Following general manager Joe Schoen's pre-draft press conference, the Giants.com crew members discuss what to know with the big night just a week away.

John Schmeelk: We all know the nature of these pre-draft press conferences. The job of every single NFL front office, including the general manager, at this time of the year is to keep other franchises guessing as to what their true intentions are on draft night. So, I'm not sure we learned anything concrete at Schoen's press conference, though I think Dan and Matt picked the two items that were newsworthy.

It sure didn't sound like Schoen was anxious to use the No. 5 overall pick on a running back. Or is that exactly what he wants other teams to think? I do think it was genuine when he said that he likes the running back room. If we travel into the future to September and Cam Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary were the running backs, I think Schoen would be very comfortable with that.

But … he also reiterated on multiple occasions that the Giants would pick the best available player. What if that best player was a running back? They would pick that player, right? OK, so Jeremiyah Love is on the table, but what if there is another player with an extremely similar grade at a position of greater need? Then they would go with the other position, right?

No one knows. We didn't know before the press conference, we don't know after the press conference, and that is the exact way Schoen and every other NFL general manager wants it.

Dan Salomone: Before he took any questions, Schoen addressed the situation with three-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence.

"I know the hot topic or some of the hot topic other than the draft will be Dexter," Schoen said as he began his fifth pre-draft press conference as general manager. "Just a quick update on that for you guys. We've had good conversations with his representatives throughout the last five or six days, Coach [John Harbaugh], [senior vice president of football operations and strategy] Dawn [Aponte], myself, we've all been in communication, trying to find some resolution.

"I'll echo what Coach said last week. We'd like for Dexter to be here, and at some point we'll come to a resolution here, whatever that may be. We'll see. But conversations have been really good. They've been productive. Again, we'll see what happens here down the road. I'm not going to say any more about it after that, but that's the update. That's really all there is."

Naturally, there were follow-up questions. The first is the matter of listening to trade calls.

"I'm always going to pick up the phone, so if a team calls -- maybe not to the effect that Coach said last week, that everybody is tradeable, but that is my job as the general manager, if teams call, you take into account," Schoen said. "It's a case-by-case basis and what the compensation may be. That's my job, to take into consideration what that looks like, what the compensation looks like, who the player is, how that affects the roster, and then try to make the best decision off of that."

Should things go in the other direction, there would be a big hole to fill. Has that thought affected draft plans?

"It really hasn't," Schoen said. "It really hasn't. We're going to continue to go through our process. The scouts left [Monday], so they've been here for roughly 14 days, so now we're putting the final touches on the board. But it really hasn't affected how we're approaching the draft."

The next seven days, as they always are, will be filled with anticipation.

Matt Citak: As John mentioned, these pre-draft press conferences around the NFL help feed into smokescreen season. No general manager is going to give true hints into the team's plans, so anything said a week before the draft has to be taken with a big grain of salt.

With that being said, Schoen did shed a bit of light on a particular topic that tends to be popular leading up to the draft: the possibility of a trade. While the Giants currently own seven picks, they do not have a third-round pick (but they do hold three sixth-round picks). As it stands today, the Giants will have a long wait between their picks at No. 37 and No. 105. To no one's surprise, Schoen told the media Tuesday that, of course, he would like more picks, but it might be difficult to pass on certain prospects. He also said he doesn't envision the team doing a trade before draft night, meaning the likelihood of a deal depends on how the first four picks of the draft unfold.

"I would always like more picks, but it would be situational," Schoen told the media. "We're not going to walk away from an impact player or a good player that we're convicted on that we like to pick up an extra pick or a couple extra picks. Case-by-case basis; if you move back three or four spots and there's five guys you like and you can get an extra pick, absolutely.

"If it's a guy you're convicted on and maybe there's a big drop-off from -- let's say it's a corner and there's a big drop-off, maybe two rounds to the next corner, you maybe don't roll the dice in those situations and you just take the player so you don't miss out. Certainly we'd like more picks, but don't want to walk away from good players, either."

If a trade doesn't happen on Thursday night, that doesn't mean one won't happen later in the weekend. The Giants own the fifth pick on Days 2 and 3, which puts them in a good position for a possible trade back.

"Typically top of the second, top of the fourth where we are on Saturday, you'll get people, they sit around all night and they look at the board and there's somebody they have to have," Schoen said. "And you can typically move back from the early parts of those rounds in day two and (round) four and you've got a pretty good chance of doing that."