The quick summary is that the Giants did well in the 2024 NFL Draft. Did they hit the lights out? If you ask Dan Schneier (someone I respect greatly, he “gets it” about how the NFL works), he is super high on what the Giants did. If you ask us, we are very positive too, but a little bit more tempered. Wonder likes what the Giants did. We reviewed the picks positively for Round 1 (Nabers), Round 2 (Nubin) and Round 3 (Phillips). On Day 3, they took a TE (Theo Johnson), a RB (Tyrone Tracy Jr.) and a LB (Darius Muasau). We liked those selections too. Schneier was particularly emphatic, calling Johnson and Tracy two of his “guys.”

Where does all of this fall out for the Giants? The only player who is likely to “wow” as a rookie is Nabers. The rest are the meat and potatoes guys who will have varying degrees of success in making the roster and then making an impact in the NFL in subsequent years. Nubin and Phillips should see a decent amount of playing time. Yet, these are going to be the players who make a difference in the trajectory of the team. We all know that the Reese (except 2007) and Gettleman years were mostly awful developmentally. If you hit on 1-2 players per year, that is not enough. Some of those drafts were zeroes. You have to hit on 3-4 players. We believe the Giants will do that with these players. The important thing to do is remember that this class’s impact is not expected to be significant (beyond Nabers) this year. Yet it is a marathon, not a sprint. We need success for these guys to show in Year 2-3.

Success in Year 2-3 is a perfect seque for guys like Evan Neal. “Carmen Bricillo, a Scarnecchia disciple, may very well have been the biggest offseason move for the Giants,” says Wonder. “I still stand by my eval on Neal and think Bricillo can and should save his professional career. Neal is vulnerable to the speed rush, so Bricillo must help him correct his footwork.”

Critics of the Giants 2024 draft ask aloud why the Giants did not draft OL or DL. This goes back to the choice we preferred at 1.06, assuming the trade up for QB OR Joe Alt was not available. WE WANTED TO TRADE DOWN. If you did that, you would have reloaded with multiple additional picks, and Schoen would have been selecting line of scrimmage. Once they chose to stay put at 1.06, they made the correct decision to take a WR (Nabers). You knew they were going to address the secondary at CB + S. Lawrence Cager could not block, so TE Johnson was not a surprise. You draft a RB on Day 3 to get a warm body out there. And finally, the Giants are in varying degrees of draft neglect at LB, so getting one in R6 was not unreasonable. PLUS, the Giants addressed DL with Burns and OL with Runyan/Eluemunor/Stinnie in Free Agency.

We will have months to talk about the team. I will throw out one thought stewing in my head to get it out there. Drew Lock could be an intermediate or possibly a long term answer. Jones will not be ready Week 1. So Lock is going to get the preseason Training camp 1st team snaps. He will start Week 1. He will have a credible OL. He will have a WR corp ready to deliver separation.

Lock has a great arm. He has good touch. He has good athleticism. The only thing Lock has lacked is coaching. (He saw some in SEA and you saw decent results.) Daboll can make a difference here. A big variable we do not know is what Daniel Jones’ medical comeback looks like. That will affect what Lock can do. Wonder thinks Lock can be a steward of the offense in 2025 if the Giants draft a QB, and there is the possibility that Lock can actually be a long term answer. Call me a hopeful optimist, but I know what Daboll has done with Josh Allen, Daniel Jones and Tommy DeVito, so I believe there could be more there for Lock than what others are thinking. We’ve all been captured by the Giants QB draft talk. Now that that 2024 chapter is closed, maybe it’s Lock who gets a much bigger opportunity. It’s up to him (and Daboll) to make the most of it.

Thumbs up from Wonder for the Giants R3 pick of CB Andru Phillips. “Phillips is literally right below, in the next tier, 51-55, from what I evaluated. So when you get him at 3.70 that’s good value. Not a reach by any means. CB is right behind OT and WR in terms of depth and quality in this 2024 Draft. So the Giants benefitted here with a guy they could get in early R3 with R2 value.”

Wonder continues. “When it comes to CB, I look for smooth hips, the swivel, and the methodology in how they backpedal. The stuff they talk about on TV is mostly meaningless to me. It’s hips and to a lesser extent how they backpedal. Phillips is ok in this regard, capable. He played a lot. Consistent. Doesn’t have long arms. A little slight of frame but he competes. He’s a willing tackler.”

Wonder is not sure here but thinks Phillips may be able to play slot corner, which ironically makes his value go up. “I think it’s tougher to play slot. On the outside he played more zone coverage. He may be able to pick up the slot game. I do think he will make the team and sticks.”

Wonder sums up the first two days: the Giants have been quietly solid, like what the Baltimore Ravens do every year. That’s high praise.

Good solid pick. Certainly addresses a need. He was picked 2.47 and he was 2.49 on our Board, so matches our value, one of our guys. “Nubin is a two-way Safety, which everyone wants today: he can cover and he can tackle,” said Wonder. “He can also cover the TE. Look, he’s not an Ed Reed centerfielder.. hey, he is a mid Round 2 value. And I wish he’d be a little bigger. But he’ll be able to gain 10-12 lbs, and if works, he can be a solid starter for a long time. His comp (ceiling) is Saints solid guy Malcolm Jenkins, who actually had 3 years in the Pro Bowl.”

Wonder continues. “Nubin is a willing tackler. He is 6’2” so he can handle the weight, which he’ll need to tackle TEs.”

Wonder recognizes what Schoen has done- he got the best player on the board at 1.06 and he had to either address RB (Trey Benson) or Safety (Nubin). “No way I am paying McKinney $17M so Nubin is a good answer. Heck, I only liked two safeties in the entire draft and they found one of them. There was a big dropoff after those two (S Javon Bullard 2.58), so that was wise because they needed to get that done. And Nabers has more football and breakaway speed than Jamarr Chase. He is going to scare the sh*t out of people with a QB who can get him the ball.”

How can I be happy with Schoen when he took WR in Round 1 and we didn’t get a QB either? Because he has discipline.

Discipline is eating properly and avoiding sugar wherever you can. Trading up is Draft sugar. It’s expensive. We know this. Trading up for QB is super expensive. It needs to be done because when you have your sights on a guy that will change your franchise, the cost will end up being justified. There’s one catch- you better be right. And since we also know many (most) QBs don’t work out and don’t become the elite difference-makers we want, trading up is a high stakes bet. You try. And if you can’t do it, you patiently wait for the next time an opportunity may present itself.

That’s the key. You patiently wait for the next opportunity. There may have been another QB (Penix, whom we liked, or even McCarthy or Nix) later in Round 1. Yet those 3 went 1.08, 1.10 and 1.12, too rich for Schoen’s blood, and too rich for ours too. You see, we liked Penix A LOT. But Penix does have 2 ACLs. So there is risk. Wonder felt at 1.20 that was appropriate. He went 1.10. Hard pass. Next. If Schoen liked (LOVED) one of the other 3 that went after 1.06, he would not have taken Nabers. So there’s your answer. Discipline.

Nabers is going to be a stud. Super stud actually. Schneier loves his balance after contact. Wonder loves his routes and havoc in the open field. Super high confidence is there that this blue chip pick is going to be a big problem for other teams to defense. So, as Wonder said last night, you can’t “quarrel” with the pick. We preferred to trade down once Alt was off the board (the Giants were never taking him anyway, or at least that’s our Eluemunor read), but they stayed at 1.06 and took the guy we would have taken if we had to pick at 1.06. I respect that process. It’s the exact opposite of Gettleman, who was hell bent on a WR in 2021.

What now? Schoen isn’t perfect, and I’m still pretty pissed about that injury clause in Jones’ contract. Jones is going to have a MUCH better OL this year (assuming we don’t get ravaged by injuries etc). Bricillo has chops. Either he salvages Neal or Eluemunor is the RT. Runyan (who will start) and the other 3 free agent signings give better depth than what they had previously.

When does Jones come back? Not week 1. That’s Drew Lock. It will be interesting to see how both Lock and Jones do with decent protection and WRs who consistently deliver separation. This is a strong set of WRs they have assembled. Well, damn, Schoen has invested R2 Robinson, R3 Hyatt, and now R1 Nabers, so it’s going to be on the QB to throw with anticipation and not be afraid. These WRs will need to be trusted. After Thomas, they are the best players on the field when the Giants have the ball. I’d prefer to have the QB (and the OL) before I have the WR. So would Schoen. He tried, but New England (or Chi/Was) wasn’t willing to trade down. Next. Make it work, Daboll, Kafka, and Bricillo.