Forget about drafts.
ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper believes the Giants should be willing to send the No. 3 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft to the Vikings for injured rookie quarterback JJ McCarthy. There is.
Acquiring McCarthy, the No. 10 pick in last year's draft, would mean giving up some of this year's top quarterback prospects in Colorado's Shedur Sanders, Miami's Cam Ward and perhaps Penn State's Drew Aller. They could change course and enter the draft after a strong college football season. Playoffs are being shown.
“JJ McCarthy is a year younger than Cam Ward and Shedule Sanders, and he's recovering from a (knee) injury, but he's still a kid. If you compare his performance from last year to his performance this year, he's one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He's going to be the No. 1 guy, he's going to be ahead of Drew Allard, definitely ahead of Cam and Shedule,'' Kiper said Thursday on ESPN's “Unsportsmanlike.” Ta.
That the Giants could seek a trade to find their franchise quarterback reflects a lukewarm view of this year's draft class.
There are various opinions on Mr. Sanders, Mr. Ward, and even Mr. Aller, who previously said he would return to Happy Valley but whose stock has risen after winning two playoff games.
Just because Sanders and Ward are the best signal callers in this year's class doesn't necessarily mean they're franchise quarterbacks, and one of them (think Daniel Jones) Reaching out can set your team back.
It's hard to say whether all teams value the 21-year-old McCarthy higher than any of this year's quarterbacks, but Kiper is the first expert to say last year's quarterbacks outperformed this year's quarterbacks. isn't it.
Also, the reality is that if Aller stays in school, the Giants may not have the option to draft both Ward and Sanders, as the Titans (No. 1) and Browns (No. 2) both need quarterbacks. There is also.
There may be a third quarterback the Giants absolutely fall in love with, but as of early January, that player doesn't appear to be in the national conversation as a top-five pick.
But even if the Giants like McCarthy better than this year's class, there are several factors that could potentially derail a trade.
First and foremost, the Giants had a chance to draft McCarthy last year and passed.
Now, it's certainly possible the Giants valued receiver Malik Nabors as a better player.
But logic dictates that quarterbacks are more important than receivers, and as long as McCarthy's grade is in the same ballpark as Neighbors, the team should always draft a quarterback.
The next possible question is whether the Vikings want to trade McCarthy.
McCarthy, who led the University of Michigan to the national title last season, was unable to play this season due to a torn meniscus and recently underwent a second surgery.
In his absence, former Jets bust Sam Darnold flourished.
This is where things get tricky.
The Vikings drafted McCarthy 10th overall last April, clearly viewing him as their franchise quarterback, but instead Darnold stepped up to the plate and filled the role.
Letting Darnold, who led Minnesota to the playoffs with a 14-3 record, become a free agent and handing over the reins to a player returning from injury would be a tough sell for the fan base.
While some analysts loved McCarthy, his college stats didn't jump off the page.
Kiper is in camp saying the Vikings may not know what they really want to do until after the season, and could visit the Rams as early as Monday.
Darnold raised some flags with another ghostly performance in Week 18 against the Lions, who lost the No. 1 seed in the NFC to Minnesota.
“(The Vikings) only have the first and two-fifths (picks), but assuming Sam plays great in the playoffs, they say, “We'll get three draft picks for J.J. McCarthy, yeah.'' Let's do that,''' Kuiper said. . “If he doesn't do that, obviously they're keeping J.J. and letting it play out the way it is. Franchise him, keep J.J. and move on from there and see how it plays out. I think the JJ McCarthy situation will be very interesting to see what happens there: Do they keep him or trade him?
He added, “I think Minnesota's playoff situation going forward will be determined entirely by how they handle the quarterback situation.''
