Brandon Brown explains why Giants passed on OL in NFL draft

New York Giants assistant general manager Brandon Brown explains why the team passed on offensive linemen in the 2024 NFL draft.

New York Giants assistant general manager Brandon Brown spoke to the media on Thursday as the team conducted OTA practice No. 5 of their offseason workout program.

Brown, 35, is in his third season with the Giants after coming over from the Philadelphia Eagles organization in 2022. He has been a hot name on the front office hiring carousel, drawing interest as a general manager candidate from both Carolina and the Los Angeles Chargers this offseason.

Brown was asked about why the Giants did not select a single offensive lineman with any of the team’s six picks in this year’s NFL draft.

“When you talk about forecasting and projecting, we do that across the board, whether it’s in February going into free agency, going into the draft, you know what the landscape looks like. We knew there were going to be opportunities in free agency to bolster the O-line. You look at adding (Jon) Runyan and (Jermaine) Eluemunor, guys that have been healthy, available. There’s some familiarity there, obviously Carm Bricillo being here, coming over from Vegas, having time with Jermaine,” Brown told reporters.

“Where we were in the Draft, the positions we took, we felt great about those guys being contributors for us this year. Knowing we addressed certain things via the Draft, the way things lined up just from resource allocation, we’re really excited with what we came away with.”

He also clarified the team’s desire to get better at every position, including quarterback, where they struck out in their attempts to land one of their top targets.

“I would say, when it comes to the quarterback, we treat it like no other position where we’re going to do our due diligence. It’s negligent if we don’t. We’re going to go through the whole, call it kitchen sink approach of, whether it’s private workouts, whether it’s live games, whether it’s talking to coaches, whether it’s high school, college, positional, coordinators,” Brown said.

“Whenever there’s any type of crossover between our coaches that have worked with some of these other former, call it, quarterbacks coaches in the past, we’re going to do it.

“I think, when you’re picking as high as we did, it’s really important to don’t leave any stone unturned because you never know how the draft takes you and you never want to get caught flat-footed. We prepare for every scenario, and that’s what we did.”

The pick that was made at No. 6 — LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers — has wowed the Giants since the day he walked through the door,

“He’s got moxie, dog, the cool kids call it ‘aura,'” Brown said of Nabers. “He wants to be at his best, vs. the best, on the biggest platform, and he’s going to let you know about it.”

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