Giants doing a lot of research on QB Justin Herbert, a year after drafting Daniel Jones sixth overall

To the outside world, the New York Giants putting in research on a top quarterback in this week’s draft is a waste of time.

The team drafted Daniel Jones sixth overall last season, and he had a promising rookie season. But NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said the Giants, who have the fourth pick in this draft, have put “a lot of time” into researching Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert.

Herbert has had a FaceTime interview with new Giants coach Joe Judge. Herbert is practically locked in as a top-10 pick and could go as high as third, depending on trades and whether teams prefer Herbert or Tua Tagovailoa.

So what is going on?

Joe Judge won’t acknowledge Daniel Jones as his QB

Judge has taken the weird stance of not referring to any of his players by name since he got the job, and that includes Jones. He insists nobody has a spot assured on the depth chart.

This is a strange approach to take with a group of professionals. Everyone knows Saquon Barkley is going to start at running back, and it doesn’t make much sense to deny that. It seems like a misguided ploy from a former Patriots assistant.

Still, when Judge refused to say Jones was his starting quarterback, or even say his name, it started some speculation about the Giants perhaps being involved in the Tom Brady sweepstakes. That didn’t happen, as Brady went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but it started a weird offseason. A team that drafted a quarterback sixth overall last year and got a good rookie season out of him didn’t seem to have any confidence in that quarterback. At least publicly.

Then there was the report about Herbert. Feel free to be confused.

Why are Giants looking into Justin Herbert?

The report played up the Giants’ interest in Herbert just being exhaustive with draft preparation. And maybe they want everyone in the NFL to believe that. Perhaps reputation matters a lot to Judge. But it’s a big waste of valuable time, to the Giants and Herbert as well.

Are the Giants really considering drafting Herbert? Are they trying to fool teams into moving up for a trade, and leaking their interest in Herbert to a reporter who works for the NFL? Presumably no NFL teams are gullible enough to believe the Giants are interested in drafting another quarterback with a high pick.

Whatever is going on, it seems silly. Either the Giants are seriously considering drafting another quarterback (which is a horrible waste of resources), they’re trying to entice a trade (which is insulting the intelligence of other teams), Judge is trying to let the rest of the NFL know how much he’s preparing for the draft (which is self serving) or this is part of Judge’s message that nobody has a roster spot secured (which is juvenile).

But say this much: The Giants’ interest in Herbert adds a wrinkle nobody expected.

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