Trade for Bama TE? No way, no Howard
Should the Giants have tried to trade up in the first round of the NFL Draft to get O.J. Howard?
Did they even make the attempt?
“No,’’ general manager Jerry Reese said Thursday night, a few minutes after sticking with the Giants’ pick at No. 23 to take Evan Engram, a tight end from Mississippi.
Now, Reese was not going to lay out his strategy for all to hear and analyze. Even if he did try to move up a few spots in the first round, he was not going to reveal that for public consumption. Given the way the selections came off the board, though, a trade-up certainly became more appealing than anyone anticipated it might be.
All that noise that Howard was vaulting up the draft board? It turned out to be just that: noise. Tight ends have been taken in the top 10 only twice in the history of the draft — Kellen Winslow Jr. and Vernon Davis were both No. 6 picks — but a few prognosticators slated Howard as possibly going in the top five.
That did not come close to happening. Howard slid out of the top 10 and kept right on falling. Finally, at No. 19, the Buccaneers made Howard the first tight end off the board, four picks before the Giants.
Moving up in the first round is always a risk, considering the price tag. As Howard slipped, though, the Giants should have been considering their options. The way it turned out, had they moved up to get Howard, all it would have cost them was this year’s third-round pick, the 87th overall selection.
NFL general managers use a value chart to determine the cost of moving up and the reward for moving down in the draft. Each pick in each round is assigned a certain number of points; to make a trade, the points must even out. The 23rd pick in the first round is worth 760 points.
Once Howard began dropping close to them, the Giants could have tried to get up to No. 18, where the Titans eventually selected cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. Clearly, the Titans were not interested in a tight end. The 18th pick is worth 900 points, so a trade up would have cost the Giants 140 points, which is the assigned value of the No. 90 overall pick, late in the third round. The Giants own the 87th overall pick, valued at 155 points. That would have satisfied the 140-point discrepancy — if the Titans were interested.
Given how the Giants have fared recently in the third round, jettisoning a pick would not have been extremely painful. They swung and missed in the third round on Ramses Barden, Jerrel Jernigan, Jayron Hosley and Damontre Moore, with the jury still out on Jay Bromley and Darian Thompson, whose rookie year was lost because of injury.
This is Reese’s 11th year as general manager, and he has yet to make a trade in the first round. He prefers to wait out the first round and is not inclined to overvalue one player over another. He takes the emotion out of it and does not fall in love with certain players, which is usually the way to get your heart broken. As a former scout, he also despises giving away draft picks, though two years ago he rolled the dice in the second round, trading up to get safety Landon Collins, which is one of those moves you put at the top of your résumé.