Todd McShay 2019 NFL Mock Draft 1.0: Giants select QB Dwayne Haskins

Good morning, everyone! We’re in to the final quarter of the 2018 regular season and while the New York Giants are still mathematically alive in the playoff hunt, their odds of playing after Week 17 are slim and trending towards “none.”

Their odds of landing one of the first 10 selections, however, are still strong. That means that it is much more “draft season” for Giants fans than “stretch run” season. And as it so happens, ESPN’s Todd McShay has released his first mock draft in advance of the 2019 NFL Draft.

Since it is Insider content, we’ll bring you the Giants’ pick:

10. New York Giants

Dwayne Haskins, QB, Ohio State**

The more I watch this kid, the more I think he’s a legitimate first-round talent. The Eli Manning era is nearing an end in New York, and Haskins addresses Big Blue’s most glaring need. You have to feel pretty good about an offense featuring Haskins, Odell Beckham Jr. and Saquon Barkley.

Now the Giants just need him to declare for the draft.

Raptor’s Thoughts: First off, McShay does have Justin Herbert in his mock, going seventh overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Moving on, I am of two minds about this pick. On one hand, Haskins has played well this season. He is the rare Urban Meyer QB who is primarily a pocket passer (he definitely isn’t a statue, though), and he has largely been efficient running Ohio State’s offense. Over the last quarter, or so, of the college season he was legitimately excellent. Haskins has enough mobility to navigate the pocket and extend plays, with all the arm strength you could ask for to challenge the Meadowlands’ winds. His decision making has been sound and he has solid accuracy to all levels of the field. Haskins has just about everything you could want from a quarterback prospect from a tools perspective.

But on the other hand, he is a red-shirt sophomore and while he has had a season that put him in the Heisman conversation ... that’s the extent of his resume. For myself, personally, quarterback the one position where I always weigh age and being an upper-classman as being marks in their favor. Normally they’re neutral at best, and for players premier positions with an athletic premium, younger is usually better. But at quarterback, having those extra two or three years of experience and mental maturity (literally, the brain does not stop maturing until after the usual age of college graduation), are a massive positive for me. Sure, getting him as a red-shirt sophomore means that the Giants will have him in-house and learning behind Eli Manning (with whom he already has a relationship from the Manning Passing Academy). But that isn’t the same as playing games, seeing defenses first hand, and making decisions in the moment.

And then on the third hand (okay, my name isn’t Zaphod, so we’ll just juggle ideas here) having a young quarterback on a rookie deal is an incredible advantage for the team. Even with the salary cap pushing toward $200 million in the coming years, the Giants will need the extra cap flexibility that having a QB on a rookie deal provides as they work to re-sign players like Sterling Shepard, Dalvin Tomlinson, Saquon Barkley, and potentially Sam Beal.

So then, what do you think of selecting Dwayne Haskins if he does indeed declare for the draft and falls to the Giants’ pick?