Giants GM Dave Gettleman hints he’s not leaning toward QB at No. 2
New Giants GM Dave Gettleman talks to media at Giants training facility in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Dec. 29, 2017. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Giants have not yet begun to assemble their draft board. They’ll do that next week when they get back from the NFL meetings and bring together all of their scouting reports along with the results of their visits to pro days around the country. By the time the first round comes around on April 26, they’ll have their list of players ranked.
Really, it doesn’t have to be a long list. Two names is all they need for the first round if they remain at their current drafting place. And it appears likely that neither of them will be a quarterback.
General manager Dave Gettleman said on Tuesday that his board would be based on talent without regard to position. It’s that last element that normally tips the scales for teams in the direction of the most important position in the sport, why teams often reach for quarterbacks, and why many believe that the Giants would be crazy to not take advantage of their No. 2 overall selection and grab a possible quarterback for the next decade or more.
But if Gettleman is true to his word, it’s hard to see him selecting Josh Rosen or Sam Darnold or Josh Allen ahead of the players that are, from outside observations, the consensus best players available in the draft: Saquon Barkley, Quenton Nelson and Bradley Chubb.
Gettleman even said it is “easier” to pick a player who is not a quarterback at that spot because there is no thumb on the scale.
“If I’m sitting on my big cheeks looking at the board and I’m saying ‘This guy has got it,’ really, is it hard?” he asked.
If Barkley is available at No. 2, it may not be hard at all. Gettleman raved about the running back from Penn State.
“It’s unusual, I’m telling you,” he said of Barkley’s skill set. “He can string together moves and get in and out of stuff . . . He’s unique, not doubt about it. He’s big, he’s powerful. He can step on the gas. He’s got different levels of speed. He catches the heck out of the ball and he sees the blitz-pickup stuff. He’s unique.”
It also sounds as if Barkley would fit Gettleman’s bar of being a potential Hall of Famer as the No. 2 pick.
“When we set the board and have our conversations, [we ask] is that guy worth being the second pick in the draft? Can we picture him someday maybe putting on a gold jacket?” Gettleman said. “You have to think that way. You can’t draft anybody with the second pick hoping.”
There seems to be little uncertainty about Barkley, although one last hurdle remains. Gettleman has yet to spend much time with him. The Giants plan to have Barkley at their facility for a private visit before the draft.
“Shame on me if I don’t know him,” Gettleman said. “Everybody has said he’s a great human being.”
If Gettleman sees the makings of a stirring induction speech in Canton in about two decades during that visit, Barkley could be a Giant on April 26.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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