The New York Giants are expected to add a wide receiver at some point in the 2026 NFL Draft. Nobody is quite sure where, but they’re expected to add a starting caliber receiver to help build a dynamic offense around QB Jaxson Dart.
He hasn’t gotten much buzz in the national media, however the Lane Kiffin connection could make Ole Miss WR De’Zhaun Stribling a darkhorse for the Giants on the second day of the draft. Stribling has an excellent combination of size and speed, as well a reliable hands and the kind
of blocking that gets coaches fired up.
Stribling possesses a skillset that’s largely absent from the Giants’ roster. Could that and his familiarity with the offense in which Dart spent four years put him on the Giants’ radar?
Prospect: De’Zhaun Stribling (1)
Games Watched: vs. Georgia (2025), vs. Oklahoma (2025), vs. South Carolina (2025), vs. Georgia (2026 Sugar Bowl)
Red flags: Hand (2023)
Measurables
Kent Lee Platte | RAS.football" />
Strengths
Best traits
- Size
- Play strength
- Blocking
- Speed
- Explosiveness
- Hands
- Run after catch
De’Zhaun Stribling is a big, athletic, powerful, versatile, and impressively competitive wide receiver prospect.
Stribling has great size for the position at 6-foot-2, 207 pounds at the Combine, though he appeared bigger on tape last season. He also has solid length with 31 ⅝ inch arms and big 10-inch hands. He combines that size with excellent speed, timing a 4.36-second 40, which also shows up on tape.
Stribling was productive at all three levels of the field, and lined up at the X, Z, and Slot positions. His size allows him to serve as a possession receiver in the shallow to intermediate areas of the field, while his speed makes him a dangerous vertical threat. Stribling flashes some savvy and understanding of how to use his route stems to manipulate defensive backs. He uses fakes and jab steps to expand corners’ field of vision as well as force them to open their hips prematurely, as well as manipulating his stems to settle into voids in zone coverage.
He has solid ball skills, typically locating the ball quickly and doing a good job of tracking it in the air. Stribling is a “hands” catcher who is able to adjust and extend to expand his catch radius, and has strong hands to secure the ball as he goes to the ground.
Stribling’s speed and play strength both show themselves in run-after-catch situations. He has the speed to run away from most defensive backs, while using his strength to play through contact. He consistently carries would-be tacklers forward and fights for every possible inch after contact.
Finally, Stribling isn’t just a willing blocker, but an eager one. He is a potent, powerful blocker who was commonly used on the play-side by Ole Miss. Stribling blocks more like an offensive lineman than even an undersized tight end, consistently looking for work and looking to finish his blocks with the defender on the ground. Ole Miss even routinely used Stribling in the backfield as lead blocker from an H-back position, taking on and sustaining blocks against linebackers.
Weaknesses
Worst traits
- Quickness into breaks
- Contested catch
- Route diversity
There are a couple weaknesses in Stribling’s game that stand out on tape.
The first is for all his athleticism, he’s a bit of a linear athlete. He has a notable “gear down” period when he has to break sharply. He doesn’t appear to have the ability to stop on a dime and then cut, rather needing to chop his feet and gather himself before cutting sharply. That can limit his ability to separate on those routes that feature sharp cuts, such as square-in or come-back routes. There might be something of a learning curve as he transitions from Lane Kiffin’s spread offense to a more sophisticated offense in the NFL.
Stribling also needs to be more consistently aggressive in attacking the ball at the catch point. He was inconsistent in contested catch situations on tape (44.4 percent catch rate on contested catches overall). He needs to further refine his route running to better position himself against tight coverage, as well as more consistently attack the ball at the catch point.
He is clearly a big, aggressive, and powerful receiver, but he doesn’t always play like it at the catch point.
Game Tape
(Stribling is the Ole Miss wide receiver wearing number 1)
Projection
De’Zhaun Stribling projects as a developmental wide receiver with starting upside in the right situation.
Stribling will likely need a season or two of NFL coaching to hone his skill set before reaching his ceiling. Likewise, he needs to land in an offense that will both use him as a vertical threat as well as manufacture touches for him to make use of his size and speed.
Scouts will likely be (at least) intrigued with Stribling’s size and athleticism, while coaches will love the glass-chewing toughness with which he plays. Stribling’s blocking may even have been a double-edged sword from a national perspective, considering Ole Miss featured him more as a blocker than a receiver for much of the year.
Stribling could go much earlier than many are expecting, and not get out of the third round despite flying under the radar in the national media.
Does he fit the Giants? Yes
Final Word: A Day 2 value
