple was reserved for prospects who could be a bad team fit, such as questionable character.

Not surprisingly, Drake Maye, regarded as the third-best QB prospect after Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels, had his last name colored in blue on the Giants’ draft board.

The previous four episodes documented the team’s dilemma on whether to keep the faith with quarterback Daniel Jones. Should the Giants begin the transition away from the oft-injured Jones and maneuver to draft one of the top QB prospects? Or should they continue with the 27-year-old QB and spend the No. 5 overall pick on a bona fide No. 1 receiver ?

During the draft prep episodes, the show captured Schoen’s interest in moving up to nab one of the top QBs in the draft. He made his first inquiry about a trade at the NFL Scouting Combine, where he spoke to Eliot Wolf, the vice president of football operations for the New England Patriots, about acquiring the No. 3 overall pick to have a chance at selecting Daniels or Maye.

However, that’s the type of decision making that would be acceptable by any top NFL personnel decision maker to have featured on the show. But broadcasting a team’s draft board in its war room? That’ll likely be a dealbreaker the next time a club has “Hard Knocks” tell its offseason story. That is, if there is a next time.

For those who don’t pay attention to the NFL offseason whatsoever, the Giants decided to roll with Jones and invested its top pick in a much-needed playmaker, LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers.