The possibility of a quarterback choice that could make or break Joe Schoen’s tenure with the Giants
Joe Schoen will be doing it for the first time if he does. That is, take a quarterback high in the NFL Draft.
What sets apart an NFL general manager’s resume more than anything else is the person he chooses to lead his team as head coach and quarterback.
Bill Parcells was hired by George Young. Eli Manning was Ernie Accorsi’s choice. Along with Parcells and Manning, Young and Accorsi are in the Giants Ring of Honor. These former Giants executives are cherished in the team’s history primarily due to the players they approved of as quarterback and head coach.
Schoen has been general manager of the Giants for 22 months. His first significant action was hiring Brian Daboll as head coach, which was an obvious choice given their good working relationship in Buffalo. Despite a strong start to his head coaching career—which included a 4-8 record heading into the bye week—Daboll was named the NFL’s Coach of the Year in 2022.
During his tenure with the Giants, Schoen oversaw two NFL Drafts, and among the eighteen players chosen during his tenure, there seems to be a typical distribution of hits and misses.
With a team-high 11 sacks this season, Schoen’s first-ever pick, Kayvon Thibodeaux, appears to be the next big Giants pass rusher.
Micah McFadden, a linebacker chosen in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, appears to be a good value.
Jalin Hyatt, a wide receiver, John Michael Schmitz, a center, and cornerback Deonte Banks, the top three picks in 2023, are having exciting rookie campaigns.
Evan Neal, the seventh overall pick in 2022, is a right tackle and could be a surefire miss, though it’s too soon to say that about any player.
Wan’Dale Robinson, a receiver selected in the second round, and Josh Ezeudu, an offensive lineman selected in the third round, are two other players in that class who haven’t done much to earn their selection in the second round of the draft.
While the aforementioned items are all included in Schoen’s portfolio, his entire Giants career may depend on what happens next.
He still hasn’t selected a quarterback with a first-round pick, and if he does so in 2024, the quarterback he chooses will always be associated with Schoen.
Yes, Schoen made the decision to offer Daniel Jones a $160 million, four-year contract, but things do not seem promising after a year. However, Jones is not as ingrained in Schoen’s record as a quarterback he would select himself at the top of a draft because he was inherited by the coach from the Dave Gettleman administration.
The No. 6 pick in the 2024 draft would belong to the Giants if the season ended today. The outcomes of the last five games could cause them to move up or down a few spots.
The Giants, who finished with a 9-7-1 regular season and one playoff victory the previous year, never imagined they would select so highly in this draft, but that is exactly where they are.
Furthermore, they would almost certainly have to select quarterback prospects Drake Maye (North Carolina) or Caleb Williams (USC), who are thought by most scouts to be superior to the other prospects.
Schoen said he will pick the best player available, but there is little doubt a quarterback will be a top consideration, especially because Jones is coming off surgery to repair his right ACL.
Jones, when healthy, is a known commodity, and Schoen handed him the big bucks because he believes the Jones he saw in 2022 was the real thing — with the potential for much more.
Jones hits the mark in a big way with the Giants for the way he comports himself off the field, his work ethic and his ability to stay outside the fray in the New York media-market feeding frenzy.
Jones struggled this season, and was injured multiple times. But if Schoen decides to try another direction, whichever quarterback he might pick in the upcoming draft would be a newcomer, and no amount of pre-draft knowledge-seeking can portend how the player will fit in.
“There’s always risk,’’ Schoen said Monday, his first comments since the start of training camp. “Look at the past however many years of top-10 quarterbacks. I just went through the 2018 draft, and how many of those guys are starters, how many are with different teams? Some are out of the league that were taken in the first round from that draft.
“I don’t think you can just judge a position based on a movie. It is imperative that you interact with these children, arrange a meeting with them, navigate around them, and write them on the [white]board. Are they able to learn? Are they able to process data? Speaking with people is essential, particularly in this market. Introducing a quarterback into this market isn’t suitable for everyone, I suppose. Not everyone is able to handle it.
It’s interesting that Schoen cited the 2018 draft as an illustration of taking a chance with
quarterbacks. That was the first time in 70 years that four quarterbacks were taken in the top 10 picks of a draft: Baker Mayfield went No. 1 to the Browns, Sam Darnold went No. 3 to the Jets, Josh Allen went No. 7 to the Bills and Josh Rosen went No. 10 to the Cardinals. As a footnote, Lamar Jackson went No. 32 to the Ravens.
Mayfield never became a franchise player for the Browns and is now starting for the Buccaneers, his fourth NFL team. Darnold flamed out with the Jets and is now a backup with the 49ers, his third NFL team. Allen is an established star with the Bills. Rosen was a washout with the Cardinals and after a seven-team odyssey is currently out of the league.
Schoen was the assistant general manager in Buffalo when Allen was drafted by the Bills. Allen worked out about as well as any team could hope.
It rarely does, however. NFL teams strike out with the quarterback position in the draft more often than they strike gold.
This does not mean a team should not try to find their franchise quarterback high in the draft. Until you have one, you are a team wandering in the desert, parched and looking for the hydration that a top-tier quarterback can pour into the program.
However, over the last twenty-plus years, there has been no shortage of quarterbacks selected in the top five of the NFL Draft who failed to make the cut. Joey Harrington and David Carr in 2003. Matt Leinart and Vince Young in 2006. Russell, JaMarcus, in 2007. In 2009, Mark Sanchez. Bradford Sam (2010). 2014 saw Blake Bortles. Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston in 2015. 2017: Mitchell Trubisky (who, goodness, was ranked eight spots ahead of Patrick Mahomes). Trey Lance and Zach Wilson as recently as 2021.
In his second year on the job, Schoen said he is further ahead in his draft preparation this time around. The 2022 season was far more of a learning experience, one focused on setting the groundwork for how he wanted the organization to run. In some ways, the draft had to take a back seat until after the season ended.
“Last year was a little bit different from my previous schedules as an assistant general manager or director of player personnel—it was my first in-season as general manager,” Schoen remarked. “I adjusted my procedure slightly this year in order to maintain my position on all fronts.”
While the Giants certainly did their research on the quarterbacks available in the 2023 draft, this year’s focus is unquestionably much greater. Schoen and his team have visited college stadiums all around the nation to observe the best quarterbacks in the class of this year.
If he ends up taking one, Schoen will try with all his might to avoid the mistakes made by those who came before him around the league. Every one of those teams that missed badly on a quarterback believed the player taken with a top-5 pick was the real deal. Those teams were mistaken.
It is a caveat that needs to be mentioned every time a fan base pleads with the team to tank the end of the season to get in position to draft the next big thing. Too often, the next big thing is nothing at all.
For the bye, Brian Daboll granted the team a week off. Is that out of the ordinary?
This was not standard operating procedure not too long ago. Before sending the players out to enjoy a few days off, a coach would once have them in the building early in the week leading up to the bye, perhaps on Monday and Tuesday, for meetings and light training.
The players staying in the day after the game and ending it there is the more recent trend. That was not even done by Daboll.
Following Sunday’s 10-7 victory over the Patriots, he informed the team that they would be off for the entire week and would need to return to work on Monday. The next day, only players who required injury rehabilitation had to report.
The majority of players will depart from town. Many will go back to their summer residences. This weekend, some people will attend conference championship games featuring their former college teams. There’s usually a sigh of relief when the players return safely, even though the head coach constantly cautions them to stay in shape and make wise decisions.
After the bye, which players might be prepared to make their comeback from absence?
Right tackle Evan Neal (ankle), tight end Darren Waller (hamstring), and quarterback Tyrod Taylor (ribs) are the three injured players who might have an influence towards the end of the season.
Seeing what transpires once Taylor is declared ready to play will be interesting. Does Tommy DeVito continue to start for the Giants, or does he return to the starting lineup? One could argue that Taylor, a 13-year veteran, offers the squad the best opportunity to succeed. It can also be argued that DeVito’s energy and take-any-chance attitude have ignited something.
Waller stated that it was illogical for him to return right away after suffering an injury during the Jets game. He did that during his time with the Raiders, and it caused him to re-injure his hamstring, which was a setback. Waller looks to be recovering in time to participate in a couple of games. Is he going to?
Neal must return to the playing field. A few strong or decent games to end 2023 would go a long way in boosting his confidence and improving the coaching staff’s opinion of him. His second NFL season has been really awful.
