By Brandon Furrer
Most football fans know that this upcoming draft is very quarterback friendly. However, fans in New York are feeling a lot more pressure and feel very nervous. The New York Giants and Jets have back to back picks, respectively the second and third overall picks. The New York Giants have had Eli Manning at the helm for almost a decade and a half. The New York Jets, since around the time Manning was drafted, have gone through multiple quarterbacks that didn’t pan out the way the organization thought they would. Mark Sanchez, Geno Smith, Kellen Clemens and Christian Hackenberg are just a few of the many quarterbacks who didn’t live up to expectations.
Now it’s possible the Giants finally find Eli Manning’s replacement in this years draft with their second overall pick. I know in my mock draft I chose them to draft Saquon Barkley, but if they choose to go quarterback it shakes up everything. The Jets will obviously go quarterback. It’s the reason they traded up from sixth to third. They wanted to be sure they could select one of the top quarterbacks in the draft. This means the possibility of both teams finding their guy of the next 10 years in this draft. Thats a pretty big deal when it has to involve one of the biggest cities of them all from a media stand point. This seems like it could, in 30 years, be one of those ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries. You sit here and say, what if Giants get Darnold and the Jets get Rosen? New York fans will always look back to this draft. Which guys will win more Super Bowls, who will become and All-Pro or go to Pro Bowls. This draft really has the chance to impact the city and metropolitan area in New York and New Jersey.
What even makes it bigger is that the Giants and Jets every year play each other in the third week of the pre-season. This game would instantly become the biggest game of the pre-season. All eyes would be on this game to see which team got it right, even though it’s three weeks into their careers. The media of New York would tear this game apart limb by limb and dissect every little thing these guys do,whether it’s the combination of any of the top four quarterbacks of Josh Allen, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen or Baker Mayfield.
On the bright side, it’s good that any of these rookies taken by either team will have good veterans to show them how it’s done. The Giants, as I mentioned before, have two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning. The Jets have Josh McCown, who is the epitome of NFL journeyman, he has played for seven different teams. The Jets also got Teddy Bridgwater, who is a former first round pick and could teach the rookies how to deal with the pressures of being a first round pick. The Giants drafted Davis Webb last year to be a backup, but no one is sure if he can really be the guy from what I understand. There is a lot on the line today for both New York football teams, and I encourage you watch the draft because this is going to be a fun one. It doesn’t happen a lot where two teams in the same city are picking back to back in the top five with the same position need. Get ready and buckle up football fans!
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