New York Giants Mailbag: The "Draft Direction" Edition

If you'd like to submit a question for the New York Giants On SI weekly mailbag, please use the link below or post your questions on X (formerly known as Twitter) to @Patricia_Traina, hashtag #askPTrain. Please note that letters may be edited for clarity/length.
#askPTrain
— Bill Frantz (@feihc53) January 24, 2025
Pat, how do the Giants navigate this QB situation? Is this draft the answer?
Bill, as of right now, I think they will sign a veteran bridge to a three-year deal with an out after two years. If they draft a rookie in the first round (which I'm not convinced they will right now), they can let the rookie sit and develop while the bridge guy keeps the seat warm.
Then, after this season, reassess where things stand, and if you switch to the rookie, you have a veteran backup already familiar with the system on your roster.
If you do not draft a quarterback this year, you have a guy under contract for 2026, at which point you can see about drafting your franchise guy then. Make sense?
#askptrain A little rant. Is there any reason the Giants are keeping Bowen besides continuity? Three of their better defensive players had poor years under his system last year. And now many of his coaches have left or have been fired. Why not just clean house completely?
— Kris Kauffeld (@dublk52) January 24, 2025
Kris, I do think there is a matter of continuity involved, but I also think that Brian Daboll realized they need a lot more talent on the defensive side of the ball, which is why I wouldn’t be shocked if the defense gets a lot of attention in free agency and the draft.
Sometimes, bringing in a totally new system causes growing pains, and I suspect that, after analyzing things, Daboll decided that it was easier to make a change at the defensive backs coaching positions than to uproot everything. Time will tell if he’s correct.
How did the development of Andrew Thomas and Evan Neal differ? Both are high draft picks from top SEC schools. Both had very poorly reviewed starts to their careers. They are different people. That said, Where did things go right for Mr. Thomas and wrong for Mr. Neal? #AskPTrain
— James L. McMahan Jr. (iJames) (@ijamesmcmahan) January 21, 2025
James, that’s a really good question and I think there are a few factors that might answer that. First, Thomas didn’t miss as many games as Neal did early on due to injury.
I also think Thomas was far more polished coming out of college as he primarily worked at left tackle (with some snaps at right tackle) and didn’t flip flop around the line.
Lastly, I think you have to look at the player and what the team is asking him to do. Everyone knows what Neal’s issues were coming out of Alabama–balance being a big one with the ability to function in space is another issue.
The Giants' continuing to force the issue by insisting he’s a tackle isn’t doing him any favors. Now, to be fair, I believe that had Neal not suffered a setback last spring, they would have cross-trained him at guard. I also think that is still the intention to see if they can’t salvage his career.
I’m 80 years old and have been a lifelong Giants fan. What does it mean when the discussion is about drafting defensive players that “meet” the qualities or “system”of different defensive coordinators, specifically Wink Martindale’s players vs. Shane Bowen’s?-- Bob G.
Bob, the best way I can answer this is that you should look at the core philosophies and then reconcile those with the personnel's strengths and the team's needs.
For example, safety Jason Pinnock is a strong Blitzer who was deployed as such in Martindale’s system. But in Bowen’s system, he wasn’t deployed as much as a Blitzer and was dropped back more into coverage, where his lack of movement skills were exposed in zone coverage.
A good coordinator, regardless of what side of the ball he coaches, adapts to the personnel he has instead of trying to jam square pegs into round holes. Now, to be fair, Bowen didn’t have the personnel he needed to run the defense he wanted to run.
That said, he took quite a bit to adjust last season–an example of that is not running with a three-man line to stop the bleeding against the run defense when it was evident that Dexter Lawrence couldn’t get it done by himself.
(This letter was edited for brevity.) Why do we not keep putting resources into our O-Line? It doesn't matter who you have at QB, WR, or RB if the O-Line doesn't block. This has been the Giants' issue since the last ruined years of Eli Manning's career. We had the chance to take the 2nd best lineman available in the draft this past year; instead, we got an awesome skill guy, so how’d that work out? -- Lorin S.
Lorin, first, let’s not blame Malik Nabers for the 3-14 record. That’s just silly. That said, I agree 100% with you about building the team from the inside out. To me, premium picks are made on Day 1 and Day 2.
Of Joe Schoen’s three drafts so far, he’s made 11 “premium” picks, and of those, only three play in the trenches. All three trench players–Evan Neal, Joshua Ezeudu, and John Michael Schmitz–are offensive linemen.
Of those three, you could say they have a solid enough starter in JMS, but the other two? Can we agree the jury is out on them?
I’d like to see the Giants start getting more premium picks on the O-line and D-line and let those coaches develop that talent so that when injuries or guys leave during free agency, you have talent waiting in the wings to make the transition a lot smoother. In my opinion, the Giants have done a terrible job with that.
After watching the playoffs and the defenses seem to dominate, where do you think the Giants should go with their first two picks? I say CB and DT. --Barb R.
Barb, how the Giants attack free agency will tell us a lot if they can land cornerback D.J. Reed in free agency, for example, that eliminates the need for a cornerback in the first round.
I'd like to see them grab a defensive lineman (I really like Mason Graham of Michigan right now for the first pick) and then use the second pick on a quarterback if there is a good one. But it's still early, and I think/hope to get a better feel for what they might be thinking when the combine hits.
(This letter was edited for brevity.) Why do you REALLY think that the owners did not replace Daboll? His system is NOT working. He lacks creativity. – Joe G.
Joe, Daboll didn’t have competent quarterback play for most of the last two years. That factored into some of his abilities and his limitations. Do I think he made questionable calls at times? Yes. All coaches are guilty of that.
But how do you say his system isn’t working when Daniel Jones had his best season in 2022 and the team went to the postseason? I didn’t see your weekly letters complaining about the Giants' offense in 2022.
You say Daboll lacks creativity–please go back and watch the tape as there were plenty of instances where he schemed guys opened or came up with a creative play that had you nodding your head in agreement.
Seriously, you can complain about the decision all you want, but Daboll is the head coach moving forward.
If you believe the Giants are years away from contention, and in current state, no rookie QB could be set up for success AND you consider Travis Hunter the generational type of player/athlete at one of the biggest areas of need, isn't the plan rather straightforward? Continue to invest in the O-line, draft Hunter (if you can) and get Bridge or Day 2 QB? -- Johnny C.
Johnny, at some point this team needs to draft a quarterback. That said, I don’t want to see them force a pick just because. I think the plan has to be to get the best available regardless of position. That might not end up being the player the fans want, but that’s what they have to do. And yes, I do believe they’re going to get a bridge quarterback–they have to.
I read a proposal on social media that suggested drafting Jalen Milroe. Wondered what your opinion on that is? Also what round do you predict he would go in ? -- Jill H.
Jill, I do not want the Giants to force a quarterback pick just because of a need. My guess is that, as of right now, Milroe is a Day 2 pick. However, I thought Michael Penix would be a Day 2 pick, and we all know what happened. The NFL community doesn’t necessarily share the same opinions as the fans and media.
I like your mock draft and agree that if Hunter slips to us at 3, it would be an amazing value. But I worry about waiting until Day 3 to find a QB. If Milroe is there for round 3 pick, I think we have to take him. If you think a bridge QB is the route the Giants take [and I agree], who would you want? Darnold will be very expensive and I don’t fully trust his success this year. Fields? Viable options are very thin after him. -- Dave R.
Dave, you can’t go into a draft saying, “We’re going to take a QB in round two, a d-lineman in round 3, etc.” You go best available. Period and end of story. If you don’t think you’re going to be able to get the positions you need, you prepare for that in free agency.
As for which bridge quarterback I’d want, I don’t yet have one in particular that I’m pounding the table for, but among those I find intriguing are Jimmy G, Sam Darnold, Justin Fields, and Carson Wentz. I’m also curious to see if maybe Derek Carr shakes loose somehow to come her-e- I don’t think I’d trade for him, though.
I wonder if you have a sense of what Mike Kafka does as the Giants offensive coordinator. I find myself hoping that he'll be hired by another team, primarily because the offense he has been running the past few years has been pretty bad.
We all know that there are many reasons why a unit—or an entire team-- plays poorly, but I'd be hard-pressed to name something I like about the Giants' offense.
Of course, fans don't know who is doing what, and in this case, Daboll may be running it more than Kafka. Other teams seem to hold Kafka in high regard, so I don't know what to think. Any thoughts? – Kevin C.
Kevin, I am not aware of all that Kafka did this past year with the play calling removed from his plate, but I do know he was involved with setting up the game plan and serving as the eyes in the sky for Daboll.
At the end of the day, though, Daboll called the plays. Some of the game plans were questionable in my eyes, but I think you also have to give him a bit of a pass, given the quarterback's play. And I also think that if Kafka isn’t hired for a head coaching job, he will get the play calling again.