PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Giants still need another starting tackle, a right tackle, on their reworked offensive line. Everyone knows it. And first-year head coach Brian Daboll didn’t run from that at Tuesday morning’s NFC coaches breakfast at The Breakers.
“We’ll be looking to add,” Daboll said of the tackle position. “Whenever that may be. That’s an important spot.”
This confirms that offensive tackles are firmly in play for the Giants’ first-round NFL Draft picks at Nos. 5 and 7 overall on April 28. The team doesn’t have salary cap space to make a major splash in free agency, and they are prioritizing a long-term build through drafts.
Alabama’s Evan Neal, N.C. State’s Ikem Ekwonu and Mississippi State’s Charles Cross so far are the standouts, according to league sources. And the Daily News previously has reported the Giants are very high on Cross.
GM Joe Schoen said Monday that he intends to draft the best player available, not purely based on need. He left the door open to trading back from one of those picks, too.
“We have enough needs on the roster that I think you can go take the best player available,” Schoen said. “That’s how we’re gonna set [the board]. We’re gonna set it best football player 1-to-7 or 1-to-13 [in the event of a trade back], who’s the best football player. You can make some mistakes sometimes if you draft by need.”
The Giants’ offense has been the team’s Achilles heel, and Daboll was hired because of his offensive success in Buffalo. So it could be hard not to prioritize offense with that first pick.
“That’s a fair question,” Daboll said.
But Daboll echoed Schoen’s philosophy of how to approach the top of the board and said he’s been scouring tape of defensive prospects, too, including edge rushers.
“It’s always cool to look at a defensive player and evaluate him as OK, I’m not really worried about, if we play against this guy that gets drafted, we’re gonna go at his ass,” Daboll said. “Or, this guy’s pretty tough. He’s a good player. How he sets the edge.
“In terms of whether I’d rather draft an offensive guy or defensive guy,” he added, “I’d rather draft the best player wherever that fits. We have a lot of needs. So we’re gonna pick the best guy we can pick at both of those spots or either of those spots or however it works out.”
Meanwhile, at quarterback, Daboll encouragingly said that Daniel Jones (neck) “should be ready to go” and healthy when the Giants hit the field later this month for a pre-draft minicamp.
The Giants’ players can return to the building starting Monday for offseason workouts because Daboll is a first-time head coach. Teams with returning head coaches don’t bring players back until April 18.
Both Schoen and Daboll referred to Tyrod Taylor as the “backup,” confirming that Jones remains the starter. Daboll couched his answer on Taylor a bit by saying: “Yeah, he came in as the backup… Right now we’ve got [the depth chart] set the way we want it set right now.”
But that came off more like Daboll encouraging a competitive internal environment than a threat to Jones’ day one starter status, which is not in doubt.
“The most important thing for me on Monday is a fresh start for everybody,” Daboll said.
Schoen’s plan was to return to the pro day NFL Draft circuit and gear up for top 30 visits bringing prospects to New Jersey.
Daboll has not traveled to pro days. Instead, he has watched film of draft prospects back at the team’s facility and continued preparations for meeting his team in person on Monday.
Co-owner Steve Tisch was in attendance at this week’s meetings but did not speak to the media on the record. He has not done so since Jan. 2020 prior to a personal tragedy that summer.
John Mara continued to do all of the speaking for ownership despite their 50-50 split.
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