The New York Giants did the most Giants thing during the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night: drafting the wrong quarterback. The Giants had two first round picks, the 6th and 17th overall, and decided to take a flyer on a player who shouldn’t have had his name called until the second round.
Daniel Jones, a junior out of Duke, will be the heir apparent to Eli Manning all because they shared the same collegiate coach in David Cutcliffe. For the record, the Giants had Josh Allen (no, the defensive one) on the board and with a depleted defensive team, could of made a big splash with the pick. What could the Giants have done?
Option 1: Draft a Quarterback Last Year
The 2018 NFL Draft was one littered with talented quarterbacks: Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson all being selected in the first 32 picks. The New York Giants owned the second overall pick meaning they could have had any quarterback they wanted but chose Saquon Barkley instead. General Manager Dave Gettleman said he wasn’t “in love” with any of the quarterbacks then. In a defensive-heavy 2019 draft, Gettleman decided to draft a quarterback that shouldn’t have sniffed the first round in Daniel Jones.
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Option 2: Trade for Josh Rosen
This is the situation I expected to happen. Kyler Murray was drafted first overall to the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals already had a quarterback they selected 10th overall last year in Josh Rosen. Both quarterbacks cannot be on the roster and the Giants have a gaping hole at the quarterback spot in a couple of years.
Rosen seems like he would fit the mold, good thrower with the ability to move around in the pocket. However, the trade never happened. It takes two to tango and the Cardinals could’ve declined a potential deal but if the Giants trade the 17th pick for Rosen, a deal that Arizona would’ve taken, they could’ve had Josh Allen with the 6th and Josh Allen and looked like geniuses. However, the Cards didn’t move Rosen as of this writing.
Option 3: Draft Dwayne Haskins
The story writes itself: Haskins is a Highland Park, New Jersey native who grew up a Giants fan coming in and bringing the franchise back to the Super Bowl. He put up the numbers to prove he was worth it with 50 touchdowns in 2018 at Ohio State University. Urban Meyer, his coach at OSU, said that he believes Haskins will be ready to lead a franchise in two or three years, the timeline Eli Manning could have before he decides to retire.
Instead, the Washington Redskins drafted him at 15 and even laughed at the decision to draft Jones over him. Now Haskins has a chip on his shoulder when the Giants go to the Nation’s capital or they visit Metlife. Gettleman may need for Jones to be the next Eli Manning or might be on the unemployment line.
I’m a numbers guy, the statistics prove what the talent is. Daniel Jones completed 60 percent of his passes last year at Duke. That isn’t going to get it done, especially in the Big Apple. He threw for 22 touchdowns, fewer than Haskins or Drew Lock.
Congratulations Giants fans, you now have the fourth best quarterback in your division for the next decade.
