Joe Schoen hopes preparation will pay off ahead of third NFL Draft with Giants
Sleepless night for Joe Schoen before the NFL Draft kicks off the next day?The general manager of the Giants anticipated he would be able to close his eyes Wednesday night and get sufficient rest for what comes next.“We’ll sleep good at night knowing we did all the preparation and we let the board talk to us,’’ Schoen said.If only that were actually true and the draft board could verbalize what the Giants should do with the No.6 overall pick. Perhaps Pixar can create an animated film about this. A spirit takes over the entire draft and whispers to teams what they should do. Then, all Schoen needed to do was listen and pay attention as the draft board talked to him in the voice of Tom Hanks (Woody!), James Earl Jones (Mufasa), Ellen DeGeneres (Dory!) or Billy Crystal (Mike Wazowski!).Alas, that will not come to pass this week but that does not mean Schoen and the Giants will be all willy-nilly as they are on the clock with their six selections – one apiece in each of the first six rounds. This is Schoen’s third year spearheading the draft for the Giants and thus far there is no definitive evaluation for how he has fared. His 2022 inaugural draft brought in a haul of 11 players but only one of them, edge rusher Kayvon Thibobeaux at No.
5 overall, has been anything close to a difference-maker. The most glaring potential miss that year was Evan Neal, taken No.7 overall, a player who has not impressed and will have to fight this spring and summer to maintain his starting right tackle job. The second-round pick in 2022, receiver Wan’Dale Robinson, tore his ACL as a rookie, limiting his time on the field and his effectiveness for much of his second season. The 2023 draft class was composed of seven players.Cornerback Deonte Banks and center John Michael Schmitz were immediate starters, both with room to develop. Jalin Hyatt showed speed as a deep-threat receiver but needs to fine-tune the other aspects of his route-running. So, not exactly a...