The Giants finally made a pick Friday night in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, but not before “Trader’’ Joe Schoen moved down not once, but twice, before selecting Wan’Dale Robinson, a diminutive wide receiver from Kentucky.
The first-year Giants general manager traded down in the second round not once, but twice, gaining an extra fourth-round pick (No. 114) and an extra fifth-round pick (No. 146).
At the start of Friday night, the Giants owned the No. 36 overall pick in the second round. Schoen did not stay there for long. First, he pulled off a rare Giants trade with the Jets, moving out of No. 36 to move down two spots, to 38, gaining in return the Jets’ fifth-round pick. That gave the Giants back-to-back picks in the fifth round, the Jets’ pick (146) and their own pick (147).
A moment later, Schoen did it again, trading down with the Falcons from No. 38 to No. 43 in the second round. The compensation return for this move was the Falcons’ fourth-round pick, No. 114 overall.
After the maneuvers, Schoen and the Giants had eight picks between picks 43 and 146: One in the second round, two in the third, two in the fourth and three in the fifth. It gave the Giants 11 total picks in this draft. This is an indication Schoen wants to overturn the roster as much as possible, with affordable rookie options.
When they finally made a selection, the Giants added a 5-foot-8, 178-pound hybrid offensive player. Robinson started his college career at Nebraska and blossomed in 2021 at Kentucky, where he caught 104 passes for 1,348 yards and seven touchdowns. He has speed (4.38) and can be used in a variety of ways, out of the backfield, on jet sweeps and as a kick returner. There is a downside with Robinson, though, as he had more dropped passes in college than touchdown passes. What this means for wide receiver Kadarius Toney, last year’s first-round pick, remains to be seen.
This is a new age for the Giants. Dave Gettleman, the former general manager, traded back only once in his career, moving down from No. 11 to No. 20 last year to take Toney. Before that, Jerry Reese in his 11 years as the general manager never traded down in a draft. Before that, Ernie Accorsi traded down in 2006 to get defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka.
Source: NYPOST
