What Will The New York Giants Do With The 2nd Overall Pick?

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Offseason Project: Rebuild The Giants

With the first major change in the front office in over a decade, Dave Gettleman has taken the reigns as General Manager of the New York Football Giants. Gettleman’s first responsibility is hiring a new head coach. Currently, the rumor is Pat Shurmur, Vikings Offensive Coordinator. Shurmur has a solid track record of working miracles with mediocre Quarterbacks (Keenum, Bradford, Foles). Not to mention, his 9-23 record while coaching the Cleveland Browns in 2011 and 2012, isn’t half bad compared to how the franchise has been playing lately.

For the purposes of this article Schurmur is destined as the Giants next head coach and supports the assertion that the Giants take a QB in the first round.

Gettleman has already begun removing the bad blood, aka “the cancers” from the roster he inherited, starting with OT Bobby Hart, and with good reason. Hart was a liability, grading 82nd out of 87 offensive tackles in the league according to Pro Football Focus. Geoff Schwartz (former OL), explained via Twitter, “Gettleman isn’t playing. Clearing out locker room cancers.” Schwartz and Gettleman were proven right, as Hart decided to put it upon himself to look foolish in responding to that tweet, later deleting it. It is probably safe to say Hart won’t be in the NFL anytime soon.

Two other young players of the Reese era, CB Eli Apple and OT Ereck Flowers are on the bubble. Flowers, 2015 1st round pick, seems destined to be cut this offseason and would have been already if it wasn’t for cap ramifications. A human turnstile, Flowers reportedly, “checked himself out” during the last week of the season.

Apple, 2016 1st round pick, is a different story. He has endured a rough season, after showing promise a year ago. He was publicly called a “cancer” by upcoming Giants leader, Landon Collins. Collins later apologized and thinks Apple needs to get past the mental hardships that the pro game presents. It’s been reported in November that Apple’s mother underwent brain surgery, which for any young individual is tough to go through. Gettleman and Apple recently had a 1-on-1, with Gettleman proclaiming that Apple, has a “clean slate”. It seems Eli Apple is safe for now.

Gettleman is continuing to put his stamp on the 2018 roster, but three more phases of the off-season need to occur. Hiring a new head coach and coaching staff, 2018 Free Agency, and the NFL Draft in April, all of which are critical to making this roster competitive again for the foreseeable future.

The New York Football Giants are locked in at the 2nd pick of the 2018 NFL Draft.

The Giants have multiple needs at key positions that need to be addressed/upgraded including; OL, QB, LB, WR, DB, and RB. According to OverTheCap.com, the Giants have $23,394,235 in cap space in 2018 before any further roster cuts or trades. Also, depending on Odell Beckham Jr’s rehab, he will likely be paid as one of the top WRs in the league. From the current 2017 roster, multiple players are slated to be free agents, including Shane Vereen, D.J. Fluker, Justin Pugh, Weston Richburg, Geno Smith, Ross Cockrell, Orleans Darkwa, Jay Bromley, Tavares King, and Devon Kennard, among others!

As for the draft, there are three potential scenarios for the Giants:

Option 1: Take Top QB Prospect to Succeed Eli Manning

There are three Quarterbacks that fit what the Giants look for:

Sam Darnold: 6’4”, 225 lbs. Completed 63%, 4143 yards, 26 TD/13 INT

• Pros: Anticipation, Accuracy, Arm Strength
• Cons: Decision making – Turnovers!

Josh Rosen: 6′ 4”, 210 lbs. Completed 63%, 3717 yards, 26 TD/10 INT

• Pros: Pocket Passer, Strong Arm, Experience Under Center
• Cons: Attitude, Durability

Baker Mayfield: 6′ 2”, 214 lbs. Completed 71%, 4627 yards, 43 TD/6 INT

• Pros: Anticipation, Leadership
• Cons: Attitude, Arm Strength

Even if all QB prospects are available, the skillset that historically fits the Giants (Eli, Sims, Collins, etc.) would be Josh Rosen, but I honestly believe that Baker Mayfield is the best QB in this class and who the Giants should take.

Option 2: Best Player Available (BPA)

The good old BPA that Gettleman loves! Let’s say the Giants top QB prospect is taken at #1, who is the best player in this draft. Gettleman can fall in love with RB, Saquon Barkley from Penn State. Let’s just take a quick look at his production over the past two seasons.

• In 2016 he compiled 1,496 rushing yards on 272 carries and 18 TDs (average of 5.5 yards/carry) and added 28 Receptions for 402 yards and 4 TDs.
• In 2017 he compiled 1,271 rushing yards on 217 carries and 18 TDs (average of 5.9 yards/carry) and added 54 receptions for 632 yards 3 TDs.

The overall expert consensus is he is a generational talent which I cannot argue. However, based on the shelf life of RBs and the teams’ current needs, I think the Giants will pass on Barkley this April.

Option 3: Trade Back

The last and potentially most favorable scenario for the Giants is trading back. Looking back at recent drafts when two potential franchise quarterbacks fell in the same draft, Luck/RG3, and Goff/Wentz, teams have been known to make drastic moves to get them. We can use the Mitchell Trubisky trade to gauge the value of the #2 pick. Last year the Bears moved up from #3 to #2 for Trubisky and paid the 49ers the price of pick #3, 3rd round (#67), and 4th round (#111), that’s quite a haul for one spot. That’s what teams pay when they view a prospect as their franchise QB.

So who could be targeting #2 this year? Well, how about the Broncos or Jets at 5th and 6th pick respectively? With the Colts picking 3rd and the Browns 1st and 4th, the Giants could still conceivably land Mayfield at 5th or 6th. Maybe the Broncos or Jets view Mayfield over Rosen and as a result, Rosen or even Darnold falls to #5. Either way, the Giants need to find value in each and every selection and to maximize that possibility they would benefit greatly from cashing in on the 2nd pick for a larger haul in the later rounds!

Love to hear your thoughts, what should the Giants do with the 2nd overall pick?