The NFL Draft has now passed, and each of New York’s three football teams made some newsworthy moves the past weekend to attempt and improve their performance on the field. From the New York Jets to Buffalo Bills gaining potential defensive threats in Quinnen Williams and Ed Oliver, respectively, to the New York Giants taking an absolute chance with their sixth overall pick on quarterback Daniel Jones, the draft was exciting to watch as a fan of any NFL team. The best part about the NFL draft: you really don’t know who’s going to be that next star until they become one. Let’s take a look at who could potentially be that guy for each of New York’s football team’s.
Buffalo Bills
In what was a very defensive heavy draft, the Buffalo Bills selected defensive tackle Ed Oliver out of the University of Houston with their ninth overall pick. Oliver was touted by some to be selected much sooner, giving the Bills somewhat of a steal sitting at the back of the top ten in the draft selection process.
It wasn’t the only steal the Bills got in the draft, however, gaining a highly thought of first round pick in Cody Ford in the second round with the 38th overall pick. An offensive lineman, Ford blocked for both Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield in his time with the University of Oklahoma, and even stated in an interview that if he was going to be drafted by any team, he wanted it to be the Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo may have taken shifty and speedy running back Devin Singletary out of Florida Atlantic University a little too early in the third round, but with LeSean McCoy declining rapidly, a young back with fresh legs could help the Bills in numerous ways. General manager Brandon Beane has Buffalo headed in the right direction, as this draft as well as last year’s, shows.
Draft Grade: A-
New York Giants
Fans of the New York Giants were very much surprised and disappointed when the organization chose Daniel Jones out of Duke University as their quarterback of the future with the sixth overall pick. Jones, who was projected to be taken in the second round, had a 17-19 overall record in college as a Blue Devil and never played with an NFL prospect. Nonetheless, the Giants felt they couldn’t leave the draft without him, and had a feeling a team within picks six and 17 could have pulled the trigger on Jones themselves.
Instead of taking defensive end Josh Allen out of the University of Kentucky with their highest pick in the draft, New York bolstered their defense with the 17th overall pick, gaining defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence from the reigning national champion Clemson Tigers. The Giants also improved on that side of the ball by trading up to get one last first-round pick towards the end, taking the first and No. 1 ranked cornerback in the draft Deandre Baker from the University of Georgia.
The question is, was trading away Odell Beckham Jr., Damon Harrison and Eli Apple worth what the Giants received in this draft? Only time will tell, but on paper it certainly doesn’t look that way.
Draft Grade: B-
New York Jets
The Jets certainly took advantage of where they were with the third overall pick in the draft, taking the best available player with defensive tackle Quinnen Williams out of the University of Alabama. In desperate need of an edge rusher, Williams was not the answer New York needed, but the Jets made up for it by taking Jachai Polite in the third round out of the University of Florida.
Polite fell in draft projections after having a tough performance at the combine. He did not come out to be as fast as people thought he was, had issues with his hamstrings in the past and was also questioned for off-the-field issues. With all that said, you can’t dispute the eleven sacks he racked up for the Gators last season.
The only true concern for the Jets this draft is that they failed to concern themselves with the offensive side of the ball. Le’Veon Bell will be a force as a runner and catcher, but I think fans would have liked to see the Jets get some more pass options for sophomore quarterback Sam Darnold.
Draft Grade: B+