In the age of instant gratification, New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman is requesting patience.
After the first round of his 2019 NFL Draft basically broke the brains of most Big Blue fans, Gettleman insists he made the right moves and will be proven true in time.
"In three years, we'll find out how crazy I am," Gettleman told Peter King for his *Football Morning in America* column.
While post-draft grades will be poured over this week, it's fair to note that grading a draft before players have even taken a practice snap, let alone played a game, is the definition of superfluous futility.
After Gettleman suggested it's conceivable that No. 6 overall pick Daniel Jonescould sit behind Eli Manning for three years, it will take at least several seasons to evaluate the selection.
Jones is expected to sit for at least a year, which is one reason many questioned the GM for using the No. 6 pick on the QB, rather than wait until later in the draft.
"I agonized over that," Gettleman told King. "I agonized. Before the draft, we discussed that thoroughly as a group -- first last Friday, then again Wednesday. Obviously we had great regard for Josh Allen. But the one thing I have learned is you don't fool around with a quarterback. If he's your guy, you take him. If you put 32 general managers in a room and gave 'em sodium pentothal [truth serum], every single one of them would tell you a story of how they got cute in a draft and it cost them a player they wanted. So you don't get cute there. You don't get cute with a quarterback."
If Gettleman believes Jones is the heir to Manning, no price is too high.
Most critics of the pick simply don't believe the Duke QB was worthy of a top-10 selection, or that he will be the best signal-caller in the draft.
Gettleman, however, is belligerent in his self-assurance.
"The bottom line is, I have confidence in what I do and who I am," he told King. "I've been a part of organizations that had pretty good quarterbacks -- Jim Kelly, John Elway, Kerry Collins, Eli Manning, Cam Newton. I've led a charmed life with the quarterbacks on the teams I've worked for. I know what good ones look like. The other thing is, résumés matter. Every once in a while, I wish the people taking the shots would take a minute to look at my résumé. I've been a part of teams that went to seven Super Bowls. I had a hand in some of them. But today, there's no patience. And there's no room for civil discourse in our society, which I find sad."
It's fair to point out that while Gettleman worked for teams that employed the likes of Kelly, Elway, Manning, and Newton, he was not the primary decision-maker when any of those QBs were obtained. In fact, during his run in Carolina, the GM selected zero signal-callers from 2013-2017. His first QB selection as a general manager came last year when the Giants made Kyle Lauletta a fourth-round pick.
Credit Gettleman with not backing down from his convictions about Jones in the face of persistent pushback.
The truth will be determined over the course of the next several years. Either Gettleman got it right and he can wag a finger at every hater. Or he'll have been wrong and someone else will be the GM in New York.
