Seeing how they got three players they had in the Top 8 of their board, the last at No. 26, it’s easy to say the Jets may have been the biggest winners in Round 1 of the 2022 NFL Draft.
But that also goes for the Giants, who, according to their new GM and head coach, had almost the “perfect scenario” when they came onto the clock at No. 5, with two picks in the next three.
“We had seven or eight cards, and kept switching them back and forth based on all possible scenarios,” GM Joe Schoen said after the round ended. “If we had two tackles and one edge rusher on the board, we were going edge knowing we could get a tackle at seven. After Kayvon, we thought there was a drop off in rushers, so we thought it was best to get the rusher first.”
“He’s not kidding – he had all these different magnets in his pocket, and we moved them around as much as we could so we were prepared for anything,” head coach Brian Daboll added. “When our situation came up and fell the way it fell, we had a plan.”
And the plan came together at No. 5, the Giants perhaps getting a steal by selecting Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux, who was rumored to possibly be a No. 1 overall pick at points leading up to the Draft.
“We’re excited about the thought of getting him in there with Azeez (Ojulari) on the other side. The pass rush is important to us, so we now have two young pass rushers we’re excited about,” Schoen said.
“Kayvon is quick off the ball and has a wide variety of moves, but can also set an edge for us on defense,” Daboll added. “It’s no secret we play multiple schemes under Wink (DC Don Martindale), and we envision Kayvon doing a lot of different things. He’s gonna have to come in here and earn it, but a productive player for us.”
That left, as Schoen intimated, the Giants a choice that was made for them at seven; the top two tackles, NC State’s Ikem Ekwonu and Alabama’s Evan Neal, were “ranked side-by-side” on the board, so when the Panthers took Ekwonu at No. 6, No. 7 was an easy selection for Neal, whom Daboll used his Crimson Tide connections to get a true scouting report on.
“He’s long, played multiple positions, and is a big massive man who makes rushers take the long route to the quarterback,” Daboll said. “I have a lot of people down at Alabama I trust, and they have a lot of confidence in him. Bobby Johnson and Tony Sparano also looked at him, and we thought highly of him.”
“If you asked around the league how everyone saw the tackles, you’d get a lot of answers,” Daboll added. “He’s a versatile guy who made 40 career starts at three positions in the SEC, and only missed one game in his career due to COVID.”
There were rumors of a possible hip issue on Neal’s radar, but the GM downplayed that.
“A lot of times, team share medical grades, and only eight percent I think had issues with anything with Evan,” Schoen said. “I think it was a rumor out there, but again, he missed one game because of COVID and that’s it.
Our medical staff did a great job and went through all that before any of the concerns came out. His play history backs that up.”
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So, then, what would’ve happened if the Giants didn’t get their dream scenario? Schoen noted that the team had six players on their top board, but with their second pick not until No. 7, they had to have contingency plans.
He actually had a few of them, because as he revealed, he had some potential trades in place for that No. 7 pick if things didn’t shake out the Giants’ way.
“We had three teams that had talked about potentially moving up, all at No. 7, so we had some conversations. We had six guys we coveted, and if all six went, we’d consider moving back, but any scenario where two of the six we liked were there, we were going to stay,” Schoen said.
The GM thought the prices were fair for those deals, which were in place and agreed to so that there was “no haggling” while they were on the clock – and yet, one backed out last minute because “a certain position was depleted.”
That would likely seem to indicate that unnamed team coveted either a rusher or a cornerback, considering those were the Top 5 picks – but one has to wonder who the six players the Giants coveted were, and what would have happened if they were all gone and no trades could be consummated.
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Maybe it was OT Charles Cross, who was selected ninth by Denver, or maybe it was one of the two corners taken in the Top 4 – but no matter who it was, there was, apparently, a guy.
“We coveted six guys, but we had a contingency plan – we had a seventh guy, so we could make a pick if we couldn’t move out,” Schoen said. “It was a unique draft, because typically you have an idea of who is going first, or second, or even third, but everyone was kind of speculating on that until it happened.”
Regardless, Big Blue got their men, and are ready to get to work in the later rounds.
“I credit Joe and his staff, and our coaching staff, because everyone put in so much time and effort,” Daboll said. “We’re excited about what we have. There’s always a lot of work to do with young guys, but certainly we’re excited with their talent and the young people they are.”
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