Justin Herbert

With the general assumption that New York Giants‘ veteran quarterback Eli Manning will take his talents into retirement at the end of the 2018 season, it’s only fair to begin looking into potential passer options for 2019. One of the more talented prospects is Oregon’s Justin Herbert.

Herbert has been compared to Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen, but significantly more accurate with the football in his hands. His ability to buy time and find open receivers is special, and he would offer a shiny new toy for head coach Pat Shurmur. An already talented quarterback that he can mold and develop to his liking.

But, this begs the questions: 

What if the New York Giants miss out on Justin Herbert all-together?

The NFL Draft is like a game of chess. You only know your move, but your opposition can counter your expected action based on where your pieces are and the resources you have on the board. Think of it like this: The game is the draft, the pieces are the draft picks, and the player is the war room.

If the Giants fail to land the top QB prospect, they might be better off skipping out on a passer overall. Putting their faith in current rookie Kyle Lauletta might not be the best move, but bringing on a veteran like Teddy Bridgewater could be an acceptable alternative. We will likely see Lauletta perform toward the end of the season which should give us an idea on if he can be the future of the Giants.

Who could the Giants look to if they decide against taking a quarterback in the 2019 NFL draft?

With the expectancy that the Giants will land in the top 5 picks overall, they should certainly consider going with either and offensive or a defensive lineman. Players like Nick Bosa and Ed Oliver offer immense quality and All-Pro potential. Nick is supposedly an even better prospect than his older brother Joey Bosa.

Nick Bosa (Ohio State) profile:

The Ohio State standout has immense size, standing at 6-foot-4, 263 pounds. Believe it or not, Bosa has room for growth, and his speed off the line won’t be affected. His strength is unparalleled despite a core muscle injury that forced him to leave the Buckeye’s defense and prepare for the NFL draft.

He racked up 17.5 sacks in two years at Ohio, proving to be extremely productive in his time as a starter. His older brother, Joey, stated that Nick is far ahead of where he was at that stage of his career. Bosa would offer the Giants a premier pass-rusher that would revolutionize a defensive line that lacks pass-rushing capabilities. He’s also stellar in the run game and would immediately influence a unit that has struggled consistently this season.

Max Sharping (Northern Illinois) profile:

One of the lesser talked about prospects is offensive tackle Max Scharping. If the Giants decided to take a flier on the tackle, they would offer their future quarterback better protection and more time in the pocket. Scharping ranking third in pass-blocking in 2015 (97.1), first in 2016 (98.9), and first again in 2017, according to PFF.

Over 459 snaps in ’17, Scharping allowed just four pressures in pass-protection. Throughout his entire career, he’s allowed just 21 QB pressures across 1,377 pass-blocking snaps. If you aren’t convinced he can be a stellar player in the NFL, he hasn’t allowed a sack since 2015 in the Huskies bowl game against Boise State. If the Giants aren’t keen on signing a player like Carolina Panthers’ Daryl Williams in free agency, Scharping would be one hell of an upgrade at the right tackle position.

If you haven’t heard the name Justin Herbert, you might want to begin familiarizing yourself with it. Herbert is a college quarterback that has been a heavy target for the New York Giants this season, as they continue investing time and effort in his scouting.

The Oregon quarterback has the size of Josh Allen and the throwing ability of Josh Rosen. The primary question is: Will he commit to the NFL draft after reports stated he might want to stay one more year to play with his younger brother? 

Personally, I believe he will commit, why? Because he would be the top quarterback option in the draft, maximizing his monetary compensation – additionally, he would have the chance to feature on a Giants time composed of Odell Beckham Jr. and Saquon Barkley.

For a college passer to go from a team with no play-makers, to one with more than he’s ever seen, you can consider that a dream come true.

At 1-7 on the year, the Giants currently hold the 1st overall pick ahead of the Oakland Raiders. It’s possible the Raiders are interested in the passer but Derek Carr surely complicates those plans.

How have the New York Giants allocated resourced towards Justin Herbert?

General manager Dave Gettleman has been present for three of Herbert’s games this season, where he’s played well despite a lack of support. By doing this, he in terms raises the value of a quarterback for other teams in the market. If the Giants are high on a quarterback that might be the top prospect in the draft, it will require a kings ransom to trade up to acquire him.

What’s so great about Herbert?

The Ducks signal caller is simply a fantastic athlete. He can operate in the play-action and extend plays with his legs. Additionally, he has incredible mobility in the pocket which will be essential in a pass-rush heavy NFL. One of his more underrated attributes is his arm strength. He can put immense zip on balls and shoot passes through tight windows. Anticipation is another impressive characteristic Herbert acquires. He can throw his receivers open when pressure is closing in. Herbert can be reckless with the ball, as he’s thrown five interceptions in five straight games, but this can be coughed up to his risk-taking nature. With a little refinement and timing work he can eradicate those mistakes and turn them into big gains.

Justin Herbert might be the future of the New York Giants, but the quarterback had his worst game of the year on Saturday when the Oregon Ducks faced the Arizona Wildcats. The game was the second straight loss for an Oregon team that has fallen out of contention for the PAC-12 after starting off in the mix, and there’s one question that NFL fans will want to ask after the result: how much of the blame here is on Herbert?

First and foremost, the blame will be on the Oregon defense. They allowed 44 points and even with a good game from the quarterback, getting a win under those circumstances is a tall task. On the other hand, it’s important to note that Oregon only scored 15, and that just doesn’t cut it. Especially for a team that prides itself in offense and has a potential number one overall NFL draft pick at quarterback.

Herbert threw 48 passes, which is the most he’s thrown this season and surpasses the 44 that he threw against Washington State. You may notice a trend here, of Oregon throwing the ball more and losing games. It might be a bit concerning to next level scouts, but the larger problem is a decline in completion percentage over the past games.

Against Stanford and California, Herbert completed 78% and 72% of his passes respectively, but this stayed at 56% for the next two games and then fell to an even 50% against Arizona. It’s also worth noting that Herbert threw his first interception since the Stanford game, when he rolled out of the pocket while standing at his own end zone and firing the ball deep down the field where it was intercepted when the pass was short of the receiver.

Overall, Herbert had 186 yards through the air, which is less than he’s had in any previous game this season. He did throw two touchdowns, to his credit, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is undoubtedly the worst game of the year for the quarterback that might just go number one overall during next year’s NFL Draft.

Herbert is almost certainly on the draft board of the New York Giants, but it might not be wise to just assume that they’ll draft him. After all, there’s still some games left to be played, and while every quarterback has bad games from time to time, there’s some worrying trends showing up for Herbert right now and the last games of the season could be make or break for him.

The season isn’t close to over at this point, but New York Giants fans are already looking to the NFL Draft because of the team’s early collapse. Specifically, fans are looking to the draft for a quarterback, with Eli Manning struggling recently. It looks like the Giants will take a quarterback, and if they do decide to go that route, Justin Herbert is the one that’s their consensus top target.

Herbert is expected to be the number one pick in the draft, but with the way that the Giants have been playing this season, it wouldn’t be surprising in the least if they found themselves in that spot. Additionally, if they’re drafting in the top five, a trade to number one wouldn’t be out of the question. What has Herbert done to justify the hype, though?

Well, the Oregon Ducks just played one of the top teams in the country, and Herbert threw for two of the touchdowns and, despite not putting up big numbers, managed the game well and didn’t fall on the big stage. The performance came against a Washington team that was hailed as the best in the PAC-12 Conference going into this game. Now, though, those rankings have changed. And Herbert is one of the players who had a large role in that.

His best plays weren’t just quick completions on bubble plays and slant routes, either. For his second touchdown of the day, Herbert rolled out while under pressure and rifled the ball into a tight area near the corner of the end zone, ensuring that only his receiver would be able to make the catch despite the area being covered. It was a risky play, but of course, the result was an Oregon touchdown.

It’s the kind of play that Sam Darnold was praised for before he was drafted by the New York Jets, but Herbert and Darnold aren’t the same player, even if they’ll likely both end up being the first quarterbacks selected in their respective draft classes. It looks like Herbert is going to throw for more touchdowns and less interceptions. You could make an argument that he’s the stronger, more polished prospect compared to Darnold coming out of USC.

We still have some more of Herbert to see, this season. About half the schedule remains, but the hardest games are out of the way and even in the sole loss of the season, which came at the hands of Stanford, Herbert threw for 346 yards and a touchdown. His draft stock is already high, going into the final stretch. Strong performances against struggling teams such as Arizona and UCLA would do a good job to keep that stock at where it is right now, preventing Herbert from being overtaken in the rankings by someone like Missouri quarterback Drew Lock.

The New York Giants aren’t in a good place right now. But if they do end up with the number one pick, there’s a silver lining. The decision to wait on drafting a quarterback was a controversial one, but it’s hard to complain about if it results in getting a quarterback this year that’s better than the ones that were drafted high following the Giants’ selection of Saquon Barkley.