It was another season of crushing disappointment for the New York Giants in 2018.
In 2016, everything finally looked to be going in the right direction, coming second in the NFC East, but an injury-ravaged 2017 saw the Giants sinking back down to the base of the division with a 3-13 record.
With a fit team and the long-overdue addition of a viable running back, coming in the form of second-overall pick Saquon Barkley, hopes were high in 2018 but Big Blue started 1-7. The offense improved later in the season but the defense dipped, concluding with a 5-11 record.
Luckily in the NFL, a bad season leads to a loftier draft pick, with the New York Giants taking sixth-overall this year.
The consensus is that the Giants need to make a move for Eli Manning’s successor, with this year’s draft class boasting the exact quality of quarterback for the team to do so gradually, while easing the legendary play-caller out of the picture.
The choice of all of the top QBs
The current top-ranking trio of 2019 NFL draft quarterbacks are all very talented but are not yet strong enough to save a team, and may not be able to for a couple of years. So, this means that if the Giants decide to start 2019 with Manning as the number one, they’d have a perfect rookie to develop and eventually become the team’s starter if they select a QB at six.
This year’s draft boasts a plethora of exciting defensive talents who will almost certainly dominate the first round of the draft. As it stands, with future trades potentially changing this, the Giants sit with the earliest draft pick of the teams who look to have the quarterback position as their primary need.
The Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are expected to fill needs along the defensive line. Along with the Giants, the Jacksonville Jaguars (7th), Denver Broncos (10th), Cincinnati Bengals (11th), Miami Dolphins (13th), and Washington Redskins (15th) may also be looking to claim a QB with their first-round selections.
As it stands, Big Blue can select from all of the top-rated quarterback prospects.
Will it be Haskins, Murray, or Lock?
There is a lot of discussion as to who the top prospect is between Dwayne Haskins, Kyler Murray, and Drew Lock.
The Heisman Trophy-winning Murray and his sheer athleticism has him being talked about as a top quarterback pick but, as current odds on NFL team to select Murray see the Miami Dolphins snapping him up, with the Giants and Jaguars a fair bit back in the odds, the view appears to be that two of the other teams in need of a QB before the 13th overall pick will pass on Murray and either opt to fill another positional need or go for Lock or Haskins.
Drew Lock is loaded with experience and boasts high-end arm strength for the top level of football but most see Dwayne Haskins as being the top quarterback of this draft. The Ohio State sophomore has the IQ, athleticism, pocket-passing skills, and arm talent to become a franchise-leading quarterback, and has shown the maturity to take on a starting role from the opening day of the 2019 season.
Kyle Murray is a very exciting prospect and will almost certainly be taken in the first round but, if the New York Giants still have the whole field of quarterbacks to choose from, they look set to be calling the name of Dwayne Haskins with the sixth overall pick.