With the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft, the New York Giants selected Duke quarterback Daniel Jones.
That decision, made by then-general manager Dave Gettleman, drew immediate criticism from the experts and ire from the fans. Five years later, precious few have fallen into “full-bloom love” with Jones as Gettleman had.
Outside of a stellar 2022 campaign in which he led the Giants to the playoffs and picked up a road victory over the Minnesota Vikings, Jones’ career has been spotty at best.
Compounding the inconsistent play, which is also partially a byproduct of the poor offensive talent around him, Jones has endured multiple serious injuries. Most concerning have been his neck issues, but he’s also now returning from a torn ACL.
If given the option to go back in time, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report believes the Giants would do things differently. And in his 2019 NFL re-draft, he has Big Blue going with South Carolina wide receiver Deebo Samuel in Round 1.
Instead of rolling the dice on Jones a second time in a redraft, the Giants take wide receiver Deebo Samuel. While Samuel might not be the best pure receiver to come out of the 2019 class, San Francisco’s second-round pick is a versatile and dynamic playmaker.
Valuable as both a receiver and a runner, Samuel has twice eclipsed 1,100 scrimmage yards and was a first-team All-Pro in 2021. He’d give the Giants another potent playmaker to pair with the equally versatile Saquon Barkley for the next five seasons.
Barkley was allowed to depart in 2024 free agency.
Having both Barkley and Samuel in the fold would give the Giants plenty of offensive options. While the challenge of finding Eli Manning’s successor would remain, New York would help ensure that the proverbial cupboard isn’t bare for its next signal-caller.
In this re-draft, Terry McLaurin went 12th overall to the Green Bay Packers and the argument could be made that he would have been the better choice here.
Meanwhile, at pick No. 17 overall, the Giants stayed true to their original and selected Clemson defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.
The real question is how Lawrence still managed to fall all the way to No. 17 given that he’s arguably the most dominant defensive player in football.
