Joe Schoen gives insight into Giants roster construction
Giants have a target area when it comes to team building.
With the question of the offseason being answered, the Giants can turn their focus to the development of the 2023 roster.
An overachieving year in 2022 saw New York achieve a 9-7-1 regular season record, followed by an upset win over Minnesota in the wildcard round.
Good season aside, if you got a group of Giants together over a couple of drinks, even they would admit that they were surprised at such achievements.
A team with major holes at primary positions like corner and receiver, the Giants will have to address these and other issues (yea linebackers you can't hide) if they want to repeat the successes of 2022, much less climb the ladder of distinction.
So when asked about the offseason strategy at a press conference with Daniel Jones, GM Joe Schoen doubled down on his philosophies.
Giants fans shouldn't be surprised by the statement given Schoen's history in the league, coming up through the ranks on the personnel side of things.
This is a good thing for everyone who dawns Giant blue. I know everybody likes flashy free agents and big-name stars, but championships are built through the draft.
Selecting talent is no easy feat, I understand. Honing the skills of said talent and crafting them into capable staters or beyond is also hard.
Here's the thing, New York has the chance to create a real dynamic between the head coach and GM.
We already know Brian Daboll is a terrific head coach, as evidenced by the aforementioned season and cemented by his 2022 NFL coach of the year award.
While the results of Joe Schoen's 2022 draft class wait to be analyzed, there was promise shown by both of their top 10 picks.
Evan Neal struggled for part of the year, but Giants fans know all too well what doubting a rookie tackle before year three means, (See Andrew Thomas).
Kayvon Thibodeaux was a menace down the stretch, wrecking offenses and showing why he should have been the first edge rusher selected.
So with a full year to create his scouting staff and develop his grading system, Giants fans can rest assured about the man running their draft room.
It should be added, that just because the Giants prefer this route, it doesn't mean the free agent pool is off-limits.
Part of hammering out the long-term deal with Daniel Jones is that it created a "cushion" for free agency as opposed to the $32.4 million fully guaranteed he would have received on the franchise tag.
So with some savings, the Giants can invest in both free agency and the draft as they start the ascent toward football mortality.
If everything goes to plan, the Empire State Building will be dawning the colors of their own team in a few years.
