Acquiring draft picks is usually so ethereal, so intangible. What are they? They are hope for the future, a harbinger of potential or a precursor to a pratfall.
Building through the draft is vital. It is the only way to achieve sustainable success. Yet, before the draft slots become actual players, the picks are nothing but projections.
The Giants’ acquisition of a 2024 second-round pick (and a 2025 fifth-round pick) from the Seahawks for defensive lineman Leonard Williams is impressive right now. Beyond that, means little.
The Giants are paying $9.3 million of the remaining $10 million of Williams’ 2023 salary, so this is really the Giants paying for a second-round pick, paying for Williams to rush the passer and stop the run for the Seahawks.
A second-round pick could be, and often should be, a starter, perhaps immediately. But owning an extra second-round pick guarantees nothing.
It could turn out to be Michael Strahan or Amani Toomer or Osi Umenyiora or Tiki Barber or Chris Snee. Or it could turn out to be Tim Carter or Sinorice Moss or Clint Sintim or Marvin Austin or Azeez Ojulari, the way his injury-ravaged career is trending.
Or, if you want to extrapolate further, the extra second-round pick could be used as part of a package to move up in the first round of the draft to get a player targeted as a must-have. Maybe even a quarterback.
If the season continues to bottom out for the Giants and Daniel Jones does not rise out of the muck and mire, investing a high draft pick on a quarterback is not crazy thinking for the Giants.
And we all know early QB picks always work out peachy-keen.
For every Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes — all obtained via trade-ups — there is Jordan Love, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Mitchell Trubisky, Paxton Lynch, Johnny Manziel, Blaine Gabbert, Tim Tebow (had enough yet?), Brady Quinn, J.P. Losman and … OK, that’s enough for now.
A year ago, general manager Joe Schoen shipped oft-injured wide receiver Kadarius Toney — a player Schoen inherited — to the Chiefs in exchange for a third-round and a sixth-round pick in 2023.
At the time, Toney was not playing and was perceived to be an attitude problem, and the return was deemed to be more than sufficient. But it was nothing more than one second-day pick and one third-day pick. Who the heck knows what the Giants would eventually do with those additional choices? Lest we forget, these picks often end up being fairly forgettable, on the scene for a few years, perhaps, rarely re-signed once their rookie deals are finished.
Well, the Giants used the two picks they received for Toney in an interesting way. They shipped the third-rounder to the Raiders in exchange for tight end Darren Waller. And they kept the sixth-round pick they got from the Chiefs and used it on Tre Hawkins, a cornerback from Old Dominion.
How is this working out?
Toney helped the Chiefs beat the Eagles with a big game in Super Bowl LVII but otherwise has not done much in Kansas City.
Waller has not been able to rise out of the dysfunction that is the Giants passing attack — a bitter brew of an unreliable offensive line, poor play from the quarterbacks and Waller not exactly showing the form that made him a star with the Raiders in 2019 and 2020. He has a team-leading 36 receptions for 384 yards and one touchdown, and is on pace for 77 catches for 816 yards and two touchdowns. Not bad, not special.
That pace, though, will be interrupted because Waller was pulled early in the 13-10 overtime loss to the Jets with a hamstring injury and surely will miss time.
Hawkins, after an impressive summer, was named a starting cornerback alongside another rookie, first-round pick Deonte Banks. That lasted three games before Hawkins became a spot player, at times part of the rotation in the secondary, at items an afterthought.
He started and played 59 snaps in the 14-7 victory over the Commanders, filling in for an injured Adoree’ Jackson. When Jackson returned the next week, Hawkins did not play one defensive snap against the Jets. It is too soon to tell what he will become.
Sometimes the picks you send away create a story of their own.
The Raiders used the third-round pick they acquired from the Giants — No. 100 overall — on Tre Tucker, a wide receiver from Cincinnati.
As with most rookie wideouts not taken in the first round, Tucker has found it difficult to get on the field. In six games, he has seven receptions for 73 yards.
The Giants will get a look at him Sunday when they play their first game in Las Vegas, though Tucker played just six snaps on offense and was not targeted once in Monday night’s 26-14 Raiders loss in Detroit.
As for Williams, the trade closes the book on the trade the Giants made midway through the 2019 season to get him in the first place: They sent the Jets a 2020 fifth-round pick and a 2021 conditional fourth-round pick that turned into a fifth-round pick.
The Jets turned their return from the Williams trade into safety Ashtyn Davis and cornerback Michael Carter II. Davis is a special teamer and third safety. Carter is the Jets’ starting nickel back.
In unloading Williams, the Jets parted with an excellent starting defensive lineman, but a player they were not going to re-sign for big bucks. The Giants turned around and gave Williams a three-year deal worth $63 million, paying great money to a good player, which is not ideal.
Why would the Seahawks give up a second-round pick for Williams, a player on the final year of his contract, meaning this could be no more than a 10-game rental?
Well, the Seahawks are 5-2 and suddenly ahead of the 49ers in first place in the NFC West. Williams, 29, upgrades their defensive line. If they do not re-sign him, they receive a third-round compensatory pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, which would nicely offset the loss of the second-round pick.
“Everything,’’ Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said, when asked by reporters in Seattle what he likes about Williams. “We watched him for a long time and have known of him for a good while, [USC] Trojan and all of that. He’s a fantastic football player and is the kind of guy that can make the difference in games.
“He’s an all-around player, versatile, run and pass. He can rush the passer and can cause issues and problems for your opponent. He’s a terrific kid, he’s a leader and competitor and just the kind of guy you’re fortunate to have on your team.”
Williams will help the Seahawks for the remainder of this season. And the player they might have taken in the second round in 2024? He will forever be a mystery. Sometimes, good things come to those who wait. Sometimes, not.
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His own man
It seems as if every step he makes, every breath he takes, Kayvon Thibodeaux is viewed in a dim light because he is not Micah Parsons.
That does not diminish what Thibodeaux is turning into in Year 2 with the Giants.
We can state, unequivocally, that the Giants botched the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
They owned the No. 10 overall pick and wanted DeVonta Smith, the fleet wide receiver from Alabama. The Eagles traded up to No. 9 to get Smith.
The Giants could have sat there at No. 10 and taken Parsons, an edge rusher from Penn State, or Rashawn Slater, an offensive tackle from Northwestern.
Both were areas of need. Don’t overthink it, as they say.
Instead, the Giants passed on both players and traded down to No. 20 so the Bears could come up to No. 10 and take quarterback Justin Fields. At No. 20, the Giants took Toney, a wide receiver out of Florida. This turned out to be a blunder of the highest order, and the general manager who made the move, Dave Gettleman, was relieved of his duties after the 2021 season.
Parsons went to the Cowboys with the 12th overall pick.
The Giants back then were worried about Parsons’ long-term dependability — they had concerns about his character. There was little sense around the league that Parsons was the next great pass rusher.
That he has 32.5 sacks in his first 40 NFL games indicates he is a dynamic, difference-making impact player. The Giants — and probably five other teams that opted for different players in the first round that year — blew it with Parsons.
What does this have to do with Thibodeaux?
He was the No. 5 overall pick in 2022, and, for some strange reason, he is often linked to their decision not to draft Parsons. Yes, the Giants should have taken Parsons, but what does that have to do with the selection of Thibodeaux, made by Schoen and a new front office regime? Thibodeaux is not Parsons. But it is early in the careers of both young players, and there is much more to see.
Though Parsons has grabbed many of the headlines this season, the numbers for the two are intriguing.
Thibodeaux is coming off a great game in the loss to the Jets: three sacks, nine tackles, three tackles for loss, three quarterback hits and one forced fumble. He has 8.5 sacks in the past six games and is on pace for 18 sacks this season.
Parsons has played one fewer game and has six sacks, a pace that would see him finish with 14.5 sacks.
No one is saying Thibodeaux is Parsons, but anyone saying Thibodeaux is a disappointment is not paying attention.
Asked and answered
Here are two questions that have come up recently that we will attempt to answer as accurately as possible:
Is the offensive line actually showing signs of life?
It is not in vogue to say anything positive about the Giants’ offensive line. But: Is there hope for better days ahead?
In back-to-back games, the same five linemen played every snap, which is the first time there has been any semblance of continuity. The return of John Michael Schmitz to start at center against the Jets was a step in the right direction. That allowed Ben Bredeson to move to guard, his more natural spot.
The unit could take a quantum leap forward if left tackle Andrew Thomas can return this week from the hamstring injury that kept him out of the past seven games.
Thomas made strides last week getting back on the practice field, and the expectation is he will be able to play Sunday in Las Vegas. If that happens, it will allow Justin Pugh to move from left tackle to left guard, his best spot on the line. Evan Neal also might be back from his sprained ankle to start at right tackle. It could be that the Giants have their five best linemen on the field this weekend for the first time this season.
What Giants stat through eight games has surprised you more than most?
There are so many unimpressive numbers on offense to choose from.
The expectation was tight end Daniel Bellinger would take a step forward in his second year with the Giants. Sure, the addition of Waller meant Bellinger would see less of the ball in the passing game, but that did not mean he would be a bystander. He had 30 catches and two touchdowns in 12 games as a rookie. It was fair to speculate he might have 5-7 touchdowns this season as an attractive red-zone target, with so much attention being paid to Waller.
It has not worked out that way.
Bellinger has only four catches for 22 yards in eight games. He played 67 of the 75 offensive snaps against the Jets, and was targeted with a pass only one time with the Giants in run-it-nearly-every-play mode.
Bellinger dropped that one pass.
Bellinger basically served as an extra offensive lineman in the game, and it is difficult to be productive as a pass-catcher when blocking is the primary assignment.
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