Big Blue Huddle

The Texans showed a lot the year before to show they were close to competing. They were better than their record. Stroud, coaching and a bunch of other small things pushed them over the top.

As for us, drafting a QB is always a gamble. Many fail because it is a difficult position to play with the gap from college to NFL widening. You need a lot of stuff right around you but most of all you need a lot of luck.

If we draft one we will cross our fingers and hope we buck the odds.

If he goes Bricillo finds someone else. Not a huge deal, just a bit odd.

Dead cap is essentially guaranteed money/money paid out up front but spread out for accounting purposes. It is often already paid in cash terms and if it isn't already spent guaranteed is still guaranteed. The cap is accounting!

I think the HC/OC/QB coach trio is a positive

The D is a neutral but could be a + if we can upgrade our DB group

The OL is neutral/unproven with a new coach and 4 new players in the mix plus JMS having a season of experience/strength work

The skill positions are a - with the Waller uncertainty but if Wandale, Hyatt develop and we add a solid day 2 pick-up could be league average

So, overall I'd say right now we are an 'average' 5/6 situation for a new QB to come in but it would not take much to improve to a 7.

At least one or two of Legette, Pearsall, Coleman, Worthy will be there R2 or Corley, Walker, Rice R3 so there are plenty of opportunities to strengthen the WR group day 2. There will also be camp cuts. So IF they like a QB who is available to us at 6 then take the swing. I am not in favour of giving away sparse assets to trade up to swing though precisely because we have to help the new QB with better receivers and a better D.

Fields just got sent to Pittsburgh for a 2025 R6 pick that can become a R4 if he plays 51% of soaps but Russ confirmed as the starter so...

Nobody in NFL sees him as a starter.

As Ceri will attest I went ballistic when Gettlebum telegraphed our love of Smith so Philly traded above us for him and then compounded it by trading down rather than taking Parsons and let him fall right into Dallas' hands.

The extra first gained was nice in theory (and good value by tge charts) but he then drafted a guy everybody said had personality issues/bust risk (guess what,they were right) and Schoen turned the future 1 into Evan Neal which is less than stellar.

As for the rest of the draft Ojulari flashes but is always injured, Aaron Robinson is clinging onto the roster by his fingernails and the other 3 picks are all gone.

Impossible to do it worse really.

There is definitely still scope to add one of the remaining decent CB or S on a prove it free agency deal pre draft. I think Schoen will try but we are not necessarily the biggest pocket or biggest draw.

There are not a ton of good, penetrating 3T with pass rush chops in the draft. Lots of lighter 43 4/5T or big hole plugging 0/1T but maybe only 4-5 guys that fit our specific need. Ceri would offer more detailed insight than me here but in Nacho, Davidson and Riley we have hole pluggers aplenty.

They definitely are not taking Bowers at 6. He would only be a trade down if we have nobody we like at 6.

I doubt they draft over Neal unless and until Bricillo says he is unfixable by season end.

I suspect the Giants top 3 QB are not the media top 3. That may also be true at WR but I think that is less likely. Nabers is a bigger, turbo Wandale with out/in flex and Odunze has a ton of Waller/Slayton hybrid traits style only better. I think we will see stuff to love in both.

If we are sat at 6 and Minny has gone up to 3 for Maye (which I think is their hope, with Plan B Penix at 23) and we are left with a choice of McCarthy and whichever of Nabers/Odunze gets past Chargers right now I have no idea whether we zig to QB or zag to WR. Given the key pro days have not happened for any of those 3 the jury might still be out in East Rutherford as well.

Talking to my relative working for a different franchise I know he does not buy the idea it is a top 4. I am not 100% sold he even believes it is actually a top 3 for many teams. He suspects teams who like Maye are not so strong on Daniels and vice versa.

He speculates that it is possible several teams have McCarthy or Penix above one or both of them. He does not think he has heard that anyone sees big enough upside with Nix but he is seen as higher floor than some higher rated guys.

The media narrative and team perceptions can vary widely, particularly with teams getting more specific on 'fit'. They are more proficient at managing secrecy and controlling messaging including deliberate misinformation. There were a lot of R1 "surprises" in the last couple of drafts after all.

I am expecting the unexpected. Bring it on!

The market for Fields is a day 3 pick. That is the reality. The Bears have totally misjudged the market which sees him only as a back-up/emergency starter.

I agree with those who think keeping him and seeing if a mid season trade brings better value but the Bears beat writers generally think this is a bad idea as Fields is popular with many in the locker room and building which will make it harder for Caleb Williams to assert himself.

We won't compete until we have a solution at QB but reaching and giving up assets to draft QB4 who divides opinion and is certainly far from a sure thing arguably carries more risk than reward for a team with as many holes as us.

If JJ Mc is there at 6 and they like him so be it. If 4 QB go in top 5 leaving us our pick of Nabers and Odunze also so be it. If we trade aggressively to move up to eg 3 to get the QB we have rated behind only Caleb then, again, so be it.

It cannot be any QB at any price just to say we tried. That is the type of poor decision-making that has plagued our decade of irrelevance.

There are lots of potential sources for any story. The questions I always ask are is the media guy credible (Eisen is not a BS guy) and if so, who benefits?

In this case the only way Giants benefit is if they are only sold on 2 of 3 WR and are doing what Mighty suggests in his final paragraph.

Who else might benefit? A team above us wanting to trade out. The agents of almost any QB not named Caleb Williams trying to heat up the market and generate leverage. Another GM/HC wanting to trade up but preferring to distract the media to focus elsewhere (Denver, New Orleans, Las Vegas might all fit here; less so Minnesota as they tipped their hand).

Bottom line I think the Giants are not the most likely source, but that does not mean it is not true.

Schlottman has played as back-up C last two years for the Vikings and that is why he is here. He was utterly horrible in 2022 and just above league average in 2023.

We have gone from having only one TE who can block at all (Bellinger) to three with two genuine specialists in Manhertz and Stoll, the latter also having special teams value. Both Vet minimum one year deals but it is still a commitment to help OL and boost the run game.

With Cager also coming back I guess he is the insurance as the move/deeper route TE if Waller retires and we cannot find anyone better.

Bellinger becomes de facto TE1 if Waller goes and if that means using him as we did as a rookie but all season reflecting the increased passing game involvement we saw later in his rookie year then I think I am fine with that.