Drake Maye this, Drake Maye that. Yes, we know that the NY Giants were trying to trade up with the New England Patriots at No. 3 to land the North Carolina superstar. However, there were other quarterbacks high on the board of Brian Daboll.
Via Hard Knocks, we got another close-up look at what the staff was thinking in terms of the draft. There's a teaser for Episode 4 (seen below) where general manager Joe Schoen asks Daboll if he had seen enough out of Jayden Daniels to trade up for him. Daboll didn't hesitate with his answer:
Brian Daboll says he would have traded up for Jayden Daniels 👀
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) July 17, 2024
🎥: @StreamOnMax https://t.co/bYIBBHLJsY pic.twitter.com/LdVlxY46B9
Giants HC Brian Daboll wanted to trade up in the draft for Jayden Daniels
As we all know, Daniels ended up being selected No. 2 overall by the Washington Commanders. Daboll is probably going to hate playing against him twice a season, but hey, that's how things went down in late April. Daniels is a gamer, there's no doubt about that.
After an incredible season at LSU in 2023, he took home the Heisman Trophy. At the NFL Combine, Daboll was grilling Daniels with some tough questions, with that clip also going viral. Then after Daniels looked sharp in offseason workouts, it only raised Daboll's interest in him.
Again, Daniels is now in Washington, which is going to keep some Giants fans up at night. It would have been awesome to see him don a Big Blue jersey, something Daboll would have been happy about too. It will be Daniel Jones to lead the offense out onto the field, however.
With so much interest in other QBs, Hard Knocks has confirmed that the front office and Daboll were indeed ready to move on from Danny Dimes as the QB1 of the future. He'll have one more chance to prove his worth this fall, but if he struggles, Daboll and Co. will surely be looking at top QB prospects once the 2025 NFL Draft arrives. Will someone as strong as Daniels be available? That'd be the hope.