Many believed the New York Giants would select a quarterback at No. 2 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, but that’s not how things went down. Instead, the Giants selected Penn State running back Saquon Barkley.
Barkley went on to have a remarkable and historic rookie campaign, culminating with the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award.
Despite that, those who got it wrong still can not accept the reality of Dave Gettleman’s decision-making. And in doing so, they repeatedly go back to the quarterback well during re-drafts.
Such was the case on Friday when Sports Illustrated joined the fray.
2. GIANTS: SAM DARNOLD, QB, USC
(ACTUAL PICK: RB SAQUON BARKLEY)
No, this is not Dave Gettleman’s mock draft. The weird part about this pick is that a year ago, the Giants took the best rookie in the class—a pick that makes sense if you believe that your quarterback has as much left in his career as, say, Philip Rivers or Ben Roethlisberger. Maybe Eli Manning had some historically bad offensive lines last season, and maybe we’ll all look foolish this year. But I’m curious if, knowing how the last season worked out, and how the Odell Beckham Jr. relationship would bottom out, and the scramble it took to patch up the roster in free agency for one last push, it wouldn’t have been easier to have Darnold a year ago and find a running back in 2019. Again, that’s if you were given this insane power to redo this draft knowing everything that would happen.
If the Giants were given the power to re-do the 2018 NFL Draft, they’d approach it the same exact way. Barkley is a guaranteed Hall of Famer if he can stay healthy, while the future for Darnold is completely uncertain. He flashed at times in 2018, but more often than not, he could barely keep his head above water.
Meanwhile, the Giants did not have the type of offensive line that would breed a rookie’s success under center. They had one of the lowest pass-blocking efficiency ratings in the league a season ago, but in the face of all that, Eli Manning still put up some of his best career numbers.
Anyone watching the tape with an open mind can see Manning can still play at a high level and win, but the narrative has been repeated so many times at this point people assume that it must be true.
It’s not and we may finally see that in 2019.
