When the New York Giants were on the clock in Round 4 on Day 3 of the 2025 NFL draft, general manager Joe Schoen had a choice to make, or so he thought.

He decided on Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo at Pick No. 105 over several other players, including Purdue offensive lineman Marcus Mbow.

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When the Giants went to select in the next round at pick No. 154, Mbow was surprisingly still on the board. Schoen pounced. He never expected to land both Skattebo and Mbow.

“Marcus Mbow, he’s a guy that we were a little bit surprised that he was there when we picked. We really liked his film,” Schoen told reporters after the conclusion of the draft.

“He’s another guy at the Senior Bowl that we got to spend some time with,” Scheon added. “Really athletic player, has some position flexibility from tackle to guard. We think he can play both. Smart guy, finishes on film. You see him running down on the pulls and stuff. Super athletic. Excited about him.”

And they should be. Mbow was mocked as a possible Day 2 pick by many and should have been long gone before the fifth round. It was suggested that a late rumor of a medical issue might have caused Mbow to drop in the draft. Schoen shot that down.

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“No, and we look at all the medical, and that information is shared so you have an idea of what other teams have on guys,” he said. “And no, it wasn’t — there were no real red flags from that standpoint. When you take these guys, sometimes you get texts from around the league from other personnel people or general managers if you took a guy they were going to take, and he’s one that there were a lot of texts, just the value where we got him.”

The Giants won’t complain. Mbow can play all three positions on the offensive line and play them all well. Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll said Mbow will be tried at both tackle and guard.

It happens quite frequently in the draft. Teams panic and pass on players they shouldn’t. The smart GMs with experience display more patience. Schoen appears to be growing into the job in his fourth draft with the Giants. He has been showing more patience and letting the other teams make the mistakes these days.

“I’m not really sure what happened, but glad he was there. That happens sometimes in the fourth round,” Schoen explained. “We liked guys in the past and we’ve been able to get them in the fifth that maybe we had in the fourth.”

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The Giants and Schoen, after a rocky first two years, have seemed to master the art of drafting players the past two springs. The results are about to be on full display come the fall.

This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants thought they had to choose between Cam Skattebo and Marcus Mbow