EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – After a one-year hiatus from having a top 10 draft pick, the Giants have stumbled back to their place with the NFL’s bottom dwellers. The Giants have lucky pick #6, which is the same spot where they got Daniel Jones in 2019, and the pick in between the spots they took Evan Neal (#7) and Kayvon Thibodeaux (#5) in 2022. There are a lot of directions they can go this time around, with a lot of holes on the roster. The biggest decision is what to do with the $40 million dollar QB. Let’s look at some options.
Sit Tight with Dimes
There are at least six studs on the board, so the Giants can be sure to get a guy with a lot of upside. Tackle and wide receiver, two positions that land right in the Giants’ wheelhouse of need, have big time players waiting for Big Blue to call.
Get Jones some line help or a top WR, sign a veteran QB, and hope for the best from Jones.
Best Available QB
With the Bears seeming likely to take Caleb Williams and the Commanders and Patriots picking next, the top 3 QBs seem likely to be off the board. What are the Giants to do if they’ve given up on Jones?
Michigan’s JJ McCarthy is getting buzz and supposedly moving up some boards. The Giants could reach for him here, but I doubt it. Reaching for a QB at 6 is why we’re in this mess. Ducking Gettleman, in “full blown love.” Let’s move on.
Trade Up
A lot of people want the Giants to trade up and grab a top QB. But how? The Pats and Commanders seem unlikely to trade down and pass on a QB, and the Bears want a/an “historic” haul for the top pick. If the Giants wanted a top pick they shouldn’t have won meaningless games.
Nix and Penix Envy
Wait until the second round and hope Penix falls due to his injury history and age. It could happen. That’s probably not a winning strategy though. Or trade down and try to grab him or Bo Nix later in the first?
Bargain Bin
Bring in someone like Jimmy Garoppolo or Captain Kirk Cousins, or trade for Justin Fields. These possibilities are highly unlikely for cap and other reasons. They’ll probably be shopping in the Deep Bargain Binfor someone like Jacoby Brissett or Gardner Minshew to provide Jones injury insurance.
Final Thoughts
In my opinion, they need to prepare to move on from Jones. I used to be one of those “but he has no protection or receivers” apologists. But he was outplayed by Tyrod Taylor and some guy named Tommy DeVito. Those guys played behind the same sh!tty line, throwing the ball to the same sh!try receivers. They structured his contract so they could get out of it next year without too much dead money/cap pain. That was wise. The time for deceiving ourselves is over.
But they’re in a tough spot. The Giants have too many holes to give up a truckload of assets to move up. That would set them back a decade. They have glaring needs on the line, receiver, and edge, not to mention running back and safety, if Saquon and McKinney bounce.
If it were me, I’d probably just stay put and take one of the three big receivers. The line is probably their bigger need but I don’t think they have the stomach to draft another lineman this early. Drafting the same position year after year means you keep failing at it. Look for them to make a big splash in free agency on the line, draft another guy later in the draft, and hope the new O-line coach can fix Neal.
There you have it. Come back tomorrow for Angry Ward.
