If the Giants use their No. 5 overall pick on a new weapon for Jaxson Dart, they might have their pick between the top running back and top wide receiver on the entire NFL Draft board.

But who would improve their offense more: Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love or Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate? It’s an intriguing debate.

Love, a 6-foot, 212-pound Heisman Trophy finalist, is a home run hitting back who could elevate New York’s improved running game even further. He ran a 4.36 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

He finished his college career with back-to-back seasons of at least 1,100 rushing yards, 19 total TDs and 6.9 yards per carry. That included 1,372 rushing yards and 21 total touchdowns in 2025 for the Irish.

Dart’s read options and run-pass option game, which will be featured heavily in Matt Nagy’s new offense, would have another dimension of explosiveness.

The Giants do not have a true No. 1 back on their roster despite returning three players who have been productive in complementary roles: Tyrone Tracy Jr., Devin Singletary and Cam Skattebo. And Skattebo’s health and availability are unclear after last season’s compound leg fracture.

John Harbaugh and the Giants already showed interest in Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker before the former Seattle Seahawk signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency.

Harbaugh just rode a fierce running game combination of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry for years down the stretch of his Baltimore career, and new Giants offensive coordinator Matt Nagy sees the value of a top back, too.

In 2019, when Nagy was the Chicago Bears’ head coach, the team used a third-round pick on Iowa State’s David Montgomery, and Nagy promptly gave Montgomery 714 total carries over the next three seasons.

That said, the Buckeyes’ Tate is a tantalizing prospect. And Malik Nabers’ unknown return timeline from a torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee makes wide receiver a much greater Giants need than is being discussed publicly at the moment.

Free agent signing Isaiah Likely will help Dart in the passing game. But if Nabers is sidelined for an extended period of time and is slowly acclimating when he does return, there will be a glaring gap in the offensive plan even with new signings Darnell Mooney and Calvin Austin III complementing Darius Slayton.

The 6-2, 192-pound Tate is a dangerous intermediate and deep threat with great hands who caught nine total touchdown passes in 2025, including at least one in eight of the 11 games he played.

He wins a high rate of contested catches. In fact, he has the second-highest contested catch rate (68.8%) of any first-round NFL Draft prospect from 2022-2026 other than the Seattle Seahawks’ Jaxson Smith-Njigba (71.4%), according to Ian Hartitz of Matthew Berry’s Fantasy Life.

From a positional value perspective, investing in a wide receiver with the No. 5 overall pick also is a safer investment from a roster building standpoint over a running back.

Smith-Njigba just signed a contract extension that averages $42.15 million per year. Tate, by comparison, would cost the Giants an average of $12.1 million against the cap for the four years in his rookie contract.

There are only seven running backs in the entire league, meanwhile, who on average make more than the $12.1 million that Love would get as the No. 5 overall pick.

This does not mean the Giants wouldn’t take a running back over a receiver there. GM Joe Schoen has kept this franchise in the NFL’s basement in part by letting numbers drive his decisions, and Harbaugh already has gone on the record saying that he will prioritize the best football players regardless of the positional value if necessary.

On the flip side, this is a good enough receiver class that the Giants should be able to get a playmaker in later rounds if they decide to prioritize another position in round one.

It is a fascinating conversation. Because while the Giants have plenty of other roster needs, it’s possible they could train their sights on giving Dart another weapon to take the next step in Year 2. And if they do, there are multiple ways to do it.

HARBAUGH’S ‘SPECIAL’ FOCUS

Harbaugh has taken a blow torch to the Giants’ embarrassing special teams unit. That continued on Wednesday with the signings of former Chiefs and Jets linebacker Cam Jones and longtime Buccaneers long-snapper Zach Triner.

Jones, 26, won a Super Bowl with Kansas City and played for the Jets last season. He has played more than 60% of the special teams snaps available to him during his three seasons in the NFL. Triner, 35, split last season with three teams: the Bucs, Dolphins and Commanders.

Harbaugh prioritized former Ravens punter Jordan Stout early in free agency, added veteran Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders brought in a ton of coverage specialists and backups with special teams experience. Now add Jones and Triner to the list.