- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 370,631
- Reaction score
- 43
Many experts consider the selection of Penn State running back Saquon Barkley by the New York Giants with the second overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft to be one of the worst of all-time.
It doesn't matter that Barkley is well on his way to Canton and has just turned the football world on its head by leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a triumphant victory over the dynastic Kansas City Chiefs. All that matters today is that Barkley never led the Giants anywhere and they still have not found their franchise quarterback.
At the moment, they are in the midst of interviewing washed-up veterans and cast offs to take snaps this season while they continue their search.
Draftniks continue to harp that Giants general manager Dave Gettleman squandered his draft capital by taking a running back that high in the draft, regardless if Barkley was the best player in the draft and was already being fitted for a gold jacket.
Pat Shurmur, the Giants head coach at the time, recently told Big Blue View that Barkley was the team's top choice but they were also eyeing a young quarterback with that pick as well.
“Had we not drafted Saquon, the quarterback that I felt like we should have drafted was Josh Allen,” Shurmur said.
“We took Saquon, who we felt was the best player in the draft with the No. 2 pick. In the next year, we were looking, now it was time, we needed to get a quarterback, right? We had a Hall of Fame player in Eli [Manning] that was near the end. And so we needed to get a guy. And in that year, it came down to Daniel Jones and Dwayne Haskins, right? God rest his [Haskins’] soul."
Allen was taken seventh overall in 2018 by the Buffalo Bills.
Allen, as we know, is killing it in Buffalo doing everything except bringing home a Lombardi Trophy so far. The Giants still had Manning but knew he was close to the end. A quarterback wasn't necessary in the draft that year, but it sure would have helped considering what happened going forward.
In 2019, the Giants selected Duke's Daniel Jones with the sixth overall pick. After a promising showing as a rookie under Shurmur, Jones fell into a vicious cycle of injuries, poor supporting casts and a parade of coaches and coordinators.
Shurmur was fired following the 2019 season after a 4-12 season. After that, Jones began a stretch of inconsistency but gave the Giants enough of a glimpse of his upside for them to invest $160 million in him via a contract extension.
Looking back, Shurmur says the Giants made the right moves with the information they had at the time.
"As an organization, we picked those players for the right reasons," he said. "Saquon was Rookie of the Year, had the same number of touchdowns that year as he had this year, right? And, obviously the arrow up on him. Played Daniel the second year because of all those attributes. And you have to say after his first year, the arrow was up on him."
Unfortunately, the Giants have nothing to show for it. Barkley is a champion with the Eagles and Jones is now onto his third NFL team, the Indianapolis Colts.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Pat Shurmur: Giants nearly drafted Josh Allen in 2018
Continue reading...
It doesn't matter that Barkley is well on his way to Canton and has just turned the football world on its head by leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a triumphant victory over the dynastic Kansas City Chiefs. All that matters today is that Barkley never led the Giants anywhere and they still have not found their franchise quarterback.
At the moment, they are in the midst of interviewing washed-up veterans and cast offs to take snaps this season while they continue their search.
Draftniks continue to harp that Giants general manager Dave Gettleman squandered his draft capital by taking a running back that high in the draft, regardless if Barkley was the best player in the draft and was already being fitted for a gold jacket.
Pat Shurmur, the Giants head coach at the time, recently told Big Blue View that Barkley was the team's top choice but they were also eyeing a young quarterback with that pick as well.
“Had we not drafted Saquon, the quarterback that I felt like we should have drafted was Josh Allen,” Shurmur said.
“We took Saquon, who we felt was the best player in the draft with the No. 2 pick. In the next year, we were looking, now it was time, we needed to get a quarterback, right? We had a Hall of Fame player in Eli [Manning] that was near the end. And so we needed to get a guy. And in that year, it came down to Daniel Jones and Dwayne Haskins, right? God rest his [Haskins’] soul."
Allen was taken seventh overall in 2018 by the Buffalo Bills.
Allen, as we know, is killing it in Buffalo doing everything except bringing home a Lombardi Trophy so far. The Giants still had Manning but knew he was close to the end. A quarterback wasn't necessary in the draft that year, but it sure would have helped considering what happened going forward.
In 2019, the Giants selected Duke's Daniel Jones with the sixth overall pick. After a promising showing as a rookie under Shurmur, Jones fell into a vicious cycle of injuries, poor supporting casts and a parade of coaches and coordinators.
Shurmur was fired following the 2019 season after a 4-12 season. After that, Jones began a stretch of inconsistency but gave the Giants enough of a glimpse of his upside for them to invest $160 million in him via a contract extension.
Looking back, Shurmur says the Giants made the right moves with the information they had at the time.
"As an organization, we picked those players for the right reasons," he said. "Saquon was Rookie of the Year, had the same number of touchdowns that year as he had this year, right? And, obviously the arrow up on him. Played Daniel the second year because of all those attributes. And you have to say after his first year, the arrow was up on him."
Unfortunately, the Giants have nothing to show for it. Barkley is a champion with the Eagles and Jones is now onto his third NFL team, the Indianapolis Colts.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Pat Shurmur: Giants nearly drafted Josh Allen in 2018
Continue reading...
