The Giants.com crew members give their final takeaways from an eventful week in Indianapolis:

John Schmeelk: As the draft process moves along, there's usually a natural narrowing of the player pool when it comes to possible picks at each draft slot. As every milestone event hits, players can be eliminated from consideration either because of evaluation or it becomes clear a player might not be available when the team picks. We have been through two tentpole events with the college all-star games and combine, but right now, at least to me, the list of potential players the Giants could select is still pretty thick.

Free agency might be the true filter to begin to narrow the field. As much as the draft is a best-player-available enterprise, if a group of players are in the same grade range, then need can serve as a very powerful tiebreaker that bends a team one way or another. Based on the people I talked to during our combine interviews, among the consensus top players in this draft (in no particular order) are a safety (Caleb Downs), running back (Jeremiyah Love), off-ball linebacker (Sonny Styles), and a linebacker projected to edge (Arvell Reese). Quarterback Fernando Mendoza and edges Rueben Bain and David Bailey might be in this group as well, depending on who you talk to.

Right after this group there are players at more premium positions like wide receiver (Carnell Tate, Jordyn Tyson, Makai Lemon), offensive tackle (Francis Mauigoa, Spencer Fano), and cornerback (Mansoor Delane, Jermod McCoy). Would I be blown away if the Giants selected any of those players? Probably not, but if the Giants make a significant investment at one of those positions in free agency, it might be possible to eliminate some of those players from contention.

We'll learn more next week, but what won't change is the unpredictable nature of this draft class. Given the positions the best players play, the number of players with true first-round grades, and the different types of players at different positions up and down the class, it is going to be a "flavors" draft where certain players might fit some teams more than others. The last 10 picks of the first round could be wild, which means it will not only be hard to figure out whom the Giants might pick at No. 5 -- but also at 37. It's going to be a lot of fun trying to figure it all out, and I am going to enjoy the ride.

Dan Salomone: The biggest thing I learned last week is that you can have a snowstorm so massive that it cancels five of your flights (one for every day that your daughter's school has been canceled this winter) and a night out at St. Elmo.

The second biggest thing I learned is this draft, especially for the Giants, will come down to positional value and how much that dictates front offices.

When viewing the 2026 draft and free agency cycle, the Giants can switch their lenses from quarterback-needy to best player available. Jaxson Dart offers that flexibility.

"Having that piece is very important," general manager Joe Schoen said in Indianapolis. "A lot of sleepless nights last year trying to fill that one."

There are various ways to build around Dart. As I’ve written previously, a stingy defense can be just as important to the growth of a young quarterback as an offensive line or an explosive wide receiver. At No. 5 – or if they trade out of it – we will see how the Giants decide to do it.

They will have plenty of options no matter what happens ahead of them. But two prospects in particular could make things interesting as it pertains to positional value: safety Caleb Downs and running back Jeremiyah Love.

John Harbaugh has made it clear that he favors Hall of Fame safeties and is a big fan of Downs. Meanwhile, the head coach with 193 total victories, including a Super Bowl, knows the game starts with stopping the run and running the ball. What if Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, the No. 2 overall prospect in Daniel Jeremiah's top 50 prospect rankings, is available when the Giants are on the clock? We will see.

This is only the second time that a Harbaugh team will be picking in the single digits. In 2016, Baltimore used the No. 6 pick on Ronnie Stanley, who has now started 120 games at left tackle for the Ravens and made two Pro Bowls. Other than that, the next highest selection in Harbaugh's 18-year run was Kyle Hamilton at No. 14 in 2022. Three Pro Bowls, two first-team All-Pro selections and one second-team honor later, would anyone question taking that safety nine spots higher?

High or low, it doesn't matter where a player gets drafted. The real value is helping the team pick up some wins, and the Giants can't pass on those.

Matt Citak: There have been mixed reviews about the 2026 draft class as a whole, with some people knocking the group due to the minimal number of blue-chip prospects at the very top of the draft. After last week's festivities in Indianapolis, one thing that cannot be said about the draft class is that it lacks athleticism. The prospects at this year's combine averaged the fastest 40-yard dash times of all-time at every position across the board, except for quarterbacks, who had the second-fastest average 40 time at the position of all-time. Records were set at numerous positions in several different drills as the future 2026 rookie class put on a show in Indianapolis.

In most years, it would be difficult to pinpoint one player's performance as the most impressive at the combine. This year is not like most years, though, as Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles put together one of the most jaw-dropping displays of athleticism we've ever seen in Indy. Measuring in at 6-foot-5 and 244 pounds, Styles ran a 4.46 40-yard dash, which tied his college teammate Arvell Reese for the fastest time of any linebacker or defensive linemen this year. Meanwhile, his 43.5-inch vertical was the highest for any player 6-foot-4 or taller and any player weighing 240 or more pounds since at least 2003.

Additionally, his 11-foot-2 broad jump was the best mark among the linebackers and D-linemen last Thursday and the fourth-best mark of any linebacker in the last 15 years. According to NFL Research, Styles is the only player to run a sub-4.5 40-yard dash with a vertical of 40+ inches and a broad jump of 11+ feet while weighing at least 230 pounds since 2003. To put all of these numbers into perspective, which NFL Research did, based on purely numbers from the Combine, Styles registered as taller than Mike Evans, faster than George Pickens, quicker than Patrick Peterson, jumps higher than Davante Adams, more explosive than Derwin James Jr., and heavier than Trent Cole.

Every year around the combine, a popular metric people tend to follow is a player's Relative Athletic Score (RAS), which shows a player's athletic testing on a scale of 0 to 10. Styles ended up scoring an unofficial 9.99 RAS, which ranked fourth out of 3,216 qualifying linebackers dating back to 1987. Already projected to be a top 10 pick, Styles likely solidified himself as a top 5 pick following his outstanding performance in Indianapolis. Of all the players that stood out last week, and there were a good number of them, Styles was the most impressive. John Harbaugh has a history of coaching some very talented inside linebackers during his time in Baltimore, from Ray Lewis to C.J. Mosley to Roquan Smith and others. If Harbaugh decides he wants to bring in a new anchor for the middle of the defense, Styles could firmly be in play for the Giants at No. 5.