When Joe Schoen talked to the media at the Senior Bowl Wednesday, the big topics were the Giants’ two big free agents, Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley.
That’s GM business that will be handled after the Senior Bowl ends, but when it comes to the collegiate showcase itself, this year is a lot different than last for Schoen…because basically, he knows what he’s doing and has his staff in place.
“It’s a whole new world,” Schoen said. “Last year’s Senior Bowl was the first time I actually met my college scouts, and this year, we’re all on the same page in terms of what we're looking for, the process moving forward. We've now been through a year cycle and have done everything together for 365 days. And everybody knows the expectations. So, I think we're in much better shape this year."
The Giants own the No. 25 pick in the first round this year, by virtue of being the Divisional Round loser with the second-worst record. Three notable mock drafts – ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr., NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, and NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks – have Big Blue going wide receiver to get Daniel Jones (maybe?) a big weapon.
However, Schoen believes that skill players have a bigger learning curve from college to the NFL, and with so much going on, he can see a lot of talent but can only hone in on a select few.
“You have to ask: how far away are they in terms of their football foundation and knowledge?" Schoen said. “The good thing is this is Senior Bowl. There's a lot of good players down here. It's a good opportunity to see players compete against others – good-on-good. The team periods are hard when you're watching live. You've just got to focus in on a couple of guys during the day that you're interested in and get a good feel for them."
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Three of the Giants’ 11 2022 picks – Cor’Dale Flott, Daniel Bellinger, and Darrian Beavers – were Senior Bowl participants, and with teams now being able to conduct informal interviews in addition to the formal interviews on Monday and Thursday night,
Add in the Combine and the 30 in-house visits teams are able to make leading up to the Draft, and this year, Schoen will have an even better feel for how well a prospect fits into the system he and head coach Brian Daboll have built.
“Our scouting department has a great process of identifying players,” Schoen said, “and the goal is to get as much exposure as possible to each top prospect on the board.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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