The Giants Are Going to Get to Draft the Franchise QB the Jets Should Have
By Jason McIntyre
Nobody who watches football could have predicted the 3-2 Jets would be the best team in New York, while the Giants were 0-5.
It gets worse for the Jets: The Giants not only lost to the Chargers Sunday, but they lost three receivers for the season with injuries. Odell Beckham, Brandon Marshall and Dwayne Harris are done for 2017.
This puts Eli Manning in a predicament. He could end up getting Peyton’d this offseason. What if the Giants go 1-15 and get the #1 pick? I know they just drafted Davis Webb, but he’s not in the same class as USC’s Sam Darnold.
Would the Giants consider dumping Eli in the offseason if they do get the #1 pick? It seems unlikely, given that he’s won the franchise two Super Bowl rings, but it’s business, not personal. Joe Montana and Peyton Manning won Super Bowls in San Francisco and Indianapolis and were dumped; of course, they had injuries that led to the change.
Eli Manning, by all accounts, is healthy.
Meanwhile, it’s the Jets who haven’t been to a Super Bowl in decades. It’s the Jets who haven’t had a franchise QB since Ken O'Brien. (Sorry, Mark Sanchez. Apologies Chad Pennington.)
And now, because of wins over the Dolphins, Jaguars and Browns, it’s the Jets who are going to miss out on Darnold.
The Browns, 49ers and Giants are 0-5, and the idea one of them will win three games, or the Browns will win four seems incredibly unlikely.
I try to keep reminding Jets fans of this: In 2014, the Jets were 2-11 and hurtling toward the #1 pick in the draft, which would end up being Jameis Winston of Florida State. And Marcus Mariota wasn’t a bad consolation prize, either!
And then, it happened: December 14th, in Tennessee, Geno Smith decided to show up in the 4th quarter, driving the Jets the length of the field for the game-winning score, completing a rally to beat the Titans, 16-11. The Jets victory over Charlie Whitehead and the Titans would end up costing New York any shot at the #1 pick. Two weeks later, in the season finale, the Jets beat the Dolphins – another lucky Smith performance – and fell to the 6th pick in the draft.
No franchise QB for the Jets. Yes, Leonard Williams is a nice player. But to win in the NFL, you need a franchise QB.
The Jets are still searching for one.