Giants Reportedly Whiffed on Saquon Barkley Replacement in the NFL Draft

The New York Giants entered the NFL Draft with several massive needs to fill on their roster. One of the needs was at running back after the Giants let go of Saquon Barkley while signing Devin Singletary.

It was reported before the draft that the Giants were in love with Trey Benson while ESPN reported differently. According to ESPN, the Giants were in love with USC running back Marshawn Lloyd as their future lead back and planned to take him with either the 70th pick or the 107th pick. However, Lloyd went 88th overall.

The Giants certainly had their eyes on drafting Marshawn Lloyd but, missed out partially due to waiting rather than selecting him a bit early. The Giants instead took a running back with the 166th overall pick in Purdue's Tyrone Tracy Jr., who is an explosive athlete but hasn't played much running back.

The Giants missing out on Lloyd makes them a team that may still be searching for a running back in free agency before training camp. There are still several top running backs available in Jerick McKinnon, Kareem Hunt, Latavius Murray, and Matt Breida.

While Devin Singletary will be a capable replacement for Saquon Barkley, the Giants still have a ton of production to replace. The Giants need to add a running back that can carry the offense if something happens to Singletary, as this offense needs all the weapons possible heading into the 2024 season.

In the NFL Draft, Joe Schoen has shown that he loves to maneuver up and down the draft board to land the players he likes. While Joe Schoen loved MarShawn Lloyd, he didn't move up in the draft to land him, which raises a massive question.

Did Schoen not love Lloyd as much as many are saying or did he feel a reason to not trade up for him? Schoen likely would have been criticized if he traded up for a running back after allowing his star rusher to walk, which may be why Schoen chose to wait for him.

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