What the Giants learned in preparing to draft a QB despite taking a different route

So much time.

So much effort and energy and travel and wear-and-tear, criss-crossing the country, checking in and out of hotels, boarding and then disembarking flights. Interviewing players, interviewing coaches, staring at film until eyes are red and tired.

The Giants did oh–so-much work studying quarterback prospects leading up to the NFL Draft. They took them to dinner. They made visits to see them on their college campuses. They met with them at the NFL Scouting Combine, gave them offensive plays to decipher and regurgitate. They attended their Pro Days. They brought them into the team facility in New Jersey for interpersonal interactions. They charted their height, their weight, their arm strength, their running speed and throwing motions.

There was no need to do extensive work on Caleb Williams — everyone knew he was headed to the Bears with the first overall pick. And so, the Giants’ contingent traveled around to see Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy and Michael Penix Jr. They brought in Bo Nix and Spencer Rattler on top-30 visits. These assignments were not farmed out to assistants on lower rungs of the personnel and scouting departments. General manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll were front-and-center in most of this, the heavy-hitters making sure they knew everything there was to know about the top quarterbacks in this draft.