National Football League

Giants made right move to get Daniel Jones the No. 1 WR he needs

Updated Apr. 26, 2024 8:44 a.m. ET

The New York Giants suffered through Daniel Jones' six terrible games last season, lived through his torn ACL and considered his two neck injuries in the past three years. Yet they still essentially committed to him for at least one more season when they didn't draft a quarterback in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night.

That's not likely to be a popular move among many in their disgruntled fan base.

But it was absolutely the right one.

The Giants did make an attempt to trade up for North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye, but once they were rebuffed by the New England Patriots, who took Maye at No. 3, they wisely declined to reach for another replacement for Jones. Instead, they stayed put at No. 6 and took LSU's Malik Nabers, who has been described by multiple scouts as the most explosive wide receiver in the draft.

In doing so, they gave the 26-year-old Jones the kind of weapon he's never had — the kind that every quarterback needs to have a chance in this pass-happy NFL era. Giants general manager Joe Schoen described Nabers as "electric." Giants coach Brian Daboll called him "a dog."

The Giants haven't had a receiver that could be described like that (with a straight face) since Odell Beckham was traded away in 2019.

Nabers really is that kind of receiver. He has a chance to be what Plaxico Burress was for Eli Manning early in his career, or what Beckham was for Manning later. He is a game-changing, sure-handed receiver with 4.3 speed and a burst that allows him to take short passes and turn them into long ones.

The Giants haven't had a single receiver top 66 catches or 751 yards in a season since Jones arrived in 2019. They've had nobody that worried a single defensive coordinator they faced.

Nabers had 89 catches for 1,569 yards and 14 touchdowns in 13 games last season. And you can bet opposing defenses will try to figure out where he is and where he's going every time he steps on the field.

Schoen insisted that Nabers was "the guy we targeted," which is what GMs always say after making their first-round pick. But it didn't go unnoticed that the Giants spent an inordinate amount of time the last few months wining, dining, probing and investigating all of the top quarterbacks in the draft. They were seriously considering hedging their bets on Jones' future. And multiple sources said they fell in love with Maye and considered trading up to get him. He was the quarterback that would have caused Schoen to move on from Jones.

But once that option dried up — and it became increasingly clear in recent days that it would — the Giants never felt desperate enough to reach for someone else. They did not have the same warm feelings about Michigan's J.J. McCarthy, according to a source, and they had medical concerns about Washington's Michael Penix, who went to the Atlanta Falcons at No. 8.

So, instead they decided to stick to the quarterback they married last March when they gave Jones that four-year, $160 million contract with $82 million guaranteed. It would have been bold and risky enough to move on from him so soon after the ink had dried on that deal. The Giants weren't going to compound the risk of reaching for a quarterback they didn't love.

Instead, they recognized their uncomfortable truth — that not much has changed in the two years since Giants co-owner John Mara was talking about Jones and famously said "We've done everything possible to screw this kid up since he's been here." They may have stabilized the coaching staff since then, but the offensive line last season was still a train wreck.

And they never came close to giving him that No. 1 receiver every quarterback needs.

Now they have, by picking Nabers, who will give Jones a fighting chance to succeed in Daboll's offense — and not just by handing the ball off or running himself like he did mostly during his best season in 2022. Jones has always shown he can throw the ball, both in the pocket and on the run.

Now he's got someone who can not only catch it, but do something with it, too.

There are still risks and unfinished business, of course. The Giants can't yet promise that Jones will be recovered enough from knee surgery to participate in training camp or start Week 1. And those neck injuries that they've never fully explained still seem to represent a recurring risk, too. They also still have work to do on that offensive line, and really need a big step up from right tackle Evan Neal. If the line is as bad as they were in Jones' six starts last season, it won't make much of a difference who his receivers are — especially since he doesn't have Saquon Barkley to fall back on anymore.

But if he's healthy, and if they can protect him, the Giants finally may have the building blocks of an offense. Yes, losing Barkley is still a blow, but they have a couple of promising young receivers in Jalin Hyatt and Wan'Dale Robinson — both of whom will now get the benefit of Nabers drawing most of the coverage away.

Had they drafted Jones' replacement instead they would have created a quarterback controversy this season that would have promised to be messy. And they would have thrown that young quarterback into the same situation that Jones was in — with no No. 1 receiver to help bail him out.

That would have represented a step back, which is never a smart move — especially for a coach who very likely needs to win this season to keep his job. Jones, despite last year's nightmare, gives the Giants the best shot to win sooner than later.

And it's an even better shot with a receiver like Nabers on his side.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.