Why the Giants Were Correct in Passing on Quarterback in Draft

With all the resources invested by teams in the NFL draft every year, the pressure is on to get as many of the decisions correct as possible lest the people making the decisions lose their jobs.

So, when it came to the New York Giants, who faced the decision to draft a quarterback or run it back with Daniel Jones another year, the Giants took the latter approach—but only after their reported attempts to trade up to get North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye never materialized.

While the decision not to go with another quarterback angered some Giants fans, credit needs to be given to general manager Joe Schoen for holding his ground and not engaging in a knee-jerk reaction just because the player he may have wanted came off the board before he could go on the clock. 

We have seen that happen before with the Giants—does anyone remember how when Leonard Floyd and Jack Conklin, two picks heavily rumored to be Giants’ targets, came off the board in 2016 following trades ahead of New York, then general manager Jerry Reese, instead of looking to trade down, snagged cornerback Eli Apple?

Or how about in 2012, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers snagged running back Doug Martin, widely believed to have been a player of strong interest for the Giants one pick before New York was on the clock, the Giants pivoted to David Wilson.

No one has a crystal ball, and sometimes teams can get lucky when their initial plans don’t pan out. But again, for all that’s at stake in the draft, when a forced draft pick doesn’t pan out, that does no one any good, least of all the management team making the decision.

For all the praise head coach Brian Daboll receives for being a “quarterback whisperer,” if there wasn’t a Plan B after Maye went off the board, shouldn’t we give him the benefit of the doubt of knowing something the vast majority of those outside the team’s headquarters don’t?

Perhaps Daboll believes that he and his staff can continue developing not only Jones but also backups Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito into serviceable options just in case things don’t work out with Jones beyond this year and the team finds itself really needing to draft a quarterback in next year’s draft?

What it all boils down to is that the Giants have willingly put themselves in a position to continue supporting Jones. They have built up the offensive line to what will hopefully be a better version than we have seen in recent years. They added a top-flight receiver in Malik Nabers, who can draw extra attention and perhaps even allow the offense to do some things it couldn’t previously do.

The cherry on the cake would be the change in play callers, which, while not official yet, seems to be the way Daboll is leaning for the coming season.

Whether it all works out for the Giants remains to be seen, but it’s clear that the team is hedging its bets on Daboll’s feedback, which has been rather solid throughout his career to date.