Dave Gettleman has a message for Giants' fans who are criticizing him for choosing Daniel Jones with the 6th overall pick in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft: "In three years we'll find out how crazy I am." With all due respect to Gettleman, I don't think it'll take three years.
I'll say it again, there's no excuse for picking Jones at 6. The suggestion by Gettleman that there were two teams that would've drafted Jones ahead of the Giants at 17 is absurd and simply not supported by the available evidence. Apart from the Giants, there were four teams that were looking for a quarterback. The Cardinals took Kyler Murray with the number 1 pick. The Broncos identified Drew Lock as their quarterback and, after swapping first round picks with the Steelers, took him at 42 (the second round). The Redskins were clearly interested in Dwayne Haskins, and when the Giants passed on him, took him at 15. And the Dolphins were so enamored of the current crop of QBs that they were in negotiations with the Cardinals to acquire Josh Rosen, last year's overall 10th pick. Spoiler alert: the Fish got the best QB not named Murray.
I'm well aware of the fact that Gil Brandt thinks Jones is the second coming of Peyton Manning. Know what? I was convinced my Acura ILX was just a cheaper version of a BMW 328. It isn't and it never will be. But at least it isn't a Toyota Tercel. Considering Brandt has been out of football for more than three decades, I'll rely on the expertise of professionals who realize that the league has moved on from the '80s.
The fact is Gettleman committed two cardinal sins: the first is he severely overvalued Jones. Not one team or analyst had him ranked in the top ten. Most had him pegged anywhere from a late first rounder to a late second rounder. The fact that Lock, who is considered a much better passer, went at 42 is proof that the league was not overly impressed with this year's class. But the second sin might be even worse. Gettleman appears to have been bidding against himself. Like a customer who talks himself into a buying a car that he fears won't be there if he waits, Gettleman pulled the trigger sooner than he needed to, and as a result, he lost out on an opportunity to draft arguably the second best player in the draft in order to grab a player who might not start for another two to three years; a player that would've still been there at 17, perhaps even at 37.
Astonishing. A man with, as he so "eloquently" put it, such an impressive resume, ostensibly panicked and, in the process, might very well have set his team back five years or more. Compare and contrast Gettleman's draft with that of Denver's John Elway. Elway had traded for Joe Flacco during the off season, yet still felt he needed to draft a quarterback. But rather than panic, he bided his time and, on his terms, got the player he wanted at the slot he was worth. That's how you draft in this league. The first round of the draft is typically reserved for players who can make an immediate and positive impact on your team, not for projects like Jones and situational players like Dexter Lawrence.
In 1979, the Giants drafted a little known quarterback from Morehead State named Phil Simms with the 7th overall pick. Those who attended the draft were quoted as saying, "Phil who?" Seven years later "Phil Who" led the Jints to victory in Super Bowl XXI. Dave Gettleman thinks he will be vindicated the same way then GM George Young eventually was.
There's just one small problem with Gettleman's logic. Young didn't pass on someone like Josh Allen when he chose Simms. Indeed, the Bears, picking 4th, drafted Dan Hampton, one of the best defensive ends to ever play the game, and part of that vaunted 1985 Super Bowl defense that led the league. Before his career is over, Allen could well eclipse Hampton, that's how good a player he is.
Think about that, Giants fans, when Daniel Jones makes his Giants debut and Allen is already a three-time all pro.
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