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By Michael Stewart/@golferbad

The New York Giants will be selecting 11th in the upcoming NFL draft and the biggest question will be “will GM Dave Gettleman draft “Need or BPA (Best Player Available) as many NFL teams will tell you that they follow one of these philosophies on draft day. Gettleman has been a GM for both the Carolina Panthers and now the New York Giants, but for argument sake I will only focus on his tenure with the Giants.  Going back only the last three drafts during Gettleman’s time here as their GM, let’s take a look at only round 1 and see if Gettleman selected “Need or BPA”.

2020-Andrew Thomas (OT): The Giants selected the OT standout out of Georgia as Thomas was the highest rated Offensive Tackle in the draft, but he clearly wasn’t the highest rated prospect still on the board when the Giants were on the clock. That honor belonged to Defensive Tackle Derrick Brown and OLB Isaiah Simmons who graded out higher than Thomas in 2020. Verdict: NEED

2019-Daniel Jones (QB): Jones was clearly not the BPA available when the Giants selected him with their 6th overall pick. That honor belonged to Kentucky OLB Josh Allen, who the entire Giants nation thought he was going to be the selection in the 1st round, but instead went to Jacksonville after the Giants selected Jones. In fact, Jones was ranked 30th by PFF and other media websites with an 81.9 overall grade and actually the 3rd ranked quarterback on this list behind Klyer Murray and Dwayne Haskins. One could argue and suggest that this list to be subjective, as Haskins has not lived up to his hype. Regardless; it’s just a small example of need vs BPA. Verdict: NEED.

2018-Saquan Barkley (RB): The Giants selection of Running Back Saquon Barkley raised eye bows as many football experts would tell you that “you never draft a RB this high in the draft”. That is a debatable topic and there are good points from both sides to support this argument. However; Saquon Barkley was clearly the BPA in the 2018 draft and despite other areas of need, the Giants pulled the trigger and selected Barkley. Verdict: BPA.

Granted, this is a small sample of how Dave Gettleman operates in the 1st round in the draft for the Giants. Through days 2 and 3 of the draft, Gettleman is more at 50% with Need/ BPA; which is the norm around the NFL. So the debate of Need vs BPA will forever be a topic for discussion and of course every team has their own drafting philosophies. Based on the Giants last 3 drafts, it’s clear to see that Need outweighed BPA by a 2 to 1 margin. So what will the 2021 draft bring us? Will GM Dave Gettleman draft through NEED as the Giants do have a lot of areas to improve upon or will he select the BPA regardless of position on either side of the ball?