Giants’ Gettleman asks for patience on Daniel Jones

The New York Giants shocked the world with their No. 6 draft pick. Now, GM Dave Gettleman is asking for patience.

Fans of the New York Giants thought they might get a quarterback during Thursday night’s opening round of the NFL Draft. But they didn’t expect to pick Daniel Jones, the youngster from Duke, with their No. 6 slot.

The decision to go with Jones over Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins had been rumored coming into the night. But most people expected the Giants to pick Jones with their No. 17 slot, and use the higher pick on someone more likely to get drafted elsewhere.

But Gettleman is convinced he’s found his man and he didn’t want to take any chances.

"“You don’t fool around with a quarterback,” Gettleman told Peter King for his Football Morning in America column. “If he’s your guy, you take him. If you put 32 general managers in a room and give ’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 the player they wanted. So you don’t get cute there. You don’t get cute with a quarterback.”"

It seems likely that Jones will sit behind Manning for at least a year, which means it will take a few seasons to determine whether or not Gettleman is right. According to King, Gettleman insisted that two teams between No. 6 and No. 17 were interested in Jones, but little evidence has surfaced to suggest that’s true.

Gettleman is convinced Jones is the future of the Giants organization. Most analysts do not believe Jones was the best signal-caller available at the draft, but Gettleman believes he has the mental and physical strength to handle the task of being the Giants’ starter.

"“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.”"

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That’s what Gettleman is asking for: patience. Despite the fact that his decision on Jones was ranked as one of the worst in the NFL draft, Gettleman feels confident that the tables will turn when Jones steps onto that field. Gettleman is confident in his pick, and he wants his fans to trust him.

“In three years,” Gettleman said. “We’ll find out how crazy I am.”