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2 biggest Giants 2024 NFL Draft mistakes

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Tim Crean | Last updated 5/7/24

The New York Giants had a solid 2024 NFL Draft. They got a play-making wide receiver and drafted several players at positions of need such as at tight end and in the secondary. ClutchPoints gave Big Blue an A- overall for their draft. That said, there were still a few missteps by Joe Schoen and company along the way. Here are the three biggest Giants 2024 NFL Draft mistakes.

Not trading up for Drake Maye

We get it. Anyone who has ever made a big mistake and had to go back to their parents, boss, or significant other and own up to what they’ve done on top of making another big ask to get them out of the situation will understand.

Last offseason, Schoen and Brian Daboll went to the Giants ownership and said something to the effect of, “We believe in Daniel Jones so you should pay him $40 million a year.”

Walking back into that same office a year later and telling the owners that we need to move on from Jones and spend a top-five pick (or maybe even more to trade up) to remedy the situation is tough.

But that’s apparently what the Giants did if the 2024 NFL Draft rumors are true. They apparently tried to get the New England Patriots to move out of the No. 3 spot so they could take North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye.

The fact that they did this at all completely torpedoes any hope that Daniel Jones will revert to his 2022 form and become a long-term franchise QB. The world now knows exactly what the franchise thinks of its signal-caller and the clock on his imminent departure is now officially running.

If the G-Men truly believed that Maye was the answer over Jones, they should have moved heaven and earth to get a deal done. Would they have gotten killed by Mel Kiper for adding a third (or even fourth) first-round pick? Probably. But if an organization gets a decade-plus franchise QB, there is no price too high to pay.

Now, the team heads into the 2024 NFL campaign with a QB whose confidence will be just as busted as his neck, and that’s not good for anyone. Once the Giants kicked the tires on Maye, they should have gone all in and seen the process through.

Drafting Malik Nabers over Rome Odunze

LSU Tigers wide receiver Malik Nabers poses after being selected by the New York Giants as the No. 6 pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Malik Nabers might be incredible in the NFL. The talented wideout has speed, hands, and game-breaking ability that reminds many of the two superstar LSU pass-catchers who came before him, Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase.

However, Nabers isn’t as polished as either of them coming out of Baton Rouge, and to make his brand of explosiveness work, he may need a top-tier QB to get the most out of him. And as discussed above, the Giants don’t have that.

Plus, when it comes to speedy 6-foot WRs, the Giants’ depth chart has those bases covered pretty well-covered.

Darius Slayton, Jalin Hyatt, Wan’Dale Robinson, and Isaiah McKenzie are all more or less the same size and have a speed element to their game. And if the best WR corps are built like basketball teams, the Giants have a ton of guards and pretty much nothing else to speak of.

The 6-foot-3, 212-pound former Washington wideout Rome Odunze, who went to the Bears four picks later, is the stretch four or big wing (to keep the basketball analogy going) that you can build an offense around.

While Odunze might not offer the big play ability every time he gets his hands on the ball that Nabers does, he will make his quarterback better by doing more things in terms of route-running and getting open for easy completions (both in and out of the red zone) than Nabers will.

For teams like the Cincinnati Bengals with Joe Burrow and the Minnesota Vikings with Kirk Cousins, drafting Chase and Jefferson made sense. Even if Nabers is on the level of those two right away — which seems unlikely — the Giants would have been better off drafting a jack-of-all-trades type like Odunze than a less complete player like the LSU WR.

This article first appeared on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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