NY Giants More Likely to Lean on Defense in the NFL Draft

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen is approaching the fifth overall pick in next week's NFL Draft as though he's already solved the most important piece of the puzzle.

Jaxson Dart showed enough promise during his rookie season to warrant reasonable confidence that he's the New York Giants' franchise quarterback, and that's a huge load off Schoen's shoulders.

"Last year, [it] was the quarterback situation and we’re going to take our swings," Schoen said recently.

"So it’s nice to have that piece in place – to have a rookie quarterback that played well in his rookie year and know who you’re going to build around.

"It’s an exciting time for us and some of the other young core pieces that we have, so you’re really going to build it around Jaxson, the new head coach, and some other changes within the organization."

Indeed, Dart's rapid progress and potential were key factors in luring free-agent head coach John Harbaugh and his successful, old-school, fundamental philosophies to the New York Giants.

From the moment Harbaugh arrived, he preached that his players must love the game and that winning will always be built on strength in the trenches. This blueprint requires the Giants to immediately focus their attention on improving the rushing defense.

"Coach and I have talked about that a lot – stopping the run is very important to Coach Harbaugh, it’s important to everybody. It’s just something we haven’t done well," Schoen admitted.

As part of this defensive overhaul, the Giants' most significant off-season move in this area was releasing middle linebacker Bobby Okereke and replacing him with free agent Tremaine Edmunds (Bears).

Still, it's clear that the front office has more work to do in the draft, although don't expect Schoen to force the issue by pushing a defender up on his board.

"You want to get the value right. Ideally, the need and the value … you know, this guy belongs here in the second round, and it’s a need, that’s when you take that player," he said.

"Now, if it’s a need position and a non-need position and they’re on the same level – or maybe one box below – you naturally lean toward the need."

Looking ahead to next week's draft, the team has a total of seven picks available, but it is notably without the third-round pick that was shipped to Houston last year so that the Giants could grab Dart in the first round.

For further insight, Big Blue Breakdown host Paul Dottino will have a complete recap of today's media session with Schoen tonight at 8 p.m. ET. Listeners will also be able to participate via chat and audio/video calls by entering the studio at this link.

Sign up for ourfree newsletter and follow us onFacebook andX for the latest news, and send your mailbag questions to us.

Add us as a preferred source on Google