Breaking Down the 2020 NFL Draft

Before I get around to the winners and the losers, let's give it up for the NFL. The 2020 draft went off without a hitch. Based on the beta test they did on Monday, there was plenty to worry about. Also, more than 15 million people tuned in Thursday night to watch the first round, a draft record. Don't tell me this country doesn't love sports. Though to be honest, with pretty much the whole country on "lockdown," I'm not that surprised at the ratings. There are only so many re-runs you can watch before you lose your mind.

Now onto the draft. Several things stood out. For starters, there were a shitload of offensive tackles taken in the first round. Six overall, with four of them going in the first 13 picks. What that told me was 1. There were a lot of exceptional tackles; and 2. Contrary to past drafts, a lot of teams went with need over best available player on the board.

Secondly, this was one of the deepest drafts that I can recall in quite some time. There were genuine steals as deep as the fourth and fifth rounds that in past years would've been taken much sooner. Clearly, it was a very good collegiate year.

So who were the winners? As much as it pains me to admit, the Cowboys had the best draft from start to finish. They ended up with the best overall wide receiver - CeeDee Lamb - at 17, the second best corner - Trevon Diggs - at 51, their next starting center - Tyler Bladasz - at 146, and a promising defensive end - Bradlee Anae - at 179. Clearly, Mike McCarthy did his homework. I haven't seen Jerry Jones smile that much since the '90s.

Another winner was the Carolina Panthers. For the first time in the modern draft, a team devoted all its picks to one side of the ball. After finishing near the bottom of the league defensively, Matt Rhule decided to do something about it, and boy did he ever. He chose Derrick Brown, the best defensive tackle in the draft, Yetur Gross-Matos, an outstanding defensive end, Jeremy Chinn, the second best safety in the draft and corner back Troy Pride. John Mara should never have let him get away.

The biggest losers? Guess. I'd give a month's worth of unemployment insurance payments just to have had the pleasure of listening in on the phone call Matt LaFleur made to Aaron Rodgers after he took Jordan Love with the 24th pick in the first round. Not only didn't he address a major need on a team that was one game shy of going to the Super Bowl, he actually traded up for a player that might never start a game for the Packers. Hey, Dave Gettleman haters, cheer up, at least your GM didn't pull a boner like this.

Speaking of Big Blue, they had a good, but not great, draft. The first two picks were exceptional. As expected, Gettleman chose an offensive tackle with the fourth pick. While most thought the top two tackles were Tristan Wirfs and Jedrick Wills, Getteman went with Andrew Thomas of Georgia. Frankly there wasn't much daylight between these three, so I'm good with Thomas. According to the poop sheets, he was the most pro ready, whatever the hell that means. Plus, he's a natural left tackle, which means Nate Solder's days as a Giant are numbered.

Xavier McKinney was a steal at 36. He was the best safety in the draft. The only reason he was still on the board was because there was a run on tackles and wide receivers in the first round. Unfortunately, thanks to the Leonard Williams trade with the Jets, the Giants didn't have another pick until 99 - late in the third round. That meant they lost out on a several outstanding players like Zack Baun, an outside linebacker who recorded 12.5 sacks as a senior at Wisconsin. Instead, they took Matt Peart, another tackle. A good player but likely not a starter. Two rounds later, Gettleman took guard Shane Lemieux. Clearly, the offensive line was his top priority, as was the secondary.

Overall, I'd give the Jints a B+. They addressed two major concerns, but sadly did not land the pass rusher the team has needed ever since it sent Jason Pierre-Paul packing. And in this throw-first, run-second NFL, a team without a pass rusher is a team destined to lose, and lose is what the Giants have been doing a lot of lately; in fact, they've made the post-season once in the last seven years - 2016. Not coincidentally, that was there last winning season.

It's too early to tell whether these picks will significantly improve the Giants' fortunes. No doubt, Thomas will give Daniel Jones the time he needs to complete more of his passes and provide Saquon Barkley with the holes he needs to become the all-pro running back he is. McKinney will shore up a pass defense that was 30th in the league last year. And the free agent signings Gettlemann made during the off season will certainly help a team that went 4-12 in 2019.

Do I feel better now than I did going into Thursday's draft? Yes, but I'll reserve my judgment until I see tangible evidence that the coaching staff Gettleman has assembled is up to the task of transforming this team from a perennial loser to a playoff contender.

Rhuled Out. Giants Go With Plan C

Me: Hey did you hear the Giants hired Judge to be their head coach?

Friend: You mean Aaron Judge is gonna be the Giants head coach? How's he gonna do that and play for the Yankees?

Me: No, you dunce, not Aaron Judge, Joe Judge.

Friend: Who the fuck is Joe Judge?

Me: Right.

Seriously, how bad do you have to be to go 0 fer on three top tier coaches that you knew were qualified to be the next head coach of your franchise? You want to give the Giants a mulligan for not getting Ron Rivera? I'm fine with that. Rivera was fired during the season and the Giants didn't fire Pat Shurmur until after the season. For all we know Dan Snyder might've been in contact with Rivera for several weeks.

But how do you explain not making an offer to a coach like Mike McCarthy, who's won a Super Bowl, been to another NFC championship game and who coached two hall of fame quarterbacks when you had him in your building and you knew his next stop was Dallas? And once you knew that McCarthy was taken, how do you justify not moving up your interview with a coach who's turned around two moribund college programs? There's no excuse for giving the Carolina Panthers first dibs on Matt Rhule, especially when everyone under the sun knew he was your top choice.

Look, t's possible Joe Judge turns out to be the next Bill Belichick; he did spend the last eight seasons with the Patriots, and before that three seasons with Nick Saban at Alabama. You don't get a job with either of those two men if you don't have something going for you. But being a good special teams coach is one thing; being a good head coach is quite another. Ben McAdoo was going to be the guru that revived Eli Manning's career. Shurmur was the adult in the room. Both are unemployed.

Since their last Super Bowl championship, the Giants have had exactly two winning seasons: 2012 and 2016; the latter a wild card playoff appearance that ended in a drubbing at Green Bay. What they needed was an established coach with a proven track record that could put the franchise back on an even keel; a reset, if you will. What they've done is taken another gamble that could set them back two or more years, depending on how long Judge's leash is. And given that they have a promising young quarterback in Daniel Jones and a stud running back in Saquon Barkley that would be nothing short of malpractice. John Mara better pray this move pans out.

One thing the Giants can and must do in order to give Judge a fighting chance is equip him with good assistants. Supposedly, he's been given the authority to hire his own. But one thing is certain: he won't be calling the plays like Shurmur did. Maybe Judge can entice Josh McDaniels to be his offensive coordinator, especially since the only other head coaching vacancy in the NFL right now belongs to the Cleveland Browns: a team so dysfunctional, they make the Giants look like the 49ers of the Bill Walsh era. McDaniels might opt to leave the relative comfort and safety of the Patriots for the chance to develop Jones into an elite QB. But if McDaniels isn't interested, Norv Turner would be an ideal choice.

For defensive coordinator, I'd go with either Wade Phillips or Steve Spagnuolo. With the exception of Belichick and Tom Landry, Spags was the best defensive coordinator the franchise ever had. Because he's currently under contract with the Chiefs, the Giants would have to wait until they were either eliminated or went on to win the Super Bowl.

But regardless of who Judge chooses to staff this team, Dave Gettleman is going to have to do a much better job of getting him the horses he needs to compete than he did with Shurmur. The offensive line was a problem all year long and the secondary was among the worst in the league. With over $60 million in cap space available to spend, the Jints have some giant holes to fill.

Am I overreacting here? Perhaps. Maybe this works out in the end. Maybe Judge turns out to be a pretty damn good head coach. After all, John Harbaugh was a special teams coach and we all know what happened with him. Then again, maybe Judge turns out to be the next Ray Handley.

Knowing this team the way I do, I have a nagging feeling it'll be the latter.

Gettleman Can't Afford To Screw Up This Next Decision

The question was never whether Pat Shurmur deserved to be fired; the question was why he was ever hired in the first place. With the possible exception of Ray Handley and Ben McAdoo, no Giants head coach was more in over his head than Shurmur. He's proof positive that not ever assistant coach turns out to be a Bill Belichick.

And that's why Dave Gettleman's next decision - naming his replacement - is the most important one he's made since he became GM. I won't mince words here. Gettleman should've been shown the door along with Shurmur on Monday. He's as much to blame for the sorry state this franchise is in as his sad sack of a head coach; more so, since he was the one who hired him and then saddled him with least talented bunch of players this side of Miami.

But the fact is John Mara didn't want to pull the trigger, so Gettleman gets one more shot to get this right. And for the sake of Big Blue, he'd better not screw it up. If he does, the organization might never recover.

Now that Ron Rivera has signed with the Redskins and Jerry Jones seems unwilling to fire Jason Garrett - go figure - there are several intriguing candidates the Giants could consider. I'll go through them in order of preference.

Mike McCarthy. The former Green Bay head coach guided the Packers to a Super Bowl title in the 2010 season and the best record in the NFC the following year before getting upset by the Giants in the divisional round. He has the experience and temperament needed to turn this franchise around and his no-nonsense approach will bring badly needed discipline to the locker room. He employs a west-coast offense, so if he's hired you can expect that Saquon Barkley will see a lot of play-action passes. The only red flag is his relationship with Aaron Rodgers. It led to his firing.

Matt Rhule. Currently the head coach at Baylor, he's turned around two programs and got his team all the way to the Sugar Bowl this year before losing to Georgia. The smart money is on him, but he's on record as saying he plans on remaining at Baylor. At least he has some head coaching experience, and he does know the organization having been offensive line coach under Tom Coughlin in 2012.

Josh McDaniels. He bailed on the Colts two years ago after agreeing to be their head coach, so any potential suitor would do well to be wary of hiring him. Still, as Patriots' offense coordinator, he does have a pretty impressive resume. Yes, Tom Brady is in a league of his own, but even the best need good coaching.

I think it'll come down to McCarthy or Rhule, and if I were a betting man, I'd put my money on Rhule. He's from New York and he's more of a teacher than McCarthy, something that will help with a young team. Either way, the Giants will wind up with a very good coach who hopefully will restore this franchise to the lofty heights it once enjoyed.