Giants 2019 NFL Draft Rumors: Daniel Jones Expected to Be Selected with 6th Pick

Gerry Broome/Associated Press

While Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray and Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins have been the most talked-about quarterbacks leading up to Thursday’s NFL draft, Duke’s Daniel Jones could wind up being a top-10 pick. 

In fact, the Blue Devils star may not fall past the New York Giants at No. 6.

“That’s their guy,” an NFL source told SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano on Wednesday. “They love him and they have for a while. I can’t imagine they’ll wait until 17. He’s not likely to last that long.” 

New York owns two first-round picks—Nos. 6 and 17.

With 38-year-old Eli Manning entering the final season of his contract in 2019, the Giants may be in the market to draft his potential successor after they passed on the opportunity with the second overall pick last year. However, general manager Dave Gettleman recently made it clear that the team will be looking to draft the best available player, regardless of whether he’s a quarterback.

Per Giants.com’s Michael Eisen:

“I won’t force a pick. You can’t draft for need. You will get screwed every time and make a mistake. …

“The priority is to select the best players. Last year, we could not pass up on Saquon [Barkley]. He was the best player in the draft. You can’t do that. We have had this conversation before. Eli is closer to 40 than he is to 25. We can do that math. At the end of the day, we are going to take the best players.”

While he may have been overlooked while playing college ball in Durham, Jones is coming off his best performance to date. He completed 60.5 percent of his passes for 2,674 yards, 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions as a redshirt junior for the Blue Devils.

Gettleman noted there are “a couple of really good quarterbacks in this draft” while adding that the pressure of playing in the Big Apple is not for everyone:

“Being a quarterback of a team in this type of market is a load. It is a mental load. You have to really vet out the background of these guys. … You have to have a mental toughness about you to play the position here in New York. Or to play the position anywhere. That is a huge piece of it. It is important. If you don’t think it is, you need to re-think it.”

Jones would welcome the opportunity to be drafted by the Giants, giving him the chance to learn from a two-time Super Bowl MVP.

“That’d be awesome,” he said Wednesday, per Chris Iseman of the New Jersey Record. “I’d be extremely excited about that. I think an opportunity to learn from a guy like Eli, watch him the way he carries himself day in and day out would be a tremendous learning opportunity for a young guy, and that would be an awesome situation.”

Jones will have to wait until at least Thursday to find out where he’ll land. It appears as though New York has interest, but it could also be a smokescreen. Vacchiano wrote the NFC East rival Washington Redskins have also been linked to Jones.