WE HAD TO DO IT!
Gettleman insists Jones would have been off board before Giants picked again at 17
Dave Gettleman claims there were two NFL teams prepared to draft Duke quarterback Daniel Jones between the Giants’ sixth and 17th overall picks in Thursday’s first round.
That’s why he took Jones at six.
“I know for a fact there were two teams that would have taken him in front of 17,” Gettleman said Saturday when the draft ended. “I know that for a fact. It’s tough, it really is. It wasn’t easy for me to pass on (Kentucky edge) Josh Allen. It wasn’t. For me, you know my background, that was very, very difficult. But I think that much of Daniel Jones and his future as an NFL quarterback.”
Gettleman’s assertion is dubious, though Pat Shurmur assured it was accurate. Neither would reveal which teams.
“Come on now,” Gettleman said. “I can’t do that. But you know I’m an honorable man that tells the truth.”
No matter. The reality is Gettleman added some intriguing talent and depth to the roster with 10 picks on the weekend — including six on Saturday — but it only will matter if Jones becomes what he was drafted to be.
Gettleman placed a clear emphasis on defense this weekend, giving coordinator James Bettcher seven new players including three cornerbacks: Georgia’s Deandre Baker, Notre Dame’s Julian Love, and Washburn’s Corey Ballentine.
The GM made his Giants faster with Ballentine and Auburn receiver Darius Slayton. He found hard-nosed, high-character potential contributors like Wisconsin LB Ryan Connelly and Kentucky OT George Asafo-Adjei.
He pounded the defensive front with Clemson DT Dexter Lawrence, Old Dominion edge Oshane Ximines and Syracuse DT Chris Slayton.
A group of rookies may never have a better chance of cracking the Giants’ 53-man roster, given the state of this stripped-down, 5-11 team.
“I thought we had a real quality draft,” Gettleman said after Saturday’s seventh round closed, “and time will tell.”
Gettleman’s gambles at the top of the draft, though, will define his tenure in New York. His overpayment in a trade up from 37 to 30 to get Baker continued to be a bit of a headscratcher on Saturday, as the Giants watched corners fall to great value spots in Love (fourthround) and Ballentine (sixthround).
He got a fifth-year on Baker’s contract if he wants it as a first round pick, but plenty of solid corners were still there at the Giants’ original secondround pick at 37 if they’d stayed put.
The biggest question mark, though, is if Gettleman slipped while walking the “tightrope” between winning now and planning ahead by taking a young QB early who can’t help this team in 2019.
John Mara, Steve Tisch, Gettleman and Shurmur clearly believe they can win this coming season and are determined to try to do so. Allen would have helped them do that.
Jones’ addition keeps the Giants teetering in between two directions, firing a warning shot past Eli Manning that the end is near while simultaneously asking him to lead them to victory.
Gettleman wouldn’t say anything about the WFAN report that Manning had cancelled his weekly radio spot because he’s upset and sees the writing on the wall.
“I’m not gonna respond to that. Come on, now,” Gettleman said while laughing. A PR spokesman interjected that Gettleman wasn’t even aware of the radio report.
One clear positive of the weekend was that the Giants’ roster of picks is filled with leaders, young men grateful to be drafted, emotional about their dreams coming true.
“Oh my gosh,” the Bronxborn Asafo-Adjei said. “I feel like the luckiest man in the world. I am truly blessed. I’m just at a loss for words right now.”
“These are the kinds of kids we wanna bring in here: smart, intelligent kids who hate to lose,” Gettleman said. “I think this was an especially unique group. We put blues (a high color-coded grade) on these kinds of guys, and we had a draft where it was almost completely blue. That’s what you want to build around.”
Despite adding a ton of corners, Gettleman indicated this was not to replace Janoris Jenkins. He wants Jackrabbit to be a mentor.
“Janoris has a bunch of puppies he’s gotta train,” the GM said. “He’ll become a good teacher,” Shurmur added.
Where the Giants still have a lot more work to do, though, is on the offensive line. Gettleman came up light there in this draft, and Manning needs a right tackle. The GM said he’ll bring free agent Mike Remmers back in for another visit as he recovers from back surgery.
There’s also a question of whether they added enough pass-rushing help here with just Ximines and size on the interior. That is where drafting Allen really would have made a huge difference.
Gettleman and Shurmur thought it was more important to land the quarterback, though, and to use their most expensive asset to do it.
So was it a “quality draft,” as Gettleman said in its immediate aftermath, due to the addition of many encouraging players? Time will tell. It will depend on Jones.