Giants knew they had something Special with Hawkins

[Slugsy-Narrows]

Pattie kills it again with another great article

https://www.si.com/nfl/giants/big-blue-plus/giants-knew-they-had-something-special-in-cb-tre-hawkins

[Jolly Blue Giant]

When I heard the draft pick from the podium, I did what (most likely) everyone else did, putting on a confused face and saying, "whooo"?

Turns out, a terrific pick. Love the kid! Once Schoen got past the early stages of coming to NY and having to clean up the cap mess and saddled with an abbreviated short time to prepare for his first draft...he really had his act together in his second draft. Not just Hawkins, but also Jordon Riley. It's been a long, long time since Giants' fans had a GM that hits on the late round picks. Hopefully, it continues...Knock on wood!

[Ed Vette]

Still, I wonder to what extent growing pains will emerge with two rookie corners.

[RelaxTension]

Still, I wonder to what extent growing pains will emerge with two rookie corners.

So true it would be real rare to get two starting CBs in the same draft but at some point there always seems to be some learning curve to experience.

[Philosophers]

Still, I wonder to what extent growing pains will emerge with two rookie corners.

Remember when the 49ers fielded I think an entire rookie secondary in the early 1980s in Ronnie Lott's rookie year?  They went to the playoffs.  Cream can rise to the top.

[Ed Vette]

Will Allen and Will Peterson were both drafted in 2001.

[MightyGiants]

I will say this: most GMs, if you gave them truth serum, would confess to a certain degree of luck with picks like this.  Yes, it's terrific that they got a potential rookie starting CB in round 6.  The inverse of that would be if they thought he was such a good prospect CB who could start as a rookie, why wait until round 6 to draft him?

To be clear I am not denigrating Schoen's and company's excellent find, it's just a bit of wisdom that I have most heard discussed when it came to Tom Brady.

[Stringer Bell]

I will say this: most GMs, if you gave them truth serum, would confess to a certain degree of luck with picks like this.  Yes, it's terrific that they got a potential rookie starting CB in round 6.  The inverse of that would be if they thought he was such a good prospect CB who could start as a rookie, why wait until round 6 to draft him?

To be clear I am not denigrating Schoen's and company's excellent find, it's just a bit of wisdom that I have most heard discussed when it came to Tom Brady.

Of course there's luck involved in securing starters in the late rounds of the draft. I don't think it would take truth serum to get GMs to agree with that.

But I do disagree with the idea of "if you thought so-and-so would be a starter, why wait until round 6?" First, I don't any good GM goes in thinking any draft pick beyond the third round is going to be an immediate starter. And second, even if a GM is high on someone, a good GM drafts that individual based on perceived value - not only their own, but that of the rest of the league, as well. If JS thought he could wait until round 6 and get the guy he wants, why would he reach and draft him higher? Had they started Hawkins in the fifth, that means missing out on Gray.

There's a huge opportunity cost in reaching. And I'm glad JS stuck to his instincts and for both guys. And sure, he could have missed out ok Hawkins - and again, this is where luck comes in. But if a good GM has done his homework and sticks to his instincts, you can get a lot of value out of the draft's late rounds.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

I will say this: most GMs, if you gave them truth serum, would confess to a certain degree of luck with picks like this.  Yes, it's terrific that they got a potential rookie starting CB in round 6.  The inverse of that would be if they thought he was such a good prospect CB who could start as a rookie, why wait until round 6 to draft him?

To be clear I am not denigrating Schoen's and company's excellent find, it's just a bit of wisdom that I have most heard discussed when it came to Tom Brady.

Very true, if a GM really believes in a player, they take him as soon as they can (and boy will the press blast them)...thinking of the criticism we got for drafting Daniel Jones so high or last year when Bill Belichick drafted OG Cole Strange in the first round when every site on the internet had him going in day three

I guess it's all about "convictions" and willing to block out the media storm to come after the pick is in. I wonder if Schoen was monitoring other teams' interest in Hawkins. The Giants had met with him several times and were in communication with him. If another team was snooping around, Schoen might have been antsy. We'll never know. What I do know is that he wasn't even rated as a priority UDFA in the internet world, so drafting him when they did (regardless of round), they had their "must gets" in Banks, MSJ, Hyatt, and Gray and jumped all over Hawkins as soon as they were finally back on the clock