To say the Daniel Jones pick was a divisive selection by New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman would be an understatement.
The GM got roasted almost immediately after making the Duke product the No. 6 overall selection in Thursday's first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, and the critiques haven't slowed into Friday.
Some Giants fans are flummoxed at the selection. The NY media had a field day bashing Gettleman:
Before the draft, Gettleman mentioned the Kansas City model -- wherein Patrick Mahomes sat a year behind veteran Alex Smith -- as a good design to follow. After drafting Jones, the GM seemed to move the goal posts.
Asked by NFL Network's Kimberly Jones if -- as Gettleman previously stated -- Eli Manning could play multiple years, whether that meant drafting Jones signaled 2019 would be Manning's final campaign in New York, the GM responded:
"Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Maybe we're going to be the Green Bay model," he said. "Where (Aaron) Rodgers sat for three years. Who knows? You can never have too many good players at one position."
A different reporter, seemingly incredulous about the response, asked if he really suggested Jones, taken at No. 6 overall, might sit for three seasons.
"Who knows?" Gettleman responded before launching into a nihilist take. "I may go out there in my car and get hit. You don't know. We drafted a quarterback we think is a franchise quarterback. That's really the long and short of it."
Pushed to explain why, if he thinks Manning can play multiple seasons in New York, he didn't get a player that would help Eli in the short term, Gettleman obfuscated.
"We don't know. Life's too short. You don't know how this is going to work. So, again, there's people drafting defensive tackles when they already have two stud starters. Why you doing that? Because it's where the value fit meets the draft pick."
Of course, you can play multiple DTs in a game. If you're playing more than one QB at a time, something flew off the rails.
The truth of the matter is that we can't know today whether Gettleman's pick was correct. It's physically impossible.
It's fair to believe the Giants reached, should have waited, or made countless other moves Thursday night. It's also fair to note that if Gettleman felt strongly that Jones is his future franchise QB, taking him at No. 6 is the appropriate move.
Manning entering the final year of his contract creates a natural transition from one era to the next, given the high price paid for Jones. Suggesting Big Blue could re-up the veteran signal-caller and keep Jones on the bench for an additional two seasons sounds more like reverence to a two-time Super Bowl MVP than a legitimate long-term option.
