As the draft approaches, there’s been quite a bit of chatter that the Giants will take their quarterback of the future in the first round — but not with their own pick, No. 6 overall. Instead, the idea is that the Giants think one of the quarterbacks they like — Dwayne Haskins, Drew Lock or Daniel Jones — will drop to the 17th overall pick that they received in the Odell Beckham trade.
So will the Giants pass on a quarterback at 6 and take one at 17?
That would be an odd approach: If the Giants like one of those quarterbacks well enough that they think he’s the successor to Eli Manning, they should take him with the sixth overall pick, so as not to risk some other team taking him with Picks 7-16. And if the Giants don’t like a quarterback enough to take him sixth overall, then he’s not good enough to justify going 17th, either.
The latter point has been demonstrated by the Browns three times in recent years: In 2007, 2012 and 2014, the Browns had two first-round draft picks and took a quarterback all three times. Those quarterbacks — Brady Quinn, Brandon Weeden and Johnny Manziel — did not pan out. The lesson from the Browns is that if you’re not confident enough in a quarterback to take him high in the first round, there’s probably a reason for that.
Quarterback is, by far, the most important position in the NFL. If the Giants’ future franchise quarterback is available at Pick No. 6, they shouldn’t risk losing him by waiting for Pick No. 17.