The Giants do have to at least have Daniel Jones on the roster for another year, but Tyrod Taylor is a free agent, Tommy DeVito is back to being just another roster filler it seems, and the QB situation as a whole is in flux.
Big Blue currently has the fifth pick but could land anywhere from second to eighth depending on Week 18 results, and we know that Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, and Marvin Harrison Jr. are the top three players on most rankings and all likely Top 5 picks.
If QB is the spot, Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix also have first-round grades…but after watching what he did all season and especially Monday night in the Sugar Bowl (430 yards, two TD, 31 yards rushing) – could Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. be a consideration for the G-Men?
“You assume at least one of these QBs will be available, and would they end up getting their guy?” Gio said. “Would Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll pin their hopes on one of these guys if it’s not Williams or May, or even Jayden Daniels? Could the fourth QB in this draft be the guy they push all their chips in for?”
“I don’t see it happening unless they get one of those top guys, but it’s interesting: for whatever reason, Michael Penix seems to be dropping in this draft,” Boomer said. “I see a kid that’s incredibly accurate with a very powerful arm, and he has 11-inch hands, which is amazing and one of the reasons the ball comes out so well.”
Boomer understands, though, that it’s weird for some to watch a left-handed QB, but he does know one that had pretty good success coming out of a lesser-heralded Power 5 school.
“I know there’s not a lot of pressure around him, but a couple tims last night, he did step up in the pickt under pressure and didn’t seem to flinch. The accuracy and ball flight is there, he can make all the throws…and these are big games.”
Penix went head-to-head with Williams and Nix and beat them both (beating Oregon twice), and he’s got Washington in the Natty against Michigan – but he has a laundry list of injuries, including two torn ACLs that limited him to 17 games in his three non-redshirt years at Indiana.
He has played all 27 of Washington’s games the last two years and will make it 28 next week, but he could still fall…so if he’s there in the second round, somewhere in the late-30s, for Big Blue?
“He loves playing football, and I don’t know where he’ll go, but whoever gets him will be very lucky to get him, because they won’t have to spend a high draft pick to get him,” Boomer said. “He’s a little bit older, but it’s okay. He followed his Indiana coach to Washington, and he’s playing for a national title, so that tells me he’s a winner. He seems to be the right guy, and may not be taken in the first round – which seems to be a boon for the Giants.”
So, too, might be this endorsement Boomer got from a former Giants QB.
“I was so high on him last year, and I remember Phil (Simms) told me the whole story about him,” Boomer said. “He was the highest recruit in Indiana history and he blew his knee out, blew his shoulder out, blew his knee out again, and then finally went to Washington these last two years. Last year was when I first really got to see him, and I was like, ‘man, this kid's unbelievable.’ Phil was telling me his story about him and everything else, and he has been great.”