This Draft season, especially at the Wide Receiver position, just got more interesting in the overnight hours between March 14th and 15th.
The Los Angeles Chargers, owners of the 5th overall pick, have dealt Keenan Allen to the Chicago Bears for a 4th-round selection, the 110th overall pick. One of three possible moves the Chargers could have made this offseason, Allen will join DJ Moore in an evolving Wide Receiver room in Chicago.
What this overnight deal suggests will have long-running implications for the 2024 NFL Draft, particularly when it comes to the run of Wide Receivers that will commence after the top 3 quarterbacks are taken.
Giants have lacked Wide Receiver Talent
The last time the New York Giants had any receiver finish a season with north of 1,000 yards was Odell Beckham Jr. in 2018. The only time any Giants Wide Receiver has finished with over 1,500 yards in a season was Victor Cruz in 2011. To say that the Giants have lacked a true #1 player at the position as of late may be an understatement.
Since 2019, very few Giants players have even come close to 1,000 yards through the air. The most reliable option has been Darius Slayton, and while others have joined the unit over the years, few have been able to generate All-Pro levels of productivity. Most infamous of these failed projects would be Kenny Golladay, who spent all of two seasons with the team.
What Trade of Keenan Allen Suggests
Jim Harbaugh may want to return to a smashmouth style of football with the Chargers, but Justin Herbert still needs to throw passes on occasion. The biggest thing this trade will suggest is that the Chargers will use their 5th overall pick on a Wide Receiver, in a class that is once again exceptionally deep.
Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, and Rome Odunze headline the class, and all three players are expected to go in the range from New England down to Chicago’s second first-round pick, the 9th overall selection. It is likeliest that Harrison will be the first to hear his name come off the board, to either the Patriots or Cardinals.
Brock Bowers is a name that has also been floated as potentially being selected in this range as well.
How This May Be Problematic For Giants, GM Joe Schoen
The Giants have dealt with problems like this before. In 2021, while the expectation was that the team would take DeVonta Smith with the 11th overall pick, the Eagles engaged in a last-minute trade to leapfrog the Giants for Smith. In 2023, the run on the position began before Joe Schoen could turn in the team’s draft card on one of the players still on the board. The team settled for Deonte Banks.
Wide Receiver is a position of dire need for the Giants, but not the only one. After a week when the team signed Drew Lock, a move that Seahawks GM John Schneider has suggested was because the team “sold” him on potentially being the starting QB, finding a future talent at the position remains a high priority.
The team has already “inquired” about such a move for a QB. The 2024 NFL Draft is now only 41 days away.