Former Giants Safety Issues Sound Advice on Team’s QB Draft Dilemma

If there’s one thing for certain in the Big Apple, it’s that the potential quarterback decision awaiting the New York Giants has completely divided the city. As the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit draws near, that debate has welcomed the voice of one former player for the franchise. 

With just one week until the Giants make their move at the No. 6 overall pick in the first round, differing parties have made bold statements about what the team should do to satisfy one of their important roster needs. A large base believes the team must address the future hole that is the quarterback position as Daniel Jones’ future hangs in the balance.

Meanwhile, the other side is pleading for general manager Joe Schoen to avoid the same fate that booted his predecessor Dave Gettleman out of East Rutherford. That would be reaching too early to address the next arm when the Giants haven’t filled gaping holes around him, and former safety Logan Ryan is a member of that loud congregation. 

“New Yorkers, if you’re listening, do not trade up to No. 4 and get J.J. McCarthy,” Ryan said on a recent appearance for an episode of “NFL Live” on ESPN. “I just don’t think the fourth best quarterback in this draft, whoever you have or whoever that is, is better than what Daniel Jones was coming out of college.”

Ever since he tore his ACL in Week 9 last season, the Giants have been facing the music for commiting long term to Jones in the aftermath of a successful 9-7-1 season in 2022 and their first playoff win in six years.

Sure, their hands were forced after he looked sharp in that outing, but since then the former No. 6 selection has suffered his third injury, including the prior two to the neck, raising concerns about his durability to be the starter for the duration of his contract.

The Giants have a team option placed into the deal which they can exercise after the 2024 season and part ways with Jones if they believe his time has come. The move would allow Jones to start the season and then the team can transition towards his rookie successor in the second half of the year or the start of the 2025 campaign. 

The Giants have repeatedly shot down the idea that they’re only focus is on picking the next quarterback and refused to settle on one position in what will be a loaded draft board on Thursday night. Schoen told the media at the pre-draft presser this week that he could feel “comfortable” leaving the draft with the in-house options they have and entering the season to see how it plays out. 

His response signifies the belief in some circles that the main issue with Jones isn’t his injuries and instead a lack of winning pieces around him. That proposition holds true for Ryan, who believes the organization must give Jones the right weapons before sounding the bell and bringing in a new gunslinger that would only replace his same intangibles.

“It’s the same thing…The biggest problem with Daniel Jones is his ability to stay healthy,” the two-time Super Bowl champion added. “If you don’t like that, take one of the pass catchers that’s available, Neybers out of LSU or Odunzie out to Washington, and give that future quarterback, when you end up getting him, a top receiver.” 

“They need holes all over the roster. They need a great receiver and it’s a great receiver draft, so get him at six and then we’ll go pound the quarterback in free agency or the trade market.” 

Ryan also referenced the job the Pittsburgh Steelers did this past offseason in both signing Russell Wilson and trading for Justin Fields after parting ways with former draft pick Kenny Pickett. If New York followed suit, they could refrain from jumping on the obvious candidate in this year’s pool and see who emerges from the rubbish next offseason. 

Yet, there is no guarantee that a better player will emerge from an unhappy situation or from a potentially weaker draft class in 2025. The current class is just as rich at the quarterback position as skilled players and the Giants could miss the project player that turns things around and buys time for Schoen and Brian Daboll to develop their guy. 

In that case, the Giants could select their pick of the wide receivers in round one and then navigate up the draft board to steal a quarterback before the seasons tier of names gets taken. Some mocks have the team moving up into the bottom half of the first round or top half of the second and nabbing Oregon’s Bo Nix or Washington’s Michael Penix Jr, both prospects once slated to be in the same company as J.J. McCarthy. 

The possibilities are really endless for the Giants as night one will be the tell-all of how the 2024 season will shape up after a lackluster effort in 2023. The Giants are sure to be active in one way or another and the phones will be ringing on both sides as the team looks to revamp the roster towards competing like they did in year one of a lengthy rebuild. 

If there is ever a time to trust whatever decision Schoen and Daboll make for the growth of the team, it would be now. They and their football counterparts in New York know what’s in front of them this season and are undoubtedly ready to prove they can find the answers to resurrect Giants football before it’s too late. 

The only question that remains is whether they heed the advice of the fans, outside critics like Ryan or stick to their guns on whoever they see as the best fit to join the Giants this summer. 

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