It’s just the beginning of January, and for the teams out of the playoffs, we’re already focused on draft day. Going into Week 17, the New York Giants were in pole position to get the No. 1 overall pick. A surprise victory over the Colts changed all of that. There are quite a few people in the Giants fanbase who are not happy about this turn of events, but it doesn’t matter. This sudden change brings up a few interesting questions regarding all the possible outcomes for the team’s draft position after the season officially ends.
Can the New York Giants Regain the Top Pick?
The answer was yes, until the Browns lost to the Ravens on Saturday. That means the Giants cannot take the No. 1 pick back.
They can get the No. 2 overall pick, if a few things go their way.
1. The Patriots must beat the Bills
The Patriots play the Bills who are mostly benching their starters (except Josh Allen will start ceremonially as to not break his continuous start streak). That could help the Patriots in their chances of winning in Week 18 and dropping in draft position. The Patriots are only 3.5 point underdogs in this game, which is certainly overcomeable with the Bills benching starters. Let’s see if the home team can pull off the upset.
2. The Titans must beat the Texans
The Titans are playing the Texans, who have locked up the division and can’t move their seeding at all. However, the Texans are planning on playing their starters and going for the win.
After getting demolished by the Ravens in primetime in Week 17, they are looking to gain some momentum and confidence going into the playoffs. Beating down on a division rival that’s struggling is their desired way to do it.
Be that as it may, the Titans are actually favored in this game by 1.5 points, and being the home team doesn’t hurt. The Titans are planning on starting Will Levis, but that news doesn’t really change the outlook if we’re being perfectly honest. Let’s see if the Titans get the win.
3. The Giants must lose to the Eagles
On top of the above scenarios, the Giants have to lose to the Eagles who are benching their starters.
The Eagles are still 1.5 point favorites in this game at the time of this writing, but the Giants are hungry for wins. Brian Daboll really wants to keep his job and is hoping a great showing this week will help him do so. Players have been coming out in support of Daboll, so there’s a desire to both help their coach and also get wins for their own sake. That leads to our next question:
What happens if the New York Giants win in Week 18?
The most they can fall to the No. 8 overall pick. There are five 4-12 teams currently – Jets, Panthers, Raiders, Jaguars, Bears. They would lose the strength of schedule tiebreaker to all but the Bears, which would put them at eight.
This of course assumes that none of these teams win in Week 18.
If the Giants fall to eighth pick in the draft, they’d most likely have to kiss goodbye their dreams of drafting a franchise QB this spring. Or, they will have to trade a lot to move up and get one. They’d most likely need to sign a quarterback in free agency, and there aren’t a lot of options for one at the moment. The team’s future would be up in the air with some serious issues to address.
What’s the most likely scenario?
Most likely scenario is either they stay put at No. 4, or fall back to No. 8 by beating the Eagles. Staying put at the fourth pick is more desirable considering how QB-needy the team is.
As it currently stands, the Giants sit behind the Titans and the Browns, who both could easily be in the market for QBs. They also sit behind the Patriots, who aren’t in the market for a QB but could trade their pick to someone who is.
We must also mention the possibility of the Giants falling to that eighth pick. If that happens, then New York will either have to trade significant draft capital to get a top QB in the draft, or sign a free agent.
Their options in free agency are severely limited, with the best one being Sam Darnold who will most likely be signed by the Vikings, and Justin Fields who remains a big question mark. Kirk Cousins is an option and would be cheap with the guaranteed money he’s getting from the Falcons, but he looked bad for a solid part of the year and would be a huge risk for a front office in the hot seat.
We know that Shadeur Sanders is interested in coming to the Giants, based on his recent cleats choice for his final college football game. Would the Giants be interested enough in him to trade up?
There’s also Cam Ward, the other top QB prospect in the draft. Would he be enticing enough for them to trade up?
Only time will tell. For now, all New York Giants fans can do is wait to see how the season ends and what the final draft order will be.
Evan Solomon
Evan is originally from Queens, NY and grew up on Long Island, and grew to love The New York Giants being surrounded by Giants fans. He's a social media marketer and content creator by day, which is what led him to joining The League Winners creating content about something he loves - football. Keep an eye out for his fantasy content and NFL team breakdowns.