The 2019 NFL Combine rolled full steam ahead on Wednesday as new prospects arrived on the scene in Indianapolis and several general managers and head coaches met with the media.
The New York Giants were well-represented as both Dave Gettleman and Pat Shurmur took the podium, and there was no shortage of challenging questions that were presented.
While the Giants didn’t come up in many of the day’s rumors, there was a lot of information to be had. So with that in mind, here’s a quick look at what happened in Big Blue Country on the official first day of the NFL Combine.
Odell Beckham Jr. will not be traded . . . Probably
Before so much as a word had been spoken to him, Dave Gettleman informed the media in no uncertain terms that Beckham would not be traded and he wasn’t interested in discussing it further.
“We didn’t sign Odell Beckham to trade him. I know that’s all over the place right now, but we didn’t sign him to trade him,” Gettleman stated. “That’s all I need to say about that.”
Later on, Gettleman was pressed on potentially trading Beckham and declined to fully rule it out, implying that an unexpected King’s ransom could pry OBJ from their hands.
Of course, that cost would begin with at least two first-round picks and then some, so don’t expect to see Odell on the move unless some team gets historically crazy.
Eli Manning will return in 2019, but will he start?
Just as Gettleman had done with the Beckham trade rumors, Pat Shurmur began his press conference by immediately addressing the future of quarterback Eli Manning. And just like Gettleman, Shurmur was blunt and to the point.
“I fully expect him and again, you’re going to ask me about particular players, Dave will tell you – you’ll speak to him later – I’m a body collector. I want to keep all the players we had and add a lot of new ones. I really feel that way about Eli,” Shurmur said.
Gettleman implied the same, but wasn’t fully committed to the idea of Manning be handed the starting job in 2019.
“Well, it’s a never-ending process. We haven’t even hit free agency yet, so like I told you, I had my conversation with Eli back right after the season ended and we are where we are. Like Pat said, there’s a million different models, there’s a million different ways to do this and you could cite a number of models where they had a veteran guy and they drafted a young guy, and at some point in time, the torch got passed and away everybody went, and it was a happy away everybody went. So, there’s still a lot of time to make these decisions,” Gettleman said.
Maybe Manning gets a little competition this year for the first time, but either way, don’t be surprised when he’s under center in Week 1.
Kyler Murray not “too short” after all?
Pat Shurmur once said that he preferred tall quarterbacks, which seemed to imply the Giants would not be in on the chase for Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray, who stands at 5-foot-10.
But not so fast…
“I think you’re digging into something,” Shurmur said. “Obviously the player has to be productive, and as I just mentioned, quarterbacks come in all shapes and sizes. Russell Wilson won a Super Bowl. I think you’ve got to look at the total player, look at his productivity, and you’ve got to look at whether he fits and then we as coaches will use their skillsets to the best of their ability to try to get the most out of him and help you win games.
“We’re going to try to get to know him and watch him compete, try to find out who he is as a person and a player. Some of the quarterbacks we got a jumpstart on because of the Senior Bowl, but Kyler is a young player that I haven’t met yet. It’ll start with, ‘Hey, how ya doin’?’”
We’ll see how this all plays out, but maybe they’ll be in on Murray when no one expected them to be.
Giants love what they have in Sam Beal
The Giants don’t have a third-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft after spending on cornerback Sam Beal in the Supplement Draft.
Unfortunately, Beal was immediately lost for the season due to injury, but that hasn’t soured Dave Gettleman, who feels Beal would have been a second-round pick come April.
“It’s really funny. For what it’s worth, we really feel strongly that if (CB) Sam (Beal) were in this draft, he’d be a second-round pick. We feel pretty strongly about that. So while it’s aggravating that we don’t have a third, if Sam steps up and is doing really well with his rehab thing, surgery went well, and so if he’s the guy we believe he is, then we won’t be mad,” Gettleman said.
Will they really let Landon Collins walk?
The idea of allowing Collins to walk right into free agency seemed like an absurd one, but after Gettleman met with the media on Wednesday, a lot of opinions changed.
Gettleman sounded like a man who was truly ready to let Collins go without a fight.
“We’re still evaluating,” Gettleman said. “Here’s what everybody has to understand – you’ve got 53 players on your club and you’ve got a salary cap. You don’t have 53 silos. Decisions like this can’t be made in a vacuum. You can’t do it. So, it’s a process.”
Meanwhile, Shurmur suggested the entire LockerGate situation with Collins was “dramatic” and overblown.
Giants will scout AAF players
Like other teams around the league, the Giants are well aware of the Alliance of American Football, their former players who are littered around the league and the potential to dig for some talent.
While they haven’t done it yet, Shurmur says they will eventually sit down and watch every single AAF game.
“We’ll watch the games,” Shurmur said. “I haven’t had an opportunity to see much, I’ve kind of been following it and I’ve got some good friends that are involved in that league. It’s a league where guys are getting an opportunity to develop, especially at the quarterback position and some of the skill player positions.
“I don’t know much about the games yet, I haven’t had a chance to watch many of them or really any of them, I’ve just seen segments of games. Yeah, we’ll evaluate it and it’ll give us an opportunity to see these guys develop.”
Giants love the Kansas City model
Patrick Mahomes is arguably the best young quarterback in football, but it took him some time behind Alex Smith to get there. That mentoring was undoubtedly invaluable to him as a player, and the Giants, with 38-year-old Manning under center, the Giants feel they can take the same path with their next quarterback.
“I think a young player would greatly benefit from that,” Shurmur said of a young player learning behind Manning. “We all want to learn from somebody that’s done it – players, coaches – and he’s done it at a very high level. So being in a room with him, I think, would only help that player.
“You’re still looking to play the best guy. I’ve been in situations where Sam Bradford started the first game. I was in another situation where Donovan McNabb didn’t start until Week 8; Doug Pederson was the starter. And you’ve seen in Kansas City where Mahomes really didn’t play the first year. So there’s a lot of different models for that.”
