The 2022 NFL Draft begins Thursday, and the NY Giants will make two selections within the first hour of the draft. With nine picks in this year’s draft, it’s undeniable that this upcoming Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, will help determine the timetable for the Giants’ return to contention.
When Giants owners, John Mara and Steve Tisch, decided to go out to Western New York and hire Joe Schoen as general manager and Brian Daboll as head coach, their fourth hire in seven years, it was for two distinct reasons: Schoen’s scouting acumen and Daboll’s innate ability for Player Development.
In his five years in Buffalo, Schoen helped both scout and draft many productive NFL players including Tre’Davious White, Josh Allen, Tremaine Edmunds, Wyatt Teller, Dawson Knox, Ed Oliver, Spencer Brown, and Gregory Rousseau. In his four years in Buffalo, Daboll made Josh Allen, a quarterback who looked lost in his rookie year, into arguably one of the league’s best quarterbacks and a perennially MVP candidate.
Since Dave Gettleman drove the Giants’ ship into an iceberg, leaving holes at every position on the roster, Schoen and Daboll have their work cut for them to stop the ship from sinking. This work starts with the 2022 NFL Draft. Here are five predictions for the Giants’ 2022 draft class
The NY Giants will not trade back in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft
There are two main reasons why the Giants will not trade down. Firstly, there simply will not be a suitable trade partner. This is a very hard draft to find a trade partner looking to move up because there are not a lot of quarterback-needy teams.
There are also no quarterbacks worthy of a top 10 selection. The three teams most in need of a quarterback are the Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, and Seattle Seahawks, but all three of these teams already pick into the top 10 and it is unlikely any would feel inclined to trade just to move up a couple of spots.
It also seems unlikely, as of now, that any of them will draft quarterbacks. The New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers are the two other teams who need quarterbacks. Both of these teams pick later in Round 1.
It is highly likely that the quarterbacks these two teams are targeting will drop right to them. Therefore, there would be no need to bid against themselves if they were even inclined to draft a quarterback. While teams trade up for more than just quarterbacks, it is unlikely any team would offer the type of capital Schoen is likely looking for to draft a non-quarterback.
The second reason is that the Giants need blue-chip talent. Currently picking at five and seven, the Giants are slated to add two of Aidan Hutchinson, Travon Walker, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Sauce Gardner, Derek Stingley Jr., Charles Cross, Ikem Ekonwu, and Evan Neal.
The offensive line, defensive back, and pass rusher are the Giants’ three biggest needs and Schoen will not want to turn down the opportunity to add two franchise building blocks, day one starters. Schoen preached in his opening press conference about his desire to build the core of the Giants roster through the draft, and there is no better way to start that process than by drafting two blue-chip prospects.