Valentine’s Views: Dave Gettleman, Kyler Murray seem like unlikely match

Random thoughts for an offseason Tuesday with the New York Giants deep in offseason mode while a great weekend of playoff football awaits.

Kyler Murray to Giants? Nah

The announcement by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Kyler Murray that he would enter the 2019 NFL Draft was not exactly unexpected. Why wouldn’t he do that, at least giving himself the option of playing pro football?

It set off hysteria in many places, including amongst Giants fans. Surprisingly, at least to me, most of the reaction in the @bigblueview Twitter feed came from fans preferring that the Giants not go anywhere near the diminutive Murray.

The dissenting, pro-Murray, view:

Put me squarely in the “no chance Gettleman drafts Murray” camp. This is a 67-year-old very traditional general manager who believes in “hog mollies” and has always preferred size. I would be shocked if Gettleman staked his tenure as Giants’ GM on a quarterback who “might” be 5-foot-9 and is anything but traditional. The Oklahoma athletic department insists Murray is 5-9 7/8. We’ll see.

Quarterback plan

I recently surveyed a number of NFL analysts regarding their opinions on a) what they thing the Giants’ plan is at quarterback for 2019 and b) what that plan would be if they were making the decision. You can read their thoughts here.

What I think is going to happen is this — I think Eli Manning is back in 2019. I think the Giants would consider Dwayne Haskins if he is there at No. 6, but I think there is virtually no chance that happens. I also don’t believe at this point that the Giants would trade up to get him. My guess? I think the likely target — if the Giants go for a quarterback in this draft — ends up being Daniel Jones of Duke. If that doesn’t happen, I think they will make their big move in 2020 because, well, they will have to.

Quick things I think I think

• I enter the offseason thinking that the Giants will move on from Olivier Vernon. Problem is, if they do that how do they replace the production that saw Vernon lead them in sacks (7) and pressures (46) while playing in only 11 games.
• Reason No. 8,746 that the Patriots are the Patriots. The Giants, overall, got good play from Nate Solder after signing him to a four-year, $62 million contract. He gave up 7 sacks and 33 pressures in 1,027 snaps. New England replaced Solder with Trent Brown and got roughly the same production (3 sacks, 35 pressures, 1090 snaps) for $1.907 million. “Kudos” to Louis Riddick for pointing that out.

A couple of quick playoff thoughts.

• I know I’m not the only one, but I’m looking forward to the new-school vs. old-school matchups this weekend of Drew Brees vs. Jared Goff and Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes.
• I can’t help entering the weekend wondering how Andy Reid will screw it up for the Chiefs. Great coach with a lengthy record of postseason flops.

I have to admit I got a kick out of this.

Remembering the good times

This time of year stinks when your team doesn’t qualify for the NFL postseason. The Giants have, of course, missed the dance six of the last seven years. Still, though, the march to the Super Bowl also serves to remind us that there have been lots of good times for Giants fans — more, in fact, than for most fan bases.

In case you haven’t been following along, Jeff Roberts has been taking us on a stroll down memory lane in his “A Date to Remember” series, looking at many of the biggest games in Giants’ history. Along the way, Carl Banks and Lawrence Tynes have provided anecdotes. There is plenty more to come in that series, so please stay tuned. Also, go back and check out what you’ve missed if you haven’t been reading along.

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