Bryce Eldridge Excited to Get Started

Plus a look at Day 2 Draft Haul

Bryce Eldridge, the Giants’ top pick of the 2023 draft, wasn’t playing it cagey. Asked about his college commitment in a zoom call with Giants’ reporters, the 18-year-old left no doubt about his future: “I will be signing,” he said emphatically. “I will forego Alabama.” One day after becoming the 16th overall pick in the draft, elation still poured off the prodigy from Northern Virginia. “I am absolutely stoked!” he enthused, when asked about his reaction to being drafted by the Giants.

The young two-way player had a long connection with the Giants, noting that he had met with them last winter “at this same table I’m sitting at right now.” Eldridge said the Giants had had some presence at nearly every game he played this spring and had even brought the teenager out to Papago Park in the run up to the draft for a private workout. Obviously, their interest in this unique player ran deep. “It’s no secret that we like versatility in a lot of different ways,” Senior Scouting Director Michael Holmes said the night of the draft, “but for us, it’s about the athletic ability — the ability to impact the game.”

Eldridge also left no doubt about his desire to continue as a two-way player in pro ball and said that was one of the things that drew him to the Giants, who are clearly open to allowing him to develop on both sides of the ball. The Giants weren’t the only team that talked with Eldridge about developing as a two-way player — he said about half the teams he talked to were open to the idea — but their open-mindedness about his development and creativity to player development in general made them an attractive option.