The New York Giants addressed a big need when they took wide receiver Malik Nabers with the No. 6 pick in the 2024 NFL draft, but it might’ve been a different story if Joe Alt had still been on the board.
That’s according to ESPN’s Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter, who thinks the Giants might have even used quarterback talk to try and manipulate the board and get Notre Dame left takle Joe Alt ahead of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Schefter told the “Pat McAfee Show” he believes “the Giants wanted Joe Alt to slide to them, that’s my belief. That was the hope that he was going to get to them, and I think some of this QB talk for the Giants might have been a little camouflage to try to get somebody like Minnesota to trade up, because if they had traded up to the Chargers’ spot at 5 and gotten J.J. McCarthy, Joe Alt would’ve slid right to the Giants’ slot at No. 6. And that would’ve been ideal for a team that last year allowed its quarterbacks to be sacked 85 times.”
Whether the Giants were trying to engineer a trade or not, landing Alt would have been a coup for a team with so many woes along the offensive line. Yet, acquiring a game-breaking receiver was arguably as big a need.
The proof will be in how much Nabers can help under-fire starting QB Daniel Jones improve. If Jones doesn’t have time to find Nabers, the latter will quickly look like a wasted pick.
Joe Alt Draft Theory Makes Some Sense
It’s not like the Giants didn’t score big when they took LSU burner Nabers off the board. Not when Jones knew about and endorsed the pick in advance.
Yet, it’s easy to wonder how Jones would’ve reacted to the news the Giants had the chance to take the consensus best offensive lineman in this class. A quarterback dropped 30 times in just six starts last season surely would have reacted favorably.
Alt proved himself a dominant pass-protector at Notre Dame. He allowed just one sack and a mere 13 pressures across 740 snaps, per PFF LA Chargers.
A shutdown pass blocker is exactly what the Giants need to make their quarterback situation work. It’s why Alt was rated as a “sneaky” option for Big Blue prior to Draft day.
Jones needs help up front, but the Giants strangely ignored the O-line during the draft proper. They instead settled for undrafted free agents, including a guard worth watching.
Perhaps the Giants ignored the line with their six picks because Alt was gone before general manager Joe Schoen made his first selection. That’s possible, but it’s also just as likely a quarterback was in play, despite Schefter’s theory and Schoen’s post-draft support of Jones.
QB Chatter Made More Sense for Giants
There’s a reason belief was strong the Giants wanted to draft a quarterback, even if it meant trading up. The team’s $160-million investment in Jones last offseason backfired amid a slew of turnovers and injuries.
Jones’ struggles, couple with the potential out in his deal for 2025, per Spotrac.com, gave the Giants an opportunity. That opportunity was increased by the depth of talent at quarterback in this year’s draft.
Passers like Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy were potential fits for the Giants. There was even speculation about a surprise strategy involving Bo Nix.
Any of the above would have been a worthy contingency against any further regression from Jones. It’s not as if the Giants aren’t already prepared after signing Drew Lock in free agency to provide competition.
They also addressed the line by acquiring Jon Runyan Jr. and Jermaine Eluemunor off the veteran market. Two moves which eased the need to use yet another top-10 pick on a tackle to go with 2020’s fourth-overall selection Andrew Thomas and 2022 No. 7 choice Evan Neal.
A combination of uncertainty about Jones’ future beyond this season, along with a deep and talented rookie QB class, makes it more likely the Giants genuinely considered their options at football’s most important position.
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