# List of New York Giants first-round draft picks

The New York Giants are a National Football League (NFL) franchise founded in the 1925 season, the NFL's sixth. Eleven years later, the league introduced the NFL Draft after team owners voted on it in 1935. The intention of the draft was to make the NFL more competitive, as a few stronger teams, including the Giants, had an advantage in signing young players because they were able to offer higher salaries and an opportunity to compete for championships. Since that first draft, the Giants have selected 84 players in the first round. The team's first-round pick in the inaugural NFL Draft was Art Lewis, a tackle from Ohio University; he was the 9th overall selection. In the most recent draft, held in 2024, the Giants chose LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers.
Officially known as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting", but more often called the NFL Draft, the event is the NFL's primary mechanism for distributing newly professional players finished with their college football careers to its teams. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings; the teams with the worst win–loss records receive the earliest picks. Teams that qualified for the NFL playoffs select after non-qualifiers, and their order depends on how far they advanced. The final two selections in the first round are reserved for the Super Bowl runner-up and champion. Draft picks are tradable, and players or other picks can be acquired with them.
Of the 84 players drafted by the Giants in the first round, 27 played at one of the running back positions. Of these, 10 were halfbacks and six were fullbacks, and the remaining 11 are credited as backs, blocking backs, or running backs. Among other frequently drafted positions, the Giants have chosen 10 offensive tackles, eight defensive backs, seven defensive ends, seven wide receivers, five defensive tackles, and five quarterbacks. Five of the Giants' first-round picks attended the University of Notre Dame, more than any other college. Four picks came from Miami, while nine universities have had three players selected. The Giants have held the first overall pick twice, in 1951 and 1965, selecting Kyle Rote and Tucker Frederickson. Three of the team's first-round picks—George Connor, Frank Gifford, and Lawrence Taylor—have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Giants did not draft a player in the first round on 11 occasions. Two of those picks, for the 1967 and 1968 drafts, were traded to the Minnesota Vikings in 1967 as part of a deal for quarterback Fran Tarkenton. During the 1974 season, the Giants dealt their 1975 first-round choice to the Dallas Cowboys for another quarterback, Craig Morton. In another case when the Giants used first-round draft picks to trade for a quarterback, the team acquired 2004 first overall pick Eli Manning from the San Diego Chargers, in a deal that included their 2004 and 2005 first-round picks; the Giants had already selected Philip Rivers with the 2004 pick, the fourth in that year's draft. The Giants used multiple first-round selections in 1951, 1972, 1984, 2019, and 2022; in the second instance; they gained a selection by trading Tarkenton back to the Vikings.

## Key

Table key :
| B | Back | K | Kicker | NT | Nose tackle |
| C | Center | LB | Linebacker | FB | Fullback |
| DB | Defensive back | P | Punter | HB | Halfback |
| DE | Defensive end | QB | Quarterback | WR | Wide receiver |
| DT | Defensive tackle | RB | Running back | G | Guard |
| E | End | T | Offensive tackle | TE | Tight end |
| ^ | Indicates the player was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. | Indicates the player was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. | Indicates the player was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. | Indicates the player was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. | Indicates the player was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. |
| — | The Giants did not draft a player in the first round that year. | The Giants did not draft a player in the first round that year. | The Giants did not draft a player in the first round that year. | The Giants did not draft a player in the first round that year. | The Giants did not draft a player in the first round that year. |
| Year | Each year links to an article about that particular NFL Draft. | Each year links to an article about that particular NFL Draft. | Each year links to an article about that particular NFL Draft. | Each year links to an article about that particular NFL Draft. | Each year links to an article about that particular NFL Draft. |
| Pick | Indicates the number of the pick within the first round | Indicates the number of the pick within the first round | Indicates the number of the pick within the first round | Indicates the number of the pick within the first round | Indicates the number of the pick within the first round |
| Position | Indicates the position of the player in the NFL | Indicates the position of the player in the NFL | Indicates the position of the player in the NFL | Indicates the position of the player in the NFL | Indicates the position of the player in the NFL |
| College | The player's college football team | The player's college football team | The player's college football team | The player's college football team | The player's college football team |

## Player selections

New York Giants first-round draft picks :
| Year | Pick | Player name | Position | College |
| 1936 | 9 | Art Lewis | Tackle | Ohio |
| 1937 | 4 | Ed Widseth | Tackle | Minnesota |
| 1938 | 8 | George Karamatic | Fullback | Gonzaga |
| 1939 | 10 | Walt Nielsen | Fullback | Arizona |
| 1940 | 10 | Grenny Lansdell | Halfback | USC |
| 1941 | 6 | George Franck | Halfback | Minnesota |
| 1942 | 8 | Merle Hapes | Fullback | Ole Miss |
| 1943 | 6 | Steve Filipowicz | Fullback | Fordham |
| 1944 | 6 | Billy Hillenbrand | Halfback | Indiana |
| 1945 | 10 | Elmer Barbour | Blocking back | Wake Forest |
| 1946 | 5 | George Connor $^^$ | Tackle | Notre Dame |
| 1947 | 10 | Vic Schwall | Halfback | Northwestern |
| 1948 | 2 | Skip Minisi | Halfback | Pennsylvania |
| 1949 | 4 | Paul Page | Halfback | SMU |
| 1950 | 7 | Travis Tidwell | Quarterback | Auburn |
| 1951 | 1 | Kyle Rote | End | SMU |
| 1951 | 13 | Jim Spavital | Fullback | Oklahoma State |
| 1952 | 11 | Frank Gifford $^^$ | Halfback | USC |
| 1953 | 8 | Bobby Marlow | Back | Alabama |
| 1954 | — | — | — | — |
| 1955 | 8 | Joe Heap | Halfback | Notre Dame |
| 1956 | — | — | — | — |
| 1957 | — | — | — | — |
| 1958 | 12 | Phil King | Halfback | Vanderbilt |
| 1959 | 10 | Lee Grosscup | Quarterback | Utah |
| 1960 | 12 | Lou Cordileone | Defensive tackle | Clemson |
| 1961 | — | — | — | — |
| 1962 | 13 | Jerry Hillebrand | Linebacker | Colorado |
| 1963 | — | — | — | — |
| 1964 | 12 | Joe Don Looney | Halfback | Oklahoma |
| 1965 | 1 | Tucker Frederickson | Running back | Auburn |
| 1966 | 10 | Francis Peay | Tackle | Missouri |
| 1967 | — | — | — | — |
| 1968 | — | — | — | — |
| 1969 | 13 | Fred Dryer | Defensive end | San Diego State |
| 1970 | 13 | Jim Files | Linebacker | Oklahoma |
| 1971 | 18 | Rocky Thompson | Running back | West Texas A&M |
| 1972 | 17 | Eldridge Small | Defensive back | Texas A&M–Kingsville |
| 1972 | 24 | Larry Jacobson | Defensive tackle | Nebraska |
| 1973 | — | — | — | — |
| 1974 | 3 | John Hicks | Guard | Ohio State |
| 1975 | — | — | — | — |
| 1976 | 13 | Troy Archer | Defensive tackle | Colorado |
| 1977 | 5 | Gary Jeter | Defensive end | USC |
| 1978 | 10 | Gordon King | Tackle | Stanford |
| 1979 | 7 | Phil Simms | Quarterback | Morehead State |
| 1980 | 8 | Mark Haynes | Defensive back | Colorado |
| 1981 | 2 | Lawrence Taylor $^^$ | Linebacker | North Carolina |
| 1982 | 18 | Butch Woolfolk | Running back | Michigan |
| 1983 | 10 | Terry Kinard | Defensive back | Clemson |
| 1984 | 3 | Carl Banks | Linebacker | Michigan State |
| 1984 | 27 | William Roberts | Guard | Ohio State |
| 1985 | 19 | George Adams | Running back | Kentucky |
| 1986 | 19 | Eric Dorsey | Defensive end | Notre Dame |
| 1987 | 28 | Mark Ingram | Wide receiver | Michigan State |
| 1988 | 10 | Eric Moore | Guard | Indiana |
| 1989 | 18 | Brian Williams | Center | Minnesota |
| 1990 | 24 | Rodney Hampton | Running back | Georgia |
| 1991 | 27 | Jarrod Bunch | Fullback | Michigan |
| 1992 | 14 | Derek Brown | Tight end | Notre Dame |
| 1993 | — | — | — | — |
| 1994 | 24 | Thomas Lewis | Wide receiver | Indiana |
| 1995 | 17 | Tyrone Wheatley | Running back | Michigan |
| 1996 | 5 | Cedric Jones | Defensive end | Oklahoma |
| 1997 | 7 | Ike Hilliard | Wide receiver | Florida |
| 1998 | 24 | Shaun Williams | Defensive back | UCLA |
| 1999 | 19 | Luke Petitgout | Tackle | Notre Dame |
| 2000 | 11 | Ron Dayne | Running back | Wisconsin |
| 2001 | 22 | Will Allen | Defensive back | Syracuse |
| 2002 | 14 | Jeremy Shockey | Tight end | Miami (Florida) |
| 2003 | 25 | William Joseph | Defensive tackle | Miami (Florida) |
| 2004 | 4 | Philip Rivers | Quarterback | NC State |
| 2005 | — | — | — | — |
| 2006 | 32 | Mathias Kiwanuka | Defensive end | Boston College |
| 2007 | 20 | Aaron Ross | Defensive back | Texas |
| 2008 | 31 | Kenny Phillips | Defensive back | Miami (Florida) |
| 2009 | 29 | Hakeem Nicks | Wide receiver | North Carolina |
| 2010 | 15 | Jason Pierre-Paul | Defensive end | South Florida |
| 2011 | 19 | Prince Amukamara | Defensive back | Nebraska |
| 2012 | 32 | David Wilson | Running back | Virginia Tech |
| 2013 | 19 | Justin Pugh | Tackle | Syracuse |
| 2014 | 12 | Odell Beckham Jr. | Wide receiver | LSU |
| 2015 | 9 | Ereck Flowers | Tackle | Miami (Florida) |
| 2016 | 10 | Eli Apple | Cornerback | Ohio State |
| 2017 | 23 | Evan Engram | Tight end | Mississippi |
| 2018 | 2 | Saquon Barkley | Running back | Penn State |
| 2019 | 6 | Daniel Jones | Quarterback | Duke |
| 2019 | 17 | Dexter Lawrence | Defensive tackle | Clemson |
| 2019 | 30 | Deandre Baker | Cornerback | Georgia |
| 2020 | 4 | Andrew Thomas | Tackle | Georgia |
| 2021 | 20 | Kadarius Toney | Wide receiver | Florida |
| 2022 | 5 | Kayvon Thibodeaux | Defensive end | Oregon |
| 2022 | 7 | Evan Neal | Tackle | Alabama |
| 2023 | 24 | Deonte Banks | Cornerback | Maryland |
| 2024 | 6 | Malik Nabers | Wide receiver | LSU |