If the New York Giants aren’t drafting a QB, they need to trade back

The New York Giants have the second overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, leaving themselves with plenty of options. Their best option is trading back and accumulating picks.

With the second overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the New York Giants select …

Nobody knows the end of that sentence. The Giants are in line to get a top talent with the second pick but who that top talent will be is anybody’s guess.

The real question at this early point in the offseason is will the second overall pick be a quarterback?

Eli Manning is 37 years old and likely only has a season or two of good football left in him. The “future” quarterback for the Giants could be Davis Webb, a third-round pick in 2017, however, he’s yet to see regular season action.

Some fans think that the Giants can’t draft another quarterback without seeing what Webb can do. But the Giants saw Webb in practice all season and never saw enough to even have him dress until Week 17. The current general manager, Dave Gettleman, also had nothing to do with drafting Webb and has no allegiance to the former Cal Bear.

Josh Rosen of UCLA and Sam Darnold of USC are the two top-ranked quarterbacks in the upcoming draft. Rosen has implied that he doesn’t want to play for the Cleveland Browns (owners of the first overall pick) and would prefer to get drafted by the New York Giants.

The Browns could be forced to draft Darnold, leaving Rosen for New York’s taking. However, if the Giants aren’t as fond of Rosen as he is of them, and they plan to draft a non-quarterback, they need to trade the second overall pick.

Every team in the NFL is looking for a franchise quarterback and some teams are willing to mortgage their future to get their guy.

The Denver Broncos, New York Jets, and Arizona Cardinals could all be willing to move up to the two spot and secure a talent like Josh Rosen.

Passing on Rosen and taking another player with the second overall pick is the biggest mistake the New York Giants can make. Yes, Saquon Barkley is a phenomenal talent and yes, the Giants need an offensive lineman, but using the two pick on anything other than a future franchise quarterback would be a missed opportunity.

The second overall pick actually presents New York with two great opportunities. One is taking a quarterback and smoothly transitioning from Manning to Rosen/Darnold in a year or two. The second great opportunity is trading back and setting themselves up with extra draft picks.

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If the Cardinals wanted to move up from the 15th overall pick, it would likely cost them their first and second-round picks in 2018, a first-round pick in 2019, along with a few other draft picks. One of the top offensive linemen in this year’s draft (Mike McGlinchey, Quenton Nelson, or Connor Williams) would likely still be available at 15 and the Giants would be able to add even more talent with the other draft picks they acquired.

If the Giants sent their pick to the Broncos (moving back to fifth overall) or the Jets (moving back to sixth overall), they could add a first-round pick next year and a mid-round pick in 2018 while still guaranteeing themselves a shot at any of the top offensive linemen.

Sure, they would lose the chance to draft Saquon Barkley but a running back is not at the top of the Giants’ list of needs. Orleans Darkwa and Wayne Gallman both showed promise in 2017 and improving the offensive line should allow the running game to get even better. I’m also not ready to give up on Paul Perkins just yet.

Next: Interior of the Giants offensive line is in good shape

The New York Giants nightmare 2017 season was hard to watch. However, going 3-13 has given Big Blue an opportunity to get things back on track and set themselves up for a bright future.

There’s a lot riding on Dave Gettleman’s first pick as the general manager of the New York Giants. He has plenty of options but needs to make sure he gets this one right.