The Giants.com crew gives the biggest takeaways from college all-star week.

John Schmeelk: It was another great week at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, and Shrine Bowl in Frisco, Texas. The prospects at these two events are going to make up the majority of Fays two and 3 of the draft. The depth of the class was reflected in the strength at the position groups, with the best players showing up on defense, tight end, and running back.

Last year, 13 players who participated in the Senior Bowl were drafted in the first round, including Michael Penix, who was selected eighth overall. Not counting Shedeur Sanders, who attended the Shrine Bowl but did not participate, no pick in either all-star game will likely go that high. But there are some who will be getting first round consideration.

At defensive tackle, Walter Nolen could easily be a first-round pick. Kentucky's Deone Walker is polarizing, but it is possible a team falls in love with his size and athleticism and picks him at the end of the first round. Edge rushers Shemar Stewart, Mike Green, and Donovan Ezeiruaku could find themselves in the first round.

The offensive line groups helped themselves with offensive tackles like Josh Conerly Jr., Armand Membou and possibly Aireontae Ersery sneaking into the first round. Converted tackles that move into guard could also get into the first round, such as Jonah Savaiinaea, Wyatt Millum, and possibly Grey Zabel or Marcus Mbow.

Quarterbacks Jaxson Dart and Jalen Milroe also have outside chances of sneaking into the first round. Players covering their targets like Azareye'h Thomas, Trey Amos and Maxwell Hairston are also borderline first round selections.

All of these players will not go in the first round, and if I had to guess, it will be just fewer than last year's 13. But in a draft class that is very polarizing with draft boards very different from team to team, anything is possible. It is what makes these games so valuable. An added piece of data from a live rep in practice or the game or a few extra words in an interview can move a player up the board in a way that players that choose not to participate in these games won't.

Dan Salomone: The Shrine and Senior Bowls provide the first touchpoints for general managers and head coaches to meet prospects in person and learn more about their background. The Giants did just that with several players, including quarterback Shedeur Sanders, a frequent projection for the team at No. 3 in mock drafts.

"He's a great kid, he's a great kid, a really good personality, football smart, his dad is a football coach," general manager Joe Schoen said. "It's a little bit cliché, but he checks all the boxes of a [player with a] dad that is a football coach and the passion that he approaches the game with. It was good getting to meet him. He's had a really good career at Colorado and obviously looking forward to getting to knowing all those guys in the rest of the process."

In 2024, the East-West Shrine Bowl produced 57 draft picks, an all-time high in its 99-year history. The Senior Bowl, meanwhile, featured 110 selections, representing 43 percent of the entire draft. Combined, they made up 65 percent of the entire draft class.

That included four of the Giants' six draft picks: cornerback Dru Phillips (Senior Bowl), tight end Theo Johnson (Senior Bowl), running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (Shrine Bowl) and linebacker Darius Muasau (Shrine Bowl).

"A lot of that was based on the feedback that our coaches brought back from the games," Schoen said.

This year, the Giants had two coaches at the Shrine Bowl and five at the Senior Bowl.

"To me, it's a competitive advantage," Schoen said. "They're in the meetings with these kids. They get to know who's on time, who's late, who's early, who can learn the playbook. To me, it's just a competitive advantage for us, and fortunately our coaches are willing to participate in the process and they're all in on it. They do really good write-ups on the kids. It helped us last year."

Matt Citak: As Schoen said, the Giants know they are going to land "a really good player" with the third overall pick in this year's draft. But as we've seen across the league in recent years, the success of a team's overall draft class typically depends on the picks that come after Day 1. When you hit on picks on the second and third days, that is how you can turn a franchise's fortunes around quickly. In this year's draft in particular, there looks like there could be a ton of value to be found in the middle rounds.

There are certain positions that appear rather deep this year, starting with an area the Giants are likely to address this offseason – the interior defensive line. While guys like Michigan's Mason Graham have been garnering the most attention among this year's crop of defensive tackle prospects, several other prospects boosted their draft stock with strong performances last week. During the Senior Bowl, LSU's Sai'Von Jones, Arkansas' Landon Jackson, and Utah's Junior Tafuna all stood out after making a few big splash plays. This came after players such as South Carolina's T.J. Sanders, Ole Miss' Walter Nolen, and Toledo's Darius Alexander shined during the practices leading up to Saturday's game. Defensive tackles are going to go early and often this year, as it appears to be one of the strongest and deepest positions. A few teams are going to get steals with these defensive tackles going on Day 2 or 3.

Similar to the interior defensive line, the running back position is perhaps the deepest it has been in years. Boise State's Ashton Jeanty is certainly the cream of this year's crop, and several other big name backs are not too far behind. But the number of talented players at the position that have declared for this year's draft is going to cause some really skilled running backs to fall. Two players in particular stood out during Saturday's Senior Bowl game – UCF's RJ Harvey and Oklahoma State's Ollie Gordon II. Harvey is on the shorter side as he measures in just under 5-foot-8, but at 207 pounds, he is well-built. The UCF running back is one of Mel Kiper Jr.'s most underrated players in this year's draft, and after watching him in action in Mobile, it's easy to see why. As for Gordon, the former Oklahoma State back is on the opposite end of the size spectrum as Harvey, coming in at 6-foot-1, 233 pounds. Gordon opened some eyes with a 32-yard touchdown pass on a trick play on Saturday, but the big back ran well with most of his touches. Since 2000, the NFL has had only one year where 30 running backs were taken in the draft (2017). Well, the 2025 running back class might top that number.

The other position that really stood out to me during the college all-star week was tight end. Miami's Elijah Arroyo, LSU's Mason Taylor, Bowling Green's Harold Fannin Jr., and Oregon's Terrance Ferguson, along with several others, all flashed throughout the week in Mobile. We're going to see some very talented tight ends go in the middle rounds of this year's draft, some of which look like they could be game-changers at the next level.