Big Blue Huddle

Hall of Famer Rondé Barber loved what the Giants and Jets did for their starting QBs in round 1 of the NFL Draft. He loved the aggressiveness of the Detroit Lions moving up for a top CB.

But as for that Michael Penix Jr. pick at no. 8 by the Falcons? Well, it's safe to say, not everyone was a winner Thursday night. Check out the full list of day one winners and losers.

https://www.the33rdteam.com/nfl-draft-round-1-winners-losers/

Quote from: Jclayton92 on Today at 07:42:26 AMOver/under what week the complaints start to roll in via the wrs because the ball isn't getting to them?

This QB doesn't seem to have a problem getting the ball to his receivers

The 33rd Team gave the selection of Nabers an 'A'.

Passing on J.J. McCarthy is risky because Daniel Jones isn't the answer, but McCarthy was also risky. Malik Nabers gives the New York Giants the best receiving talent they've had since Odell Beckham Jr.

The Athletic's Nick Baumgardner gave the pick an 'A'.

Nabers is an electric playmaker and arguably the most dangerous ball carrier in space in this class. An incredibly smooth and explosive athlete with great ball skills, Nabers was an instant contributor in the SEC for LSU and made 161 catches with Jayden Daniels the past two seasons as a complete receiver. Some scouts had Nabers ranked ahead of Harrison in this class. He's that good.

The Giants have questions about Daniel Jones, to be sure. But to me, drafting a quarterback here made no sense. The Giants still have so much work to do — bringing a first-round QB in to "compete" with a guy you don't support makes no sense. Nabers is an awesome talent and will instantly make one of the slowest offenses faster. A sensible, efficient and explosive draft pick. Also, possibly, a mess avoided.

NFL.com's Chad Reuter have the selection a 'B+'.

Nabers' quickness off the line, tight routes, strong hands and electric moves after the catch remind me of another former LSU wideout the Giants selected in the first round (10 years ago, in fact). If Nabers proves agile enough to win against NFL cornerbacks at the top of the route, he could become one of the league's best receivers in time. The question down the line, though, might be whether the Giants would've been better off selecting J.J. McCarthy at No. 6 and then a very good receiver on Day 2 instead.

CBS Sports' Pete Prisco gave the Giants an 'A+'.

I love this pick for the Giants. It says they didn't believe in the quarterbacks who were left and now they get a playmaker on the outside. This kid will be a star.

USA Today gave the Giants an 'A'.

Breathe easy, Daniel Jones - at least for now. Not only did Big Blue turn down the option of selecting your potential replacement, team brass equipped their incumbent starter with a legitimate go-to threat. Nabers is electric both as a downfield target and a run-after-catch weapon, and he can take much of the pressure off Jones as the quarterback works his way back from an injury-shortened campaign. If the Giants' drought of 1,000-yard receivers is going to end soon - which dates back to 2018 with another LSU product in Odell Beckham Jr. - Nabers will be the guy to break through.

Pro Football Focus called the pick 'very good'.

The Giants were linked to several of the quarterbacks in the draft process. Instead of packaging picks to move up or sticking at No. 6 to bring in J.J. McCarthy, they bring an explosive receiver into a receiving corps in need of talent. Nabers recorded 44 receptions of 20-plus yards over his last two seasons, second-most among FBS wide receivers.

Rob Rang of FOX Sports gave the pick an 'A'.

With all due respect to fellow top-10 talents Marvin Harrison Jr. and Rome Odunze, Nabers is the most electric receiver in this class, possessing an exceptional combination of burst, elusiveness and breakaway speed. It's been impossible to fairly evaluate Daniel Jones with so few playmakers at receiver. Nabers is the star the Giants have been missing and resets the clock on Jones.

https://www.bigblueview.com/2024/4/26/24141266/nfl-draft-round-1-grades-new-york-giants-selection-of-malik-nabers-gets-high-marks?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=bigblueview&utm_medium=social

Quote from: katkavage on Today at 07:43:30 AMI have no doubt Nabers is an exceptional talent. But he won't move the needle much for the Giants as they are presently constructed. So it's nice to have a potentially all star caliber player on the roster, wide receivers don't have the impact without other pieces in place, particularly the QB. I'll be happy if I'm wrong, but that won't be evident for a long time.

Team building is about increasing the team's overall talent level, ideally at key positions.  It's not about just one player, even QB.

https://www.giants.com/video/#

https://x.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1783661708302561443

Media Q&A with Malik Nabers:

Q: Malik, congratulations. What was your reaction when you got picked by the Giants?

NABERS: Mix of emotions, I had my family there. It was a great opportunity for me to come to New York.

Q: How likely did you consider the Giants as a potential landing spot for you?

NABERS: It was very likely, I knew Dabs he conversed with a lot of my coaches, he really liked my game, he liked my dog mentality, so I'm glad he chose me.

Q: What kind of player are the Giants getting?

NABERS: A great teammate, a great leader, a great person on the field and off the field, and that's it.

Q: Have you heard from Daniel Jones yet?

NABERS: Not yet, but I'm sure I'll be hearing from him soon.

Q: What are your thoughts on having him throw the ball to you?

NABERS: I'm ready to get in, work with him, learn what kind of quarterback he is and catch footballs from him.

Q: Malik, Odell Beckham Jr. came from LSU in the first round, had a great career at the Giants. Do you have any relationship with him and what does it mean for you to follow in his footsteps.

NABERS: I don't have a relationship with him, but I'm just trying to be the best football player I can possibly be for the Giants organization. I'm not coming in trying to replace Odell, I'm just trying lead into my own legacy.

Q: What were your meetings with the Giants like? What was it like getting to know Brian Daboll?

NABERS: It was great meetings. He has a great personality, he makes people laugh that are in the room. He's going to compete with you for sure, he has high standards for his athletes. So I am hoping he has high standards for me and I live up to those.

Q: You said compete with you. Did you guys get into something during your meetings, or what were you guys competing about?

NABERS: He was talking about trying to guard me. He thought he could guard me.

Q: In basketball or trying to guard you on the football field?

NABERS: Football field.

Q: So you think your separation skills will really be put to the test against Brian Daboll in press coverage against you?

NABERS: Say that again.

Q: Never mind. It's okay. Did you get on the field with Brian Daboll at all and go at it with you or just talk?

NABERS: No, it was just all talk.

Q: What do you think of playing, coming to the New York area?

NABERS: I know it's a great city. I'm going to bring my family with me, bring God with me, bring the dog mentality that I have there.

Q: What do you think sets you apart from the other receivers in this class?

NABERS: I'm able to play different positions, create separation, open up a great window for the quarterback to throw me the ball. Great teammate. Great leader. All in all a great football player. Dog mentality when I'm out there on the field.

Q: What are you most excited about coming to New York?

NABERS: I'm excited to see the city, excited to be with my teammates and learn the offense, learn my quarterback, and just be in New York. I never been to New York, only been there once. Living there, I'm going to need some help.

Q: Being an SEC guy, do you know Jalin Hyatt at all?

NABERS: I sure do.

Q: What can you tell us about your relationship with him?

NABERS: We have built a relationship along the lines, I asked him a few questions about the organization when I was on the visit. Told me great things. Watched him when he was in college. Tremendous athlete. Amazing speed. Got hands. He was also a Biletnikoff winner, so you know it's going to be a lot of competition going on in that room. So I'm excited to get to know those guys, hit the field with those guys.

Q: When you were up here with your visit, did you cross paths with the other two receivers, with Harrison and Odunze?

NABERS: Yes, we were all at the meeting together.

Q: What was that like for you? And did you get a, kind of different sense here when you are kind of with other guys you know they're kind of measuring you up against?

NABERS: It was a great meeting with those guys. We got to know each other more closely. So that was it.

Q: You talk about the competitor you are. Were you a competitor that day?

NABERS: Yeah, I had to be. They were trying to see what guy they wanted to pick. There was competition in that room.

Q: What do you think this offense could be? The explosiveness you have now with the guys like you, Jalin Hyatt, Darius Slayton and Wan'Dale Robinson?

NABERS: I'm not sure. We're going to learn, they're going to learn me, they're going to learn how I play. I'm going to learn my teammates, learn the my offense and we'll see where it leads.

Q: I know you're only 20 years old, but how much more do you think there is to grow in your game?

NABERS: There's a lot more to grow. Especially I'm a young NFL person that's coming in. I have a lot to learn, a lot to learn how to be a pro, but coming in there finding those older guys that can guide me along the way.

Q: How eager are you to compete against Jayden Daniels, same division?

NABERS: Same division, me and Jayden? The competition with me and him will always be the same. We had a lot of competition going on in college when we were teammates. So the competition level is high between us, for sure.

JOE SCHOEN: We're excited to get Malik. He's a guy who's been on our radar for quite some time, explosive playmaker, can play multiple spots. Can separate and has run-after-the-catch, very good hands, very productive in a difficult conference, so before getting here tomorrow and then getting into the building a couple of weeks from now. Getting him in with the rest of the players in our culture and developing him and competing for his play time. With that we'll open up for questions.

Q: What made you — obviously you had the choice, Malik over Odunze?

JOE SCHOEN: We had a lot of meetings throughout the season and at the end of the day we just thought Malik's toughness, separation, speed — not that Rome doesn't have all those things; Rome is a very good player, too — just when it came down to it, what we were looking for, Malik checked a lot of those boxes — his person, his toughness, competes, his production, the versatility.

Q: Joe, there were quarterbacks on the board. First of all, how aggressive were you trying to trade up to get a quarterback?

JOE SCHOEN: I think I said last week we were going to have conversations in front of us. We actually had conversations behind us. There was an opportunity for us to move out of the pick. So we had conversations. We had different plans in place. And we're excited to have Malik Nabers here, so we're real happy with the way it worked out.

Q: There was a lot reporting that you were talking with the Patriots, specifically for the third pick. How serious did those talks get? Was there just a walk-away point where their ask was too high?

JOE SCHOEN: We had a lot of conversations with a lot of teams. I'm not going to get into specifics. We had a really good player at six that was a position that I think was a need that we needed to upgrade. I'm fired up about the kid.

Q: Have you gotten any texts from Daniel Jones about the pick?

JOE SCHOEN: He's fired up. I texted him Malik's number. That's one of the first things I did. And he's fired up about it. He knew before it was announced on ESPN and NFL Network.

Q: Brian, what does it mean for you to have that sort of, for lack of a better term, a number one type receiver?

BRIAN DABOLL: Look, I'm excited about Malik. He's a heck of a player. He's a fun guy to evaluate. Like Joe talked about, he's got quickness, explosive, good run after the catch. He's got a great mindset in terms of the competitive style he plays with. Played well in big games. Get him in the program, get him with the receivers and into the offense, and really looking forward to working with him.

Q: Joe, do you view the quarterback position as a high priority, your next pick is 47, or do you remain comfortable coming out of this draft without one?

JOE SCHOEN: I'm comfortable with where we're at.

Q: Do you believe you can find like a franchise quarterback at that point in the draft?

JOE SCHOEN: I'm excited about Malik. Whatever, I don't know what's going on out there right now, but I know a couple of quarterbacks just went. We'll look at all positions across the board. I said last week that we have multiple needs across the board and the team, and we'll continue to try to fill those throughout the draft.

Again, there could still be movement. We could get more picks. We could trade up. We've done that in the past. Again, we just got an electric wide receiver that's 20 years old, will be 21 end of July. My guys said he is the fourth youngest player we had on our entire board among the 450 players we have in certain ranges, but a young player that is electric and we're really fired up about acquiring him.

Q: Is there a point where he kind of stood out and popped to you throughout the process? Maybe it wasn't even this year.

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, LSU, the amount of players they had, and our staff was able to see him play live several times. I've seen him two years in a row. I happened to be at the first game of the year versus Florida State, two years in a row. He's been on our radar.

He's a really good player. And we were at the pro day, we had him in on a 30 visit and went to dinner with him a couple different times. Getting around the kid, he's a great kid. He's super competitive. He's driven. And I'm excited about having him.

Q: How far did you guys — what does this do for Daniel? He's never really had a top tier receiver?

BRIAN DABOLL: We've got to get him in. He was obviously ultra productive at LSU. Made a ton of plays. I would say deep, intermediate, short. Be good to get him in here and get him acclimated to what we do. I know he's excited about it. We're excited to have him.

Q: Was he the top receiver on your board?

JOE SCHOEN: He was in the mix with multiple guys. We had a lot of guys that we liked that would fit in with the way we had them stacked. At the time we took him, he was the top receiver on our board.

Q: There was obviously an arrest at some point with him with a gun. The charges eventually dropped. But I'm assuming that wasn't a problem with you. And how did you guys go about looking into that?

JOE SCHOEN: We've got an extensive process in terms of background on these guys. And from watching it, we bring up the film, watched what happened. (Head of security) Jerry Meade does a phenomenal job for us. We have other resources that we reach out to and use, whether it's boots on the ground on the campus, in the cities, wherever it may be. We're very comfortable with the players we turn the card in on.

Q: Brian, at the combine, Malik talked about the meeting and just how much fun it was. You guys were joking around and doing this. Take me in the room there. Was it fun? Was he —

BRIAN DABOLL: I enjoyed those meetings. I love his personality. He's a very, very competitive young man. So it was good to sit down and kind of introduce ourselves and get him to introduce himself to us. He came here — he's a competitive guy. And I'm looking forward to working with him.

Q: How did you weigh McCarthy there versus Malik?

JOE SCHOEN: Malik was our guy. He was the guy we targeted. And we took him. There were other players on the board and we took him.

Q: How many times did you see him play in person last year?

JOE SCHOEN: Last year one time, saw LSU play.

Q: Joe, can you speak about Malik's toughness? I know he had the shoulder injury early in the season last year, but I don't believe he missed any games. Can you just talk about that?

JOE SCHOEN: That's legit, talking to the trainers and the medical staff, this guy didn't miss. Whatever it is, he's going to fight through it. He's tough, doesn't miss games, doesn't miss practice. If he can play, he's going to play. That's the way this kid is wired.

You'll see it, when you guys get around and see the way he practices and the way he plays on game day and see his highlights and you see some of the stuff he can do, whether it's with the ball in his hand, without the ball in his hand. When guys are wired like that, at his age, that's ingrained in him by then. That's who he is. Looking forward to bringing some of that toughness and explosiveness to the roster.

Q: How did you see him develop from when you first saw him?

JOE SCHOEN: He's been productive. He's had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. He scored more touchdowns this year than he did the year before. But I think Jayden (Daniels) really elevated his game this year but he had scored in the past. But you saw a lot of the traits last year, he's a young kid.

When you evaluated him last year, you were evaluating a 19-year-old. This year, a 20-year-old kid. You see what some of these receivers are getting right now, APY. And you get a guy at his age where we got him in the draft and you're going to have cost control for five years. We're fired up about that.

Q: What stood out when you saw Malik in person?

JOE SCHOEN: I think at that position, the toughness. Some of the competitiveness, some of the best ones I've been around, they have that. It's going to be 20-some receivers taken between today and tomorrow and Saturday. What separates all the guys that are six-foot that are 200 pounds and run a 4.45, there's a bunch of them out there. To me it always goes back to grit, toughness, tenacity. You can't coach that. You can't teach that. I think this kid best illustrates it.

Q: This could be a very different night for Daniel. What did he say when you called him?

JOE SCHOEN: I shot him a text.

Q: When did you realize this was going to be the likely outcome, like at what pick? And did you know at that point or did you think that the Chargers, I know you kind of heard it a little bit, that they were going to take an offensive tackle there?

JOE SCHOEN: But you look at their roster, too, Mike Williams is gone and Keenan Allen is gone.

Q: I'm asking you, how confident were you that they were?

JOE SCHOEN: Again, that was part of the contingency plan. You have six names, and if all six go, you go to bed at night, whoever six was, and you're happy with it. When there's other contingency plans, when teams start calling, you can move back or you move up. So we had multiple plans against the whirlwind and Dabs rode it with me, we could do this, you're over-preparing for everything in all different situations. And we didn't know what the Chargers were going to do until we heard they took an offensive tackle. We were fired up.

Q: Other than the fact they're both from LSU, does this guy remind you at all of a young Odell?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I'm not going to compare him to anybody. I think he's a fantastic player. He's got a lot of good attributes. Starting with his personality and demeanor, his competitive stamina. He's got some dog to him. Excited to work with him, he's his own person. He's got a lot to learn coming in. I started out my career working with the receivers and there's a lot to learn, but I know he will, and he's ready to jump on the opportunity.

The Giants added a blue-chip prospect last night, even though they were all the way down at 6.  Many say that Nabers was the best WR on the board, better than MHJ.   He was considered by many to be a top 3 prospect in this draft and has elite franchise WR ceiling (he beat OJB's college record).

Not only did the Giants add a great WR prospect to the team, his presence will boost the other WRs as the best CB and the defensive focus will be on Nabers which means all the other WRs will see lesser CBs covering them.


Regardless if you believe Jones or Lock is the Giants' long term answer, the team need to put in place an infrastructure to support the QB and drafting Nabers goes a long way towards creating that infrastructure

Quote from: Bob In PA on Today at 07:13:38 AMOther than @MightyGiants point involving adding depth, I see this whole thing differently.

The question to answer is how adding Nabers affects Wan'Dale Robinson, not Slayton. Nabers has the potential to be elite, and one position he can play is WR, and he will be paid like a #1 WR, but these coaches will not deploy him as a traditional #1 WR. 

I can't say how where all the pieces will be when the "dust" settles, but recall that Robinson played mostly out of the backfield in college, and Nabers spent a whole lot of time at LSU in the slot. I expect the Giants to move Nabers and Robinson around a lot and we'll see Robinson being used more like Barkley was. To get full value out of Nabers, they'll have to scheme him open (a lot more than if they had taken Odunze, for example). They can't just flank him out wide on every play.

Bob

PS. Ideally, (once Nabers has his feet on the ground, and assuming no injuries), Hyatt and Slayton will split time torturing defenses deep and one or both of them are going to have a big year (fingers crossed).

Bob,

I think there is enough positional flexibility that I can envision a 4 man WR rotation of Slayton, Hyatt, Robinson, and Nabers.

Nabers has played mostly slot and flanker, but he has shown enough ability to defeat press coverage that he could be a slit-end (x) receiver as well.   I think Hyatt will be trained for the X and the Y (flanker).  Slayton is a natural X.  Robinson is the slot.

Quote from: madbadger on April 25, 2024, 10:32:45 PMWe have needs at guard, running back, corner, defensive tackle and safety. Who do you guys want? 47 might be too early for running back as you can usually find a good one in the third round or later. At guard I could see a reluctance to keep throwing first and second round picks at the problem. My guess would be corner or defensive tackle.

I agree with the part in bold

Quote from: uconnjack8 on Today at 07:08:20 AMGuess they didnt have McCarthy or the other QBs left rated as high as the media or some fans.

Or the Giants are higher on Jones and Lock than many fans.  The 3 QBs came off the board shortly after the Giants picked.

Quote from: Trench on April 25, 2024, 10:24:10 PMI am not sure so I'll ask - isn't Slayton being paid like a #1 or 2 WR?....if so that is a problem if he doesnt get looks

He's being paid like a number 3 WR.  I think the challenge in trading him is that it's such a strong WR draft class

Quote from: Philosophers on April 25, 2024, 10:07:33 PMIf Nabers makes DJ a top 10 QB I will be jacked as I like DJ.  If he throws for 2,500 yards, 16 TDs, 9 INTs and is sacked 60+ times, I will really wonder about this pick.

If the line proves adequate, the receiving trio of Nabers, Hyatt, and Robinson should finally give DJ his first set of NFL-caliber receivers since he got to the NFL.

If Jones can stay healthy and he can overcome the trauma of last season, then there is a potential for Jones to be a top-10 guy