The third day of the NFL Draft is always an interesting one for the prospects still on the board, as they have one final day to wait through to see if their dreams of being drafted will come true or not. And once the seventh round begins, many players have to pivot to finding their best fit as an undrafted free agent.

So just imagine being in Tae Crowder's shoes.

The Giants selected Crowder, the Georgia linebacker, with the 255th and final pick of the draft, making him this year's "Mr. Irrelevant."

Just as it seemed like Crowder and his agent were going to have to decide which team to sign with, the Giants swooped in at the last moment and made Crowder the final player drafted in 2020.

"It was a crazy moment, you know. It was really stressful," Crowder said on a teleconference call with the media on Wednesday. "A lot of teams were kind of saying the same things. It came down to who I thought was the best. But New York was one of them and they ended up pulling the trigger. I just thank God for that.

"It was crazy just because I was already planning on signing for free agency. That whole process, I can't even explain how it felt but my family was happy, I was happy and that's all that matters. … It's pretty special for me and my family. We'll have fun with (being the final pick)."

Crowder's whirlwind draft day was a fitting ending, in a way, to his winding college career.

The 6-foot-3, 253-pound linebacker from Pine Mountain, Ga., was originally committed to Georgia Southern as a wide receiver and running back, but ended up getting an offer from Georgia as a running back just days before National Signing Day.

During his freshman season with the Bulldogs, Crowder found himself buried on a deep running back depth chart, and a coach suggested that the best way to get him on the field would be a switch to linebacker.

"I was just on scout team at practice, just working hard, and my coach ended up noticing it just going against the No. 1 defense, making plays, he saw that I was an athlete and that I should be on the field," Crowder explained. "He reached out to me, we had a meeting, and he was like he sees me as a linebacker and stuff like that, as a defensive player. We just had a one-day tryout, and at that tryout I ended up doing pretty good and I stayed there from then."

The versatile Crowder was the second Georgia Bulldog drafted by the Giants this year, with tackle Andrew Thomas going to Big Blue as the fourth overall pick.

Crowder knows Thomas very well from all the times they faced off in practice, and he said he'd rather be running behind him as a back than having to try to get by him as a defender.

"Andrew Thomas is a great player, a great person. He takes his work serious, he's just a great kid," said Crowder. "Football and off the field stuff is really important to him, and I respect him for that. I loved each day at practice in college just going to work with him, helping him lead the team and stuff like that."

Video: Dave Gettleman and Joe Judge talk drafting defense

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