To tank or not to tank, that is the question.
If your bottom-dwelling team is in a situation where a Peyton Manning or an Andrew Luck (or, in basketball terms, a LeBron James or a Tim Duncan) is available for your drafting pleasure, it might be worth playing your second- or third- or fourth-stringers throughout the final month of the season. After all, a top pick is considerably more important than a meaningless late-season W.
But if you’re the New York Giants and you’re in a situation where, maybe neither a Manning nor a Luck is in the mix but you have a chance at potentially picking someone who can develop into a star, you play like your lives depend on it.
Because, Giants.
With the No. 1 pick at stake, the Giants — who came into Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts with a league-worst record of 2-13 — decided to bring their A-game for the first time in, well, forever.
Early in the contest, Drew Lock channeled his inner Eli Manning, chucking 30+-yard touchdown passes to Malik Nabers and Darius Slayton, while rookie semi-sensation Tyrone Tracy Jr. ripped off a 40-yard rush, his second-longest run of the season.
The Giants faithful aren’t impressed.
What’s Going on in New York: Giants Put No. 1 Pick at Risk
Since the younger Manning brother retired in 2019, the Giants’ starting quarterback situation has been, in a word, rough, from Daniel Jones to Colt McCoy, Mike Glennon, Jake Fromm, Davis Webb, Tommy DeVito, Tyrod Taylor, and the aforementioned Mr. Lock.
It’s little wonder that Giants fans are hoping their guys lose their way into the top pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, which would give them a shot at one of the class’s top two QBs, Miami’s Cam Ward or Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders.
Over on social media, Giants and NFL fans’ reactions to New York’s out-of-nowhere quality performance against the Colts run the gamut from shock …
Giants fans watching their team play themselves out of a QB for the second straight year pic.twitter.com/KZ8gmfRfce
— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) December 29, 2024
… to resignation …
Giants ruining their 1st pick but it’s the rookies doing it pic.twitter.com/t2OWDFyDN4
— jaycee (@nahitsjaycee) December 29, 2024
… to goofiness …
Drew Lock when there’s absolutely nothing to play for except a worse draft spot for the giants pic.twitter.com/p29CvcAV5l
— _ (@ryandisdier) December 29, 2024
… to pragmatism …
Drew Lock trying to become the biggest villain in New York Giants history
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) December 29, 2024
… to logic. With the Giants taking a late lead over Indianapolis and breaking 40 points in the process, their chances of landing the No. 1 pick look grimmer than some fans would hope.
Not a big tanking guy and getting out ahead of myself, but if the Giants continue winning today, and the Patriots wind up with the 1st overall pick after this weekend, you have to consider going backups vs. backups vs. the Bills, right? A win potentially pushes you down to 5th.
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) December 29, 2024
Who’s on First?
New York wraps up its season in Philadelphia next Sunday, where former Giant Saquon Barkley will be looking for both revenge and a place in the record book, that is if Philly does not opt to rest its starters.
The Big Apple, of course, is all about star power, and while Ward has plenty of potential — some have comped him to prime Geno Smith, while others believe he has shades of Jameis Winston — it’s Sanders who is the sexier selection.
Coach Prime’s kid is the kind of electric field general that the Giants have wanted/needed since the days of Phil Simms (or maybe even Y.A. Tittle). A Sanders-Nabers combo platter could become a nightmare for the NFC East, if not the entire league.
All the New York Giants have to do is lose.