The reaction to the Giants’ decision to draft quarterback Daniel Jones with the sixth overall pick has not been terribly positive in the New York/New Jersey area.
Many of the detractors feel that General Manager Dave Gettleman should have taken edge rusher Josh Allen at No. 6 and then taken Jones at No. 17, which assumes that no one would have taken Jones before the Giants were on the clock for the second time in the first round. After the draft came to an end, Gettleman said that assumption was a faulty one.
“I know for a fact there were two teams who would have taken [Jones] before 17 ... It wasn’t easy for me to pass up Josh Allen. It was very very difficult. But I think that much of Daniel Jones and his future as an NFL QB,” Gettleman said, via Tom Rock of Newsday.
Gettleman didn’t reveal how he knew or which teams were going to make Jones a first-round pick, but Washington took quarterback Dwayne Haskins at No. 15 and Jones could have been the player they preferred.
Now that the pick is made, it doesn’t matter all that much whether there were two teams, five teams or no teams that were interested in Jones. What matters is whether he plays well enough to make Gettleman look smart for eschewing conventional wisdom and making Jones his choice at the top of the draft.