ORLANDO, Fla. _ Pat Shurmur and Todd Bowles spent the better part of an hour-long breakfast Tuesday avoiding any hint of which player they might choose near the top of next month's draft.
Shurmur admitted there's the "urge" to find a quarterback the Giants' first-year coach can build around over the foreseeable future. And Bowles said the Jets had six or seven potential targets in mind when they moved up from No. 6 to No. 3 in a blockbuster trade 10 days ago.
But it's time New York's two teams make the kind of generational history that can sustain their franchises over the next decade. With the second and third picks, respectively, it's time for the Giants and Jets to find their next quarterbacks.
Neither Shurmur nor Giants GM Dave Gettleman will tip their hand on whether they'll go quarterback, running back or defensive end with their pick, and Bowles and Jets GM Mike Maccagnan remain close to the vest about their plans. But with at least three quarterbacks looking like they have what it takes at the next level, the time is now to make the transition at the most important position in any sport.
Shurmur spoke glowingly of the top prospects during the annual coaches' breakfast at the NFL's annual spring meetings, saying "These are all very talented guys who have a chance to be really, really good players." But at the same time, he showered incumbent Eli Manning with praise, calling him "the healthiest 37-year-old I've ever been around."
But let's face it. Even if Shurmur and Gettleman think Manning has two or three good years left, and even though the Giants spent a third-round pick last year on Davis Webb, you rarely get a chance to pick this high in the draft. Unless you're the Browns, who have had the first overall pick two years in a row.
But even Cleveland is ready to dip into the quarterback market, with coach Hue Jackson strongly hinting Tuesday that there's a strong possibility the Browns will take a passer. The most likely choice is USC's Sam Darnold, which would leave UCLA's Josh Rosen, Wyoming's Josh Allen and Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield as the remaining choices.
Two of those quarterbacks ought to call New York home.
Yes, it's awfully tempting for the Giants to consider Penn State running back Saquon Barkley at No. 2. There are no major flaws in Barkley, and he looks to join Zeke Elliott and Leonard Fournette as virtual can't-miss prospects. But tell me when the last time a franchise running back turned a team into a Super Bowl contender _ no less a 3-13 team such as the Giants.
The answer is: There hasn't been one. Running backs are important, no doubt, and great runners can provide a major upgrade to an offense.
But they aren't transformative players like a quarterback, especially in a league where the passing game has never been more important than it is today. And with a gifted quarterback coach such as Shurmur, who helped get the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game last year with journeyman Case Keenum, there's every reason to believe the Giants can come away with a passer who can serve his apprenticeship behind Manning and then be ready to take over once Eli is done.
There is a more immediate need for a quarterback with the Jets, but with Maccagnan bringing back Josh McCown and adding Teddy Bridgewater, he has at least bought some time for a young quarterback to develop. And Bowles said Tuesday he's not averse to starting a rookie, which means taking a quarterback next month could translate into the team's passer of the present, as well as the future.
It's an unprecedented collective opportunity for the Giants and Jets to simultaneously come away with a big-time quarterback next month, but it's an opportunity both teams must seize upon.
It's time.
