Marc Ross, now an NFL Network analyst, believes the Giants will be aggressive in their pursuit of a quarterback.
Former New York Giants Vice President of Player Evaluation Marc Ross, now an NFL Network analyst, believes the Giants, who hold the sixth overall pick in the draft, aren’t in range to draft one of the top quarterbacks.
However, Ross believes the Giants are in the best position to trade up in the draft to select a top signal-caller if they’re willing to be aggressive enough to do so.
“It’s all about the quarterbacks,” Ross said. “We’ve talked about those four (Drake Maye, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and J.J. McCarthy), but there’s a couple of other dudes in there, Bo Nix, [and] Michael Penix Jr., who teams may have in their top four, top three. I guarantee you all 32 teams have these quarterbacks ranked differently. That being said, I’m looking at the Giants at number six because they’re right there in striking range.”
The Giants’ popular pick in many mocks has been one of the top three wide receivers: Malik Nabers, Marvin Harrison Jr., and Rome Odunze. If, as many draft analysts predict, four quarterbacks go within the first five picks, the Giants should all but certainly be guaranteed a choice of the top wide receivers.
But there are still other analysts who believe that, given the question marks surrounding Daniel Jones, who, in addition to recovering from a torn ACL, has had two neck injuries in the last three years, the Giants should prioritize quarterback in the first round of what’s a historically deep quarterback class.
“It’s like musical chairs; only so many chairs available,” Ross said. “If the Giants want one of those four guys, they must make a move. Daniel Jones, we know, I think there’s been plenty of sample size to see that he’s not the guy to get them over the hump, coming off the ACL [injury]. He has been injured. (Head coach) Brian Daboll and (general manager) Joe Schoen may slightly be on the hot seat.”
Last year, the Giants gave Jones a hefty four-year, $160 million contract with an escape hatch after this season. But both Schoen and Daboll have insisted that Jones is expected to be the starter once he is medically cleared from his ACL procedure/rehab.
But neither man is saying if Jones is the long-term answer or just a placeholder. Given his cap hit, they cannot move on from him this year, and drafting a rookie would likely result in that player sitting for most, if not all, of the upcoming season.
Drafting a top quarterback would put him on a rookie deal, which, after this year, if the Giants were to move on, Jones, they could re-set their roster, rebuild, and invest money into other areas of need on their roster.
Giants co-owner John Mara told reporters at the league meeting that he’s fine with Schoen and Daboll doing whatever it takes to get a quarterback if they fall in love with one. Ross believes that speaks volumes about where Jones stands with the team.
Selecting a quarterback would also allow Daboll to develop his guy from the ground up rather than continue force-feeding Jones, whose limitations may or may not be a concern for the team moving forward.
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