PFF draft analyst says New York Giants ‘went about this offseason correctly’

Before the 2024 NFL Draft, Pro Football Focus draft analyst Trevor Sikkema told Big Blue View that he thought the New York Giants were “desperate” to get a quarterback. The draft didn’t work out that way.

The Giants fell short in an effort to trade up for Drake Maye, then bypassed J.J. McCarthy at No. 6. Sikkema returned to ‘Valentine’s Views’ on the Big Blue View YouTube Channel this week to discuss that decision by GM Joe Schoen and to break down the entire draft class.

On the Giants’ ‘desperation’ at quarterback …

“When we talked about this pre-draft, me using the word ‘desperation’ I probably could have clarified a little bit better. Desperate to upgrade at quarterback, right, not necessarily desperate to get any sort of quarterback,” Sikkema said.

“The closer we got to the draft the more we hard that the Giants just weren’t as interested in McCarthy as some of these other teams. They were really interested in Drake Maye, which, to me, that was the upgrade … Clearly, they didn’t see McCarthy or [Michael] Penix or [Bo] Nix as these major upgrades. Maybe not as desperate as we once thought.”

Sikkema’s conclusion? Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll weren’t willing to bet their jobs on McCarthy.

“Taking a quarterback in the top 10, you’re putting your stamp on it,” Sikkema said. “When it doesn’t work out, sometimes the whole regime falls. You’ve got to be really sure about a guy for that to be the case.”

On drafting Malik Nabers at No. 6 …

The discussion was framed, at least partially, by my often-expressed opinion pre-draft that my favorite wide receiver was Rome Odunze, who went No. 9 to the Chicago Bears.

“I had Malik Nabers as my wide receiver two in this class. I think that both of them are fantastic but Nabers just brings an athletic edge to the table that none of these other wide receivers — even Marvin Harrison Jr. — was able to match,” Sikkema said. “Whenever you have that sort of athletic trump card in your back pocket it’s really hard for GMs and and head coaches to be able to overlook that for anybody else no matter how talented they are.”

Sikkema, of course, drew the parallel between Nabers and the Giants version of Odell Beckham Jr.

“Malik Nabers immediately becomes wide receiver one in this offense. He immediately becomes somebody who gives you a lot of yards after catch ability and it’s hard to not draw the parallels. Ten years ago, a decade ago, you draft Odell Beckham Jr. and he’s sort of that same sort of player. He just wins off of being an elite athlete and that yards after catch ability and he wins Rookie of the Year and he just has so many great moments and years with the New York Giants it’s hard to not think that you’re also going to get that out of Malik Nabers, too.”

On third-round pick Andru Phillips …

The day we spoke, Sikkema had come out with a post naming Phillips his favorite pick of Round 3. He seemed a bit surprised to be told that there was a mixed reaction to the selection of Phillips in the Giants fan base, and that there was an impression Phillips is a slot-first cornerback.

“I don’t really see him as a slot corner,” Sikkema said. “If you want to start him there because he’s a rookie and sometimes that’s what happens with rookies I guess that could be the case, but the reason why I love him so much with the Giants is I I think he’s an outside corner.

“W hen you look at his measurables, I’m looking at him right now, this is you know for just all cornerbacks in general, 31st percentile height, 39th percentile weight 42nd percentile wing span and arm length. Sure it’s below 50th percentile but it’s not like he’s incredibly small for the position. I think that he could play outside. I watched him at the Senior Bowl and in his tape at Kentucky this past year play on the outside and have a lot of success at that whether was guarding small receivers or big receivers he was up to the task. So this is somebody where I look at what he does well in his skill sets, this is a press man type of corner. I loved Deonte Banks for them last year and the fact that they get to pair Deonte Banks, who is a great press man corner, with another press man corner on the outside in Andru Phillips, to me that was what I love so much about the pick.”

On the Giants not addressing the offensive or defensive lines …

“I’m not really shocked that they didn’t draft an offensive or defensive lineman,” Sikkema said. “They spent a lot of money on getting a new offensive line in there with Jermaine Eluemunor and Jon Runyan Jr. and guys like that. You drafted John Michael Schmitz early last year. They brought in a ton of new guys on the offensive line and they the made the big trade to go get Brian Burns, so they already made their additions to the trenches.”

Overall impression of the Giants’ 2024 offseason …

“It’s hard to look at what the Giants did from a 50,000 foot view of free agency and the draft and say I don’t like what they did because instead I think it’s the opposite,” Sikkema said. “I really like what the Giants did. I think they went about this offseason correctly and I think the team got a lot better for it.”

There is a lot more worth listening to. The complete show is below: