Things could have been quite different for the NY Giants in the NFL Draft had the Minnesota Vikings gotten their way. Shortly after the draft, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported the Vikings were trying to move up to the No. 5 pick to land Malik Nabers.
What? Yeah, it was shocking at the time, but Charley Walters of the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reported that not only were the Vikings interested in trying to trade up for Nabers, but they then would have turned around and traded No. 1 wideout Justin Jefferson. What in the world?
The Vikings tried to trade up to land Malik Nabers ahead of the NY Giants
"There was buzz at draft time that the Vikings wanted to move from No. 11 to No. 5, not to pick a quarterback but to get LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers, who was picked No. 6 by the Giants. Had that trade occurred, Jefferson would have been traded and Nabers would have been the No. 1 receiver."Charley Walters
Can you imagine if this would have actually happened? The Giants would then have had to audible to backup options. They could have either gone with offensive tackle Joe Alt, rocked with Rome Odunze to be their new WR1 or even reached for J.J. McCarthy to be the new quarterback of the future.
Luckily, this wasn't a problem that Joe Schoen had to deal with, as the Chargers stayed put at No. 5, drafted Alt and then Nabers heard his name called at No. 6 and he's already turning heads in East Rutherford at OTAs. The Vikings did trade up, but to take McCarthy and not Nabers.
Interestingly enough, these two teams are all set to face off for a Week 1 showdown at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey come early September. The Vikings front office might feel even worse about things if Nabers goes on to have a 100-yard game and posts a touchdown or two. Things will only be made worse if McCarthy struggles against NY's impressive defense. Hey, we won't mind if that happens - not one bit.