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Leading up to the 2021 NFL draft, league analyst Daniel Jeremiah didn’t believe for a single second that New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman would “turn right” and trade back.
“I’m learning to make right turns in NASCAR,” Gettleman quipped after trading back for the second time in the draft, earning the nickname “Trader Dave.”
Although Gettleman and Jeremiah have never before met in person, both got a kick out of the back-and-forth.
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“I’m going to go out on a limb and say I didn’t have a whole lot to do with his draft strategy,” Jeremiah joked on the Giants Huddle Podcast. “But it was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun having that kind of back-and-forth.”
Jeremiah also got a kick out of the Giants’ draft haul, which featured six players and several future assets, including a 2022 first-round pick.
“When you look at what they were able to collect and I think when you look at where this roster is, it’s in pretty good shape. I think that just having some numbers to be able to spread out and to be able to get assets for next year, it’s huge,” Jeremiah said. “So I’m all for that. Get some extra picks [in this draft] and collect some picks for next year.”
Although the Giants weren’t able to land Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith, they were able to snag Florida’s Kadarius Toney, who Jeremiah believes will provide the Giants with some “easy completions” and some explosive plays.
“[Toney] is phenomenal after the catch. You can use him on jet sweeps, you can use him in the backfield some if you want to get him the ball that way,” Jeremiah said. “They [Giants] have got to be more dynamic and they’ve got to be more explosive, and I think he helps you accomplish that.”
Jeremiah praised Toney’s ability to create separation, but also acknowledged the elephant in the room: Toney must improve his route running at the next level.
The good news? Toney is coachable and the Giants will have some time to work on that this offseason, throughout training camp and then into the preseason.
Even better news? Jeremiah believes all six of the Giants’ draftees fit in with how Joe Judge coaches and what he wants out of his players.
“Toughness. Competitiveness. . . Those guys play snap to whistle. You’re not going to have to coach effort with any of these guys, really. They all play extremely hard,” Jeremiah said. “When you can kind of identify the traits of what you’re looking for and you start to see themes, that’s when you know you’ve got something going.”