Getty Leonard Williams can help his former team the New York Giants replace Daniel Jones.
Replacing Daniel Jones doesn’t have to happen in Round 1 of the 2024 NFL draft, not if the New York Giants use the pick they acquired from dealing Leonard Williams to trade up in the second round and select Oregon quarterback Bo Nix.
It’s a proposal outlined by Mel Kiper Jr. for ESPN. He has the Giants striking a trade with the Carolina Panthers to vault to the top of Round 2 in his latest mock draft.
The deal would involve the Giants sending “No. 47 — which they got from Seattle in the Leonard Williams trade — and their second-round pick in next year’s draft to move up 14 spots.”
Kiper acknowledged giving away a pair of second-round choices maybe “sounds a little steep.” Yet, he believes “there will be competition for this pick — there’s a lot of time for the Panthers to work the phones once Round 1 ends. New York has just six picks in this draft, so it can’t afford to give up its third-rounder, which is why it would need to look to 2025.”
The Giants wont mind paying a hefty fee if they’re confident enough about landing their quarterback of the future.
Bo Nix a Worthy Alternative to Struggling Daniel Jones
Nix represents an intriguing potential replacement for Jones. As Kiper noted, Giants’ “general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll are down on Jones after a tough 2023 that ended with a torn ACL in November.”
The reasons for moving on from Jones, poor ball security, a lengthy injury history, are obvious. What’s less certain if what kind of signal-caller the Giants might like to replace him.
This is where the case for Nix becomes stronger. Kiper’s description of the 24-year-old as somebody “asked to get the ball out quickly and around the line of scrimmage for the Ducks, putting his receivers in a position to make plays after the catch,” should appeal to Schoen and Daboll.
The latter had Jones do many of the same things during a career year in 2022. No. 8 proved particularly effective on play-action throws, something highlighted by Kiper’s colleague Matt Bowen.
Looking at the Week 16 head-to-head tape…
NYG targeted the perimeter matchups in the pass game. Play-action. Vertical 1-on-1s. In-breakers/crossers.
QB Daniel Jones: 334 yards passing/9-of-12 on play-action throws.
Jones amassed 984 yards from 141 play-action attempts that season, per Pro Football Reference. He also tallied 310 totals yards from 49 RPOs.
Nix possesses similar dual-threat skills perfect for option-based concepts. He showed off those skills for this touchdown run against Oregon State back in November, highlighted by FOX College Football.
BO NIX TAKES IT HIMSELF! 💪
@oregonfootball extends the lead 👏
It’s not a stretch to conceive of a world where Daboll builds the same type of offense that protected Jones around Nix. That was a winning formula in 2022 and if it worked again, it would make the Giants firm winners of the Williams trade.
Leonard Williams Trade Still Debatable Move from Giants
The decision to send Williams to the Seattle Seahawks before last season’s trade deadline was a contentious one. Yes, it earned a struggling franchise premium draft capital, but Williams was still a disruptive force at defensive tackle.
Williams was more than capable of taking attention away from All-Pro Dexter Lawrence II. Now, Lawrence still needs help along the front, help a Super Bowl-winning free agent could provide.
Using the selection they got from dealing Williams to land a productive QB1 would make this trade look like a masterstroke in foresight from Schoen. If they packaged getting Nix with adding a marquee offensive lineman or wide receiver in Round 1, Schoen and Daboll would score a vital PR win ahead of a pivotal third season.