New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen made a real effort recently to downplay Drew Lock being a potential threat to starting quarterback Daniel Jones in 2024. However, a new report again suggests the team does indeed expect him to compete for the QB1 spot this summer.
In March, the Giants made a move to improve their QB depth when they acquired four-year veteran Drew Lock. While the decision was a sensible one to replace Tyrod Taylor as the backup, Seattle Seahawks GM John Sneider suggested after the move the G-Men actually “sold” lock on the potential of competing for the starting job in training camp.
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However, ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft Giants GM Joe Schoen looked to downplay that talk and throw his complete support behind Jones.
“I said it in January after the season, our expectation was Daniel would be our starter and we brought Drew Lock to be his backup and Tommy [DeVito] is a backup, so that’s where we are and that’s how we’ll move forward this season,” he said. “Daniel is still under contract for three more years. As it sits today, that’s where we are.”
Well, that may not necessarily be the case. During a new report on the New York Giants draft strategy, NFL Media league insider Dan Graziano seemed to confirm what Schneider had said in March when he claimed: “[The Giants] do believe Drew Lock has a shot to compete a little bit [for the starting QB job] and push Daniel Jones.”
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JJ McCarthy was New York Giants’ second choice if they could not get Drake Maye
One other interesting nugget Graziano revealed in his report was who the Giants’ second favorite QB was in April’s event. Various reports before the draft suggested Drake Maye was the player they were looking to land in a trade-up into the top three. However, if they could not get the North Carolina star, there was another signal-caller they were very high on.
“It would have been Drake Maye. They did have interest in JJ McCarthy, just not at six. That would have been something that would have potentially played out much later.”
The Giants did not take a QB in this year’s event, and as NFL fans saw McCarthy was not even an option later in Round 1 because a record six quarterbacks were taken in the top 12 picks in April.