Giants Country

Former Giants Executive Questions Team's Quarterback Decision in 2024 Draft

Marc Ross, now with the NFL Network, thinks the Giants aren't being realistic if they believe Malik Nabers can help salvage quarterback Daniel Jones's career.

Patricia Traina

Apr 25, 2024; Detroit, MI, USA; LSU Tigers wide receiver Malik Nabers is selected as the No. 6 pick
Apr 25, 2024; Detroit, MI, USA; LSU Tigers wide receiver Malik Nabers is selected as the No. 6 pick / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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Former New York Giants Vice President of Player Evaluation Marc Ross, now an NFL Network analyst, recently questioned the team's wisdom of not dipping into the talent-rich quarterback class of the 2024 draft.

Speaking on NFL Total Access, Ross said that while he loved receiver Malik Nabers, whom the Giants picked at No. 6, he cautioned people to temper their expectations about the rookie being the cure-all for a stagnant offense ranked dead last in explosive plays last season. 

“Great receivers don’t save bad quarterbacks,” said Ross, who was with the Giants for 11 seasons before being dismissed by then-general manager Dave Gettleman in December 2017. 

Ross believes that unlike in Arizona, where their first-round pick of receiver Marvin Harrison, Jr. will enhance quarterback Kyler Murray's performance because “Murray has shown to be an upper-echelon quarterback in this league already,” thinks the Giants are being shortsighted in their belief of Nabers doing the same for Jones.

“The Giants think that Malik Nabers will save Daniel Jones, which hasn’t proven effective in this league. You don’t do that; you have to enhance good quarterbacks.”

Jones's presence on the roster continues to split the Giants fan base, with some being relieved that the team didn’t take a quarterback in this draft and some being angered/disappointed by the decision. 

Ross didn’t explain why he views Murray, who has a 28-36-1 record as a starting quarterback, and who, like Jones, has had one winning season (2021) in which his team went to the postseason (they lost the Wild Card round to the Rams that year), as “upper echelon.” But he was adamant that Jones isn't in that same category.  

“Daniel hasn’t proven to be that guy yet,” Ross said of Jones's being an upper-echelon quarterback. There are still going to be a lot of growing pains with the Giants' offense. And I think Malik Nabers will be a fantastic player, but I don’t know if it will be next year if Daniel Jones is still the quarterback.”

To a degree, Ross is correct that the receiver can’t throw the ball to himself. Coach Gene Clemons of Giants Country on SI.com made the same point on the latest Locked On Giants podcast.

“I can show you opportunities where guys are wide open in the middle of the field, and the ball doesn't get thrown to them," Clemons said. "So, what it comes down to is, will the trigger man let the ball go?”

Where Nabers can help the Giants, according to Clemons, is by taking screen passes the distance. 

“He's almost like your perfect marriage between what Wan’Dale Robinson can do and what Darius Slayton and Jalin Hyatt bring to the table,” Clemons said. “He can take the top off. He's deceptively fast because his gait is one that doesn't look like he's running fast until he's suddenly on you. But then you can throw it to him on a screen pass. He can make a guy miss and take it to the house.”

 Besides adding to the screen game, Nabers can help the offense in other ways, notes Clemons.

“Adding him and these other receivers makes it more difficult for defenses to take all the lanes away. And now you catch one of these guys who can take the distance and allow them to operate in space. And that's why I think you can see the value of Malik Nabers: what he can do after the catch, not necessarily what he can do over the top.”

To be clear, no one is confusing Jones with being an upper-echelon quarterback, not based on one winning season record that turned into a playoff berth in which the team won a postseason game for the first time since 2011. 

And if there is any doubt as to how the organization feels about Jones, one could argue that if the Giants felt tempted to inquire about moving up in the first round to have a chance at Drake Maye, they have some reservations about his future as the team’s signal caller. 

On the flip side, an argument could also be made that because they didn’t reach for a pick at the position, they feel that continuing to build around the position is the way to get back to being more competitive, regardless of who is throwing the ball in the long term. 

 

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Patricia Traina

PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for over three decades for various media outlets. She is the host of the Locked On Giants podcast and the author of "The Big 50: New York Giants: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants" (Triumph Books, September 2020). View Patricia's full bio.