The Giants made six picks in this NFL draft and none of them was a quarterback.
It was not for a lack of effort.
It is no secret they tried to trade up from No. 6 overall to No. 3 to obtain the Patriots’ pick in order to select Drake Maye
The Giants made a serious offer — believed to be this year’s second-round pick and their 2025 first round pick — but the Patriots did not trade out and took Maye for themselves
“For me, I said it in January after the season ended, our expectation was Daniel would be our starter and we brought Drew Lock in to be his backup and Tommy [DeVito] has been the backup,’’ general manager Joe Schoen said Saturday after the Giants were finally off the clock. “That’s where we are and that’s where we’re going to move forward into the season. Daniel’s still on contract for three more years. So, as it sits today, that’s where we are.’’
It was no surprise that the Giants were interested in taking a running back on Day 3 of the draft. It might have been a bit surprising, though, that they waited until the fifth round to jump in, taking Tyrone Tracy Jr. from Purdue.
One year ago, the Giants selected a running back in the fifth round but Eric Gray did not do much of anything as a rookie in 2023.
The Giants hope Tracy can be more productive in his first year.
This, of course, cannot be viewed as the replacement for Saquon Barkley, who, after six years with the Giants, could not come to an agreement on a new deal and ended up signing with the rival Eagles.
Tracy is a converted wide receiver, having played that position for four years at Iowa.
He transferred to Purdue and became a running back in his two remaining years in college.
After six years in school, Tracy, 24, is an older prospect. He turns 25 on Nov. 23.
The upside to this is because he spent so much time as a receiver he does not have much wear and tear on his body.
Tracy in 2023 ran for 716 yards and eight touchdowns, averaging 6.3 yards per attempt — leading the Big Ten.
His 23.1 percent explosive run rate is the best in this year’s draft class, according to Pro Football Focus, and in the 97th percentile among all prospects since 2018.
He averaged 4.44 yards after contact, tops among running backs in the draft.
He also averaged 25.5 yards on 16 kickoff returns.
Given the NFL rule change put in place to promote more returns, special teams could be a pathway for Tracy to see the field.
The Giants after Barkley’s departure signed veteran Devin Singletary to move in as a starter.
They have Gray, Gary Brightwell and Jashaun Corbin on the roster at running back. Now Tracy is added to the mix
In the sixth round, the Giants took linebacker Darius Muasau from UCLA.
He played three years at Hawaii, where his special teams coordinator was Michael Ghobrial, who is entering his first year running the special teams for the Giants
TE Theo Johnson, the Giants fourth-round pick from Penn State, said not long after hearing his name called, he received a text from Barkley, one former Nittany Lion congratulating another.
“It would have been really cool to play with him if he was still around but we’ll see how things shake out in the future,’’ Johnson said of Barkley, now with the Eagles. “I think I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
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