Russ MUST Cook

By: Josh Frey-Sam

No head coach and GM combo has a hotter seat than the New York Giants’ Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen entering next season.

There are two ways they can buy themselves more time: succeed with a veteran quarterback or draft a young signal-caller that shows promise in their rookie season.

They chose the former earlier this week when they signed Russell Wilson to a one-year deal. To me, that’s the path where they are more likely to find success this year.

The Russ signing signals that the Giants believe the Titans are set on sticking and picking Cam Ward at No. 1 overall.

It also points to a few other things…

Was it a coincidence that the deal was announced mere hours after the University of Miami’s pro day, where Ward threw in front of a large group of NFL decision makers?

Could it be that the Giants were only interested in Ward being their starting QB as a rookie and not Shedeur Sanders? It looks like it to me.

The Giants have four picks inside the top 100 — including No. 3 and No. 34 overall — and their QB room is now Wilson, Jameis Winston and Tommy DeVito.

That leaves this team with some options at the top of the draft.

Was Sanders an option? Maybe, but now he doesn’t feel like one. Though Sheudeur’s game needs to mature, he’s not a guy you would draft and sit — ESPECIALLY in New York.

So now the likes of Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter are seriously in play for the Giants.

I wouldn’t completely rule out drafting a quarterback, though. It’s possible that their second-round pick is used on a QB, or that Schoen becomes uber-aggressive in what could be his last draft as a GM and trades back into the first round to get Jaxson Dart or Tyler Shough, but they have other needs they need to address as well.

A few options that are floating in my mind for the Giants

1. Draft Shedeur at No. 3 (if hes’s available) and deal with the pressure to play him

2. Draft Carter or Hunter and then draft another Day 1 starter at another position besides quarterback

3. Take Carter or Hunter then draft a QB (likely Tyler Shough) at 34 overall

4. Take Carter or Hunter then trade back into the first round for Jaxson Dart

Where the trade-ups become tricky is deciding where to trade up. I’ve been saying the Saints are in the discussion to take a QB at No. 9, and insiders have suggested the Jets are another team that could snag a QB. That would mean the Giants would pick at 3 and then package something huge together in order to trade with the Raiders at No. 6 to avoid risking Dart being selected.

In other words, the odds that the Giants end up with two top-10 selections are very unlikely. What’s more likely is they wait to see if Dart slides into the 20s and try to pounce there.

The idea behind the trade-up would be to hopefully have a successful season this year, then be able to move forward with your franchise QB next year. Why this isn’t a good idea is that the Giants are still a team with lots of holes and could really use another quality player at 34.

The Wilson signing has opened up a whole world of possibilities for the Giants now.

The only thing that feels locked in is that Wilson is the Week 1 starter, and Daboll and Schoen’s jobs are effectively in his hands, as it stands.

Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Josh