While the 2024 NFL season is almost concluded, which many New York Giants fans are looking forward to moving on from, it makes us wonder if the G-Men could've prepared any differently for their centennial season at last year's draft.
While this year's rookie class, consisting of Malik Nabers, Tyler Nubin, Tyrone Tracy Jr., Dru Phillips, and Theo Johnson, has been extremely impressive, they still needed to address their most significant need for quarterback going into the season.
Big Blue took Nabers at No. 6 over JJ McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr., and Bo Nix in last year's draft in one of the most talented classes at the quarterback position, and some believe this was a mistake by the Giants. Because the Giants failed to select a quarterback, it makes this upcoming draft even more crucial for the team to take one in the first two rounds.
Brad Gagnon at Bleacher Report recently looked at six decisions from the last NFL offseason that teams should regret the most. The article listed the Giants as one of the teams that should regret not drafting a quarterback because of how bad Daniel Jones’s contract was and because they felt Nabers’s rookie season went to waste. The article states Jones barely impacted the team during his tenure with the Giants, and they needed a new quarterback over Nabers, especially since they have only won two games and are the league's lowest-scoring offense thus far.
Most alarming thing for the #Giants this year is that they passed on an NFL Draft with, while early, signs of four franchise QBs:
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) November 18, 2024
Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels & Drake Maye & Bo Nix. That's not accounting for JJ McCarthy, who might very well be that good, too.
Now they need…
Bleacher Report believes the NY Giants' should regret not drafting a QB
Gagnon believes the NY Giants should regret not drafting a QB. That sentiment is shared: last year would have been a great time to draft a franchise quarterback. The former LSU wideout has had an impressive rookie campaign with 75 receptions, 740 yards, and three touchdowns, so he's no bust by any means, but a franchise quarterback would solve so many offense-induced problems.
If there’s anything we learned from HBO's Hard Knocks, Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll were highly impressed by former North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye during the pre-draft process and NFL Combine. The team even inquired about trading up to No. 3 to take Maye, and when they realized the Patriots weren’t willing to trade, they took Nabers.
The Giants were also interested in former Michigan quarterback, J.J. McCarthy. However, they may have dodged a bullet, as he has missed the entirety of this season due to a knee injury suffered in the preseason. Still, it would have been interesting to see the Giants take a chance on former Oregon signal-caller Nix, as he has had an impressive year with the Denver Broncos.
It will be exciting to see the Giants bring in a new face under center and watch Nabers excel at a high level with a younger quarterback this offseason.
Daboll is known for developing quarterbacks after his time with the Bills, working with Josh Allen. We can expect Big Blue to pursue either Shedeur Sanders out of Colorado, Cam Ward from Miami, or Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe in this upcoming NFL Draft. All three would significantly improve the Giants’ offensive scheme.