Will the 2020 NFL Draft begin as scheduled? Will it be postponed? Will it be broken up into a week-long event? These are all questions the league is currently faced with and the answer, at least for now, remains elusive.
No matter what the outcome, the coronavirus pandemic is complicating things for the New York Giants, especially if they’re looking to trade down from No. 4 overall.
“The medical on Tua [Tagovailoa] is going to be difficult, obviously, with the current situation. This is a year where you would need all the medical you can get, all the meetings you can get, all the things you need in terms of due diligence on Tua and you’re not going to have that opportunity. Is a team going to trade up without that type of information? We’ll see,” ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. said on a Wednesday conference call.
And therein lies the problem for the Giants and general manager Dave Gettleman.
The two most likely trade-up scenarios in the draft would be for either Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert or the aforementioned Tagovailoa. Nothing has really changed as it relates to Herbert, but Tagovailoa is an entirely different story.
Once thought to be a surefire top five pick, Tagovailoa suffered a horrendous hip injury last fall, was not able to participate at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis and now, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic that has shut down all American sports, can not meet with clubs or go through any sort of physical or medical testing.
“Right now it’s a lot of question marks because of the lack of information from the medical standpoint. I saw a little bit of Tua yesterday, a 10-second clip, but that’s going to make it tough,” Kiper added. “Do you want to give up draft choices for a quarterback who not only has the question with the lower extremity injuries but also has the durability concern even moving forward?”
If nothing changes between now and whenever the draft begins, would a team be willing to gamble on a trade-up for Tua? It’s unlikely, which leaves the Giants in a more precarious position.
Gettleman has never traded down in his career as GM, but has been very honest about the team being “open for business” at No. 4. Unfortunately, like many other walks of life, COVID-19 is severely limiting that potential business.
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