Giants surprisingly pick Daniel Jones as Eli Manning’s replacement

Last week, I said that Dave Gettleman controlled how the draft would proceed, holding the sixth pick and with no one knowing which way he would go. He did not disappoint. The Giants did take the quarterback of the future with their first pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, but the identity is somewhat of a surprise.

They drafted Daniel Jones out of Duke, who was appearing in just over half of all mock drafts by the end of the first round. There was buzz that Daniel Jones could go higher than people expected and that played out.

Jones was 7th in the ACC last year in yards per attempt, at only 6.8 yards per pass.

Daniel Jones was a good pick by the Giants. Yes, there are criticisms, but he finished just outside of the top half of the ACC passing leaders last year. pic.twitter.com/T40CQg5aZp

— Football Perspective (@fbgchase) April 26, 2019

Now, we wait and see where Dwayne Haskins and Drew Lock go now that two quarterbacks are off the board. Expect Jones to sit for most or all of the 2019 season and Eli to get one final year as the starter, as Jones is definitely a developmental project.

There have been two major surprises in the draft’s first six picks, and while the draft can be unpredictable, if you had predicted those picks would have come from the Raiders and Gettleman’s Giants, it would have been a pretty safe bet.