NFL Draft on ABC: Giants, Jets make final picks

Sunday, April 28, 2019

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WABC) -- The final four rounds of the NFL Draft were held on Saturday in Nashville after rounds 2 and 3 with a heavy focus on stopping the pass and pass protection on Friday.

Eleven quarterbacks were chosen in the draft. The trio that went in the opening round - No. 1 overall Kyler Murray to Arizona, No. 6 Daniel Jones to the Giants, and No. 15 Dwayne Haskins to Washington - figure to be starters someday, perhaps soon.

Murray goes to a team that traded away its first-round QB from last year, Josh Rosen, to clear the path for the Heisman Trophy winner. New coach Kliff Kingsbury was an offensive mastermind at Texas Tech with an offense that fits Murray's dynamic skills.

Jones will sit, though no one knows for how long, behind Eli Manning in New York. He was chosen to succeed the two-time Super Bowl winner, of course.

In addition to Jones, the Giants drafted seven players on defense, a speedy wide receiver and an offensive tackle. The defense needed the most help after finishing 24th in the league and registering 30 sacks, tied for second lowest in the league in 2018. The D line and the secondary got the most help.

The New York Giants final picks:

95th pick: Oshane Ximines, DE from Old Dominion

108th pick: Julian Love, CB from Notre Dame

143rd pick: Ryan Connelly, LB from Wisconsin

171st pick: Darius Slayton, WR from Auburn

180th pick: Corey Ballentine, CB from Washburn

232nd pick: George Asafo-Adjei, OT from Kentucky

245th pick: Chris Slayton, DT from Syracuse

Mike Maccagnan resisted the urge to trade down or make his first pick based solely on need to kick off the New York Jets' draft weekend. He ended up with perhaps the best overall talent in this year's class, taking Alabama defensive tackle Quinnen Williams at No. 3 on Thursday night.

Maccagnan made it clear New York was open for business to trade on the draft's opening night but found no suitable offers - and instead bolstered his defensive line with Williams.

"I'm coming in to be a dominant player up front," Williams said, "and be a dominant player, in general."

As it turned out, Maccagnan got his edge rusher Friday night, when he took a gamble on Florida's talented but polarizing Jachai Polite in the third round.

Then came some wheeling and dealing. The Jets moved up one spot by trading with Minnesota to take USC offensive tackle Chuma Edoga with the 92nd overall pick.

New York then traded down twice early Saturday before grabbing West Virginia tight end Trevon Wesco in the fourth round.

Maccagnan wrapped up the Jets' draft haul by making some risky selections: Minnesota linebacker Blake Cashman in the fifth round, and Rutgers cornerback Blessuan Austin in the sixth. Both come with injury concerns

Here are the Jets final picks:

68th pick: OLB Jachai Polite from Florida.

92nd pick: Jets trade up a spot with Vikings, pick OL Chuma Edoga from USC.

121st pick: Jets trade with Titans, pick Trevon Wesco, TE from West Virginia.

157th pick: Blake Cashman, LB from Minnesota

196th pick: Blessuan Austin, CB from Rutgers

*Jets traded 217th pick with Minnesota Vikings for 92nd pick

ROUND 1 RECAP

The NFL Draft opened Thursday night in Nashville with the Jets getting a big building block for their new-look defense and the Giants drafting their potential QB of the future.

The Giants stunned many at the NFL draft by taking quarterback Daniel Jones of Duke at sixth overall, before selecting Clemson tackle Dexter Lawrence with the 17th pick overall and grabbing Georgia cornerback Deandre Baker with a late trade with Seattle for the 30th selection overall.

"It's a wonderful thing when needs met value," general manager Dave Gettleman said after the round.

In the weeks leading up to the draft, many prognosticators felt the Giants would fill the defensive needs with the sixth pick and then turn their attention to quarterback at No. 17, the pick they got from Cleveland by trading wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., perhaps targeting Dwayne Haskins of Ohio State or Drew Lock of Missouri.

Gettleman had other thoughts. He first took Jones, who threw for 8,201 yards and 52 touchdowns in three years starting for Duke after joining the program as a walk-on.

"We drafted a quarterback who we feel is a franchise quarterback," Gettleman said, saying he had a strong conviction about Jones since the Senior Bowl and he was not going to risk losing him by waiting until No. 17.

New York grabbed the 342-pound Lawrence with the second choice in the round and then made a late trade getting Baker, who won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's best defensive back last year.

New York sent three picks to Seattle, a second rounder (No. 37), a fourth rounder (No. 132) and a fifth rounder (No. 142).

New York failed to get a pass rusher. They do not have a second-round pick and won't pick again until No. 95 overall, late in the third round. They also need a safety and an offensive tackle.

Jones probably will spend his first season being an understudy for Manning, who is now 38 and in the final year of his $84 million contract.

Jones said he would be comfortable learning from Manning.

"Physically, I think I can make every throw on the field," said Jones, who also ran for 1,323 yards and 17 touchdowns in his college career. "My accuracy is a strength of mine and I have the athleticism to extend plays. I play outside the pocket if I need to. Physically, I can do both those things well."

Jones was developed by David Cutcliffe, the same coach who groomed both Peyton and Eli Manning in college.

The New York Jets took a key player for their new defense with their first pick in the NFL draft.

Alabama defensive tackle Quinnen Williams was selected No. 3 overall Thursday night, giving coach Adam Gase and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams a playmaking pass rusher and run stopper who'll be counted on to beef up New York's defensive line.

The Jets fielded trade offers from several teams leading up to their selection and general manager Mike Maccagnan made it clear he was open for business. But, New York instead chose to stay put and take a player many considered the best in the draft.

The 6-foot-6, 303-pound Williams was a disruptive force for the Crimson Tide last season as a nearly unblockable D-lineman who has an intriguing combination of quickness, power and strong hands.

This marks the third straight year the Jets have seen a highly touted player who many considered the best available "fall" to them. It happened last year when they took quarterback Sam Darnold at No. 3 overall and safety Jamal Adams at No. 6 in 2017.

The Arizona Cardinals ended months of speculation by taking Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray with the No. 1 overall pick of the NFL draft. Now they have to decide what to do with Josh Rosen. The Cardinals moved up five spots to take Rosen with the 10th overall pick of the 2018 draft and made it two straight first-round quarterback picks with their selection of Murray on Thursday night.

Josh Allen, who attended high school in Montclair, New Jersey was picked by the Jaguars, who had the seventh pick.