New York Giants passed on second-tier QBs because of draft grades

By many accounts, the New York Giants came into the 2024 NFL draft hoping to land a new franchise quarterback to unseat Daniel Jones.

They apparently had their eyes set on one player — North Carolina’s Drake Maye — and were willing to trade up to obtain him. Unfortunately, the teams at the top of the draft were not budging. Maye was eventually selected third overall by the New England Patriots.

Many thought the Giants would then look elsewhere, such as Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr. of Washington or Oregon’s Bo Nix.

Nothing doing. They passed on all three in the first round and would not get a chance at any of them in Round 2 as they were all gone by the 12th overall pick.

As the draft went on, it was thought that general manager Joe Schoen might add a “quarterback of the future” to develop (as the Jets did with Jordan Travis), but Jordan Raanan of ESPN reports none had a high enough grade for him to use a draft pick on.

When Patriots owner Robert Kraft said at the NFL’s annual meetings last month that “one way or another, I’d like to see us get a top-rate, young quarterback,” that should have been a sign. The teams with the first three picks — the Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders and Patriots — were going to land Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Maye, the top three quarterbacks in this draft.

At that point, Plan A for general manager Joe Schoen and Co. was to stay at No. 6 and select explosive LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers, which they did. The Giants didn’t have high enough grades on the second tier of quarterbacks — J.J. McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix — and grabbed a No. 1 receiver, which Jones has never had.

After the draft, Schoen — trying not to look defeated — reminded reporters of what he told them a few months back.

“Yeah, for me, I said it in January after the season. The expectation was Daniel would be our starter and we brought Drew Lock in to be his backup and Tommy (DeVito) has been the backup,” Schoen said. “So that’s where we are and that’s how we’ll move forward this season. Daniel is still under contract for three more years.

“As it sits today, that is where we are.”

Instead, the Giants used their six picks to fill in immediate needs. They grabbed a top playmaker for Jones in the first round in LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers and then addressed holes in the secondary on Day 2 with Minnesota safety Tyler Nubin and Kentucky cornerback Andru Phillips.

The final three picks were spent on a tight end (Penn State’s Theo Johnson), a running back/wide receiver/returner (Purdue’s Tyrone Tracy), and a linebacker (Darius Muasau of UCLA).

The swing-and-miss for a new franchise quarterback won’t really hurt the team in the short term. But after this season, with Jones’ contact winding down to the point where they can equitably part ways, Schoen will have to hit on that big deal.