The New York Giants have been linked to many of the upcoming draft class’s top quarterback prospects. All of the rumors and reports seem to indicate that the Giants are interested in taking a quarterback early in this year’s draft. However, general manager Joe Schoen made it clear that drafting a quarterback is no guarantee.
GM Joe Schoen says the Giants have other needs besides quarterback
While speaking with Sports Illustrated insider Albert Breer (h/t NBC Sports), Schoen gave insight on the Giants’ plans in the first round of this year’s draft. He acknowledged the rumors regarding their scouting of the quarterback position, but stressed that this team has other needs:
“We don’t wanna be up here again — we don’t want to be picking in the top 10,” Schoen told Breer of SI.com. “We have multiple needs. We are going into Year 3. People assume we’re going quarterback, but we have other needs. If the quarterbacks go 1–4, then we’re getting the second-best position player, not quarterback, at six, which is O.K., too. That player will really help us. Even last year, our quarterback coach was at the C.J. Stroud workout. We spent a lot of time with Will Levis, Anthony Richardson.
“We still spend time with those guys … [and] it’s not just for right now, but when they become free agents. Brian Burns, we spent a lot of time with him in the draft process, so you feel comfortable making a trade for a guy. Drew Lock, too. Sam Darnold, [in Buffalo] we spent a ton of time with because that was the Josh [Allen] draft.”
Schoen points out the team’s recent history of scouting quarterback prospects, which could become important in the future as rookie contracts expire and quarterbacks become free agents. That played out for this team well this offseason when they signed QB Drew Lock, a player whom the Giants may have scouted heavily back in 2019 when they were in the market for a quarterback (the year they drafted Daniel Jones).
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Could the Giants pass on a first-round quarterback prospect?
The Giants have expressed interest in this year’s top quarterback prospects and rumors have suggested that they’ve been calling teams about a potential trade up into the top three picks to land their guy. Picking at No. 6, there is a strong chance that the top-four quarterback prospects are gone by the time the Giants are on the clock, as Schoen acknowledged.
In that case, the Giants could happily land one of the draft class’s top playmakers. However, with Daniel Jones’ future uncertain due to injuries, finding his successor may be the best way for the Giants to jumpstart their rebuild. Ultimately, it will come down to who is on the board when New York is on the clock, and whether or not the quarterback they favor is available.