The New York Giants could be in the market for a quarterback going into 2019, with the clock ticking on finding a successor for Eli Manning, but the draft might not be the place to find one. This, of course, is a recent development based off Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert’s decision to stay in school and return to Oregon for one more year. Whether the Giants actually wanted to draft Herbert or not, this is a big deal.
That’s because even if Herbert was already picked by the time the Giants are making their selection, the change in the available quarterbacks could mean that one of the other top rated players in the running to become a top ten pick, such as Will Grier or Dwayne Haskins, has already been selected by a quarterback needy team that would have taken Herbert had he come out of college this year.
The Giants have to pick below the Buccaneers and the Raiders, among other teams, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that either one of them could draft a quarterback. Both teams will likely rebuild next year and that could involve parting ways with quarterbacks who were meant to lead their franchises into the future.
If the Giants get a win on Sunday and beat the Dallas Cowboys, who may not give a full effort because of already having made the playoffs, they could fall further in the draft order and slip below Jacksonville, another team that needs a quarterback. It’s never a good thing right now when the pool of talented quarterbacks shrinks, because it was already debatable if the Giants would be able to get what they want from the draft even before Herbert announced that he will stay in school.
In the event that this does cause another quarterback that the Giants are targeting to get drafted higher, what should they do with their pick? The focus for most of the season has been on the quarterback position in terms of narrative, but drafting at the defensive line position isn’t out of the question too. The pass rush needs some help, after all, and it’s not certain that Olivier Vernon will be a Giants player by the time the 2019 season begins.
One thing is certain, though, which is that the New York Giants’ draft for next year has just gotten a lot more interesting. Even if Herbert wasn’t the man they were looking for, his decision to stay in school will make everything a bit harder on all of the teams looking for a quarterback in the upper first round, including the Giants themselves.