The New York Giants fell late to the Indianapolis Colts, and while that’s not the result that everyone was hoping for, there’s still some silver lining. That’s, of course, related to the team’s position in the NFL Draft next year. It’s no secret that the Giants need to make some changes after starting the season 1-7 and failing to contend for the playoffs, and a higher draft pick will help them do that.
After falling to 5-10 on the season, the Giants moved up to the 7th overall pick based on the current league standings. They sit above the Bills but below Tampa Bay and Detroit, and while the pick is higher up than the one they held last week, that draft order might not spell good things when it comes to acquiring a quarterback.
There’s no guarantee that Jameis Winston returns to the Buccaneers next year, and if Tampa decides to rebuild and looks for a new quarterback, they could easily steal a target that the Giants might be interested in such as Will Grier or maybe even Dwayne Haskins Jr.
Even if the Buccaneers don’t take a quarterback, the Giants should also be wary of the Oakland Raiders taking one with the second pick. Things haven’t been going great for Derek Carr and with the Raiders only managing three wins so far, it looks like they could join Tampa in rebuilding despite having what both teams believed to be franchise quarterbacks.
The Giants can’t do anything about the Raiders having the second pick at this point, but picking below Tampa does make things interesting. Both teams are 5-10 and so their spots in the final draft order could change based on this Sunday’s games. Both teams only have one game remaining in their seasons, with the Giants facing the Dallas Cowboys.
Few would have been happy to root for a loss earlier in the season, but with only one game left and a chance to jump the Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions, who are also 5-10, in the draft order, there might just be some more fans looking favorably at tanking. It’s an issue that, aside from the game itself, will definitely be talked about plenty this week.