Chad Gad Gettleman

(For a Passover Draft, sung to Chad Gadya..)

One little Gettleman. One little Gettleman.

1.02 Barkley, which ate the Gettleman. One little Gettleman.

DeAndre Baker due diligence, which bit the 1.02 Barkley which ate the Gettleman. One little Gettleman.

Galloway21, which beat the Baker due diligence, which bit the 1.02 Barkley, which ate the Gettleman. One little Gettleman.

Omameh Cut, which burned the Galloway21, which beat the Baker due diligence, which bit the 1.02 Barkley, which ate the Gettleman. One little Gettleman.

Rudolph Physical, which put out the Omameh Cut, which burned the Galloway21, which beat the Baker due diligence, which bit the 1.02 Barkley, which ate the Gettleman. One little Gettleman.

6 carry Stewart, which drank the Rudolph Physical, which put out the Omameh Cut, which burned the Galloway21, which beat the Baker due diligence, which bit the 1.02 Barkley, which ate the Gettleman. One little Gettleman.

Trade deadline Williams, which killed the 6 carry Stewart, which drank the Rudolph Physical, which put out the Omameh Cut, which burned the Galloway21, which beat the Baker due diligence, which bit the 1.02 Barkley, which ate the Gettleman. One little Gettleman.

Adult Pat Shurmur, which slew the trade deadline Williams, which killed the 6 carry Stewart, which drank the Rudolph Physical, which put out the Omameh Cut, which burned the Galloway21, which beat the Baker due diligence, which bit the 1.02 Barkley, which ate the Gettleman. One little Gettleman.

Most paid Solder, which smote the adult Pat Shurmur, which slew the trade deadline Williams, which killed the 6 carry Stewart, which drank the Rudolph Physical, which put out the Omameh Cut, which burned the Galloway21, which beat the Baker due diligence, which bit the 1.02 Barkley, which ate the Gettleman. One little Gettleman.

Draft Update Part 2

Wonder has had some “off the field” issues causing delays in getting the Draft info delivered. We hope to get a Draft Board up tomorrow before the Draft starts. Keep checking.

What Wonder would like the Giants do is take Joe Alt at 1.06. OR, trade with the Jets down to 1.10, and then trade down again to the 1.20’s and take Michael Penix Jr.

“Penix is better than McCarthy, Maye, and Bo Nix,” said Wonder. “Many have Penix as the 6th best QB in this Draft class. I have him behind Williams and Daniels as the 3rd best. If it wasn’t for the 2 ACLs he would be drafted 1.03 overall. This is a perfect fit for the Giants. He can sit a little bit and play a little bit his rookie year, and then next year when the Giants (presumably) cut Jones, he will start. They can collect a lot of draft assets by trading down, AND get a top flight QB.”

More tomorrow.

2024 NFL Draft, Part I

UltimateNYG’s draft analyst, Wonder, has been breaking down tape and is done with the Safeties, Cornerbacks, and Tight Ends. He watches a ton of college football and has plenty of commentary on other prospects that he has not yet reviewed (combine, tape). His comments can change between now and next Thursday (Day 1 of the Draft), but here are some macro observations…

Let’s get right to it for the Giants. What does Wonder think the Giants should do with the 1.06 overall pick? Of course that depends on what others ahead of them are doing, but he is hot for Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels. “The Bears are not doing anything except taking Williams,” said Wonder. “If Washington could somehow be persuaded, I would give them the 1.06, the R2 pick and a R1 next year to move up 4 spots to get Daniels.”

He continues. “Of course, we do not expect that to happen either. Do not trade up for Maye. And please please please do NOT take (or trade up for) McCarthy. JAG (just a guy). McCarthy’s upside ceiling is Dalton, which is a nice QB, but you do not blow major assets (1.06) for that. McCarthy’s comp is probably Kirk Cousins. McCarthy is not going to be the kind of franchise QB that transforms your team. Stay away.”

The way the draft will unfold, Williams goes 1.01, Daniels goes 1.02, and NE takes Maye at 1.03. AZ takes Harrison at 1.04. It gets interesting at 1.05. “Maybe Minnesota or the Raiders trade up to 1.05 for McCarthy,” says Wonder. “Good. Now at 1.06, you take Joe Alt.”

Tackle? Another Tackle? Consensus is that the Giants won’t do this because they already brought in Eluemunor as the swing tackle in case Bricillo can’t fix Neal. Consensus is that the Giants will go WR if they can’t get their QB. “I do not care,” explains Wonder. “It is not sexy, and yes there are a lot of Offensive Tackles in the 2024 draft, but none of them are Joe Alt. He is the clear #1 Tackle and he would be selected 1.01 in many drafts if not for these QBs here in 2024. Alt will be the bookend to Thomas and it will make everything else better for the Offense. Alt (and Thomas) will make the QB better. They will make the run game better. Play Jones another year, and the next QB will have a very good OL waiting for him.”

What about those great WR prospects? “Harrison does not entice me. Yes, he has the highest floor. But I do not like his ceiling and I think he is missing breakaway speed. The WR I really like is Nabers, who has the biggest ceiling. Odunze is not in Nabers’ class. There is a huge difference between Nabers and Odunze. Nabers has some comps to Jamarr Chase.”

Wonder thinks Schoen missed a big opportunity. “Schoen should have gone after Fields and we would not even be having this discussion about QB. Pittsburgh stole him owing to circumstance of Chicago being enamored with Caleb Williams. Fields was the cost effective solution for QB. If Schoen can at least lock down the other Tackle in Joe Alt, maybe he can find the next QB (a la Fields) to plug in behind that OL.”

My only comment from all of this: at least I agree with Wonder about not taking a WR. I am enamored with Rome Odunze, as I think he can be a franchise player who sticks with the team for 10 years. But nonetheless, all the same, WR is a luxury the Giants cannot afford. I would prefer them to trade down, and then completely out of Round 1. You will never get an argument from me if they take Alt. Gotta control the line of scrimmage. For those that think Bricillo will lessen the need for using premium draft picks at this position, my response is that a coach like Bricillo will turn a guy like Alt into an All Pro.

Wonder’s final comment- “We see it all the time how horrible organizations destroy good talent. They never properly give the talent the opportunity to flourish.” He is not optimistic about what will happen to Daniels in Washington.

Giants Go Big

I am always a little circumspect about Free Agency. Ok, a lot. Regular readers of this NY Giants blog know that Free Agency is typically “B Players, A Prices.” So making a splash in Free Agency is not without risk. You can do well in Free Agency. You can also get smoked with a player who gets paid, gets hurt, and all you’re left with is a nasty cap hit for your troubles.

Now that we have qualified that, the Giants did reasonably ok in Day 1. Why? Because their big splash was for a young Pro Bowl EDGE and because they got (relatively) inexpensive help at OL.

IN: EDGE Brian Burns (5 yrs $150M + R2.39 +R5 2025). G Jon Runyan (3 yrs $30M). G Jermaine Eluemunor (2 yrs $14M). RB Devin Singletary (3 yrs $16.5M).

OUT: S Xavier McKinney (4 yrs, $68M) and RB Saquon Barkley (3 yrs, $38M, $26M guaranteed).

One must remember that the cap has exploded in the past few years. Consider that the cap was $182M in 2021. It went up to 208M in 2022, then $225M in 2023, and now $255M in 2024. The 2022 and 2024 increases (14% in each year) are the 2 biggest percent cap increases since 2006, and easily the 2 biggest cap increases in absolute dollars by a wide margin. So these numbers are like monopoly money.

Wonder weighs in on the players.

Burns– “I love. Paying for him in FA is fine. Trading a R2 and a R5 is fine. Doing both is not ideal. Burns is not elite, but he is a very good player. The Giants DL with Thib, Lawrence and Burns is a game changer. The $30M per year is crazy money though.”

Runyan– “60 out of 100. He is an average plus Guard. Healthy (hasn’t missed a start). Good all around player, staple. Paying him 10/yr is fine.”

Eluemunor– “I like this guy A LOT. Great price. GREAT DEAL. Road grader. Tough! They got him for a steal.”

Singletary– “Price is ok. It will not hurt you. He is a dime a dozen. OK price.”

Barkley– “If the Giants paid that money, stupid. The Eagles overpaid too, but it makes much more sense for them because he’ll help them more.”

McKinney– “68M for 4 years???? Crazy. I like other moves the Packers made like getting rid of Jones, getting Jacobs. But they gave it all away by signing McKinney for 17/yr.”

We have been preaching the following simple rules for architecture for MANY YEARS now:

QUARTERBACK
PROTECT QB
RUSH THE QB

So what did Schoen do?

He chose not to pay for Safety and Running Back. Check.

And he paid for assets at EDGE (RUSH QB) + GUARD (PROTECT QB). Check.

Add that he gave a 5 year deal to a 25 year old (26 in April) pass rusher, and did not go long in the tooth for either of the other three (3, 3, and 2 years), and it was sensible. Schoen and Daboll know Singletary from Buffalo. Bricillo knows Eluemunor from Las Vegas.

Because the Giants traded this year’s 2.39 pick (and a R5 in 2025) for Burns, it tells me that they are (or at least should) no longer seriously trading up for a QB at the top of the draft. That 2.39 pick this year was going to be currency in a big trade. Perhaps they still have a scenario where they trade up to 1.03. Wonder: “If Daniels is available at 1.03, pay up to get him. But do not trade up for Maye.” I am not averse to going up to get my QB. We have been talking about the QB route since November. I am merely pointing out that without that premium 2.39 pick, the Giants will be threadbare with so many needs if they have to capitulate even more draft assets. Essentially 1.01-1.02 are now off the table. It is possible that a QB at 1.03 or 1.06 happens. I think the most realistic route is to trade down with someone who pines for that WR. That replenishes draft assets and moves the Gmen in the right direction.