Quarterback competition brewing? Giants draft Daniel Jones, Redskins pick Dwayne Haskins

The NFC East got some new signal-callers on Thursday.

With the sixth pick in the NFL draft, the Giants took Duke quarterback Daniel Jones. Several experts, including Daniel Jeremiah and Mel Kiper Jr., had projected Jones to go to the Giants with the No. 17 pick, acquired from the Browns in the Odell Beckham Jr. trade.

Nine picks later, Washington drafted Ohio State star Dwayne Haskins. He joins injured Alex Smith, Case Keenum, and Colt McCoy in the team’s quarterback room, meaning he could very well be under center against the Eagles in the season-opener on Sept. 8.

According to Kiper on the ESPN broadcast, the Eagles’ NFC East rival didn’t want to risk losing Jones.

Some analysts questioned if the Giants should have been less transparent about their affection for Jones to make it less risky to wait:

And then there’s Dwayne Haskins, a New Jersey native and Ohio State quarterback also projected to go in the first round. His reaction to the Giants passing on him was interesting, to say the least.

Giants’ fans reactions weren’t much better:

But it’s not all bad for the Giants. Jeremiah, an NFL Network analyst, said heading into the draft that Jones and the Giants were a good fit.

“I just know when you watch Jones play and the things he does, I think he can play an efficient game, a team that’s going to build around his defense going forward,” Jeremiah said. “I think you’ll see that with the Giants. We’ve seen it reflected in the Odell Beckham trade. I think the more conservative, efficient approach offensively, that to me fits with Daniel Jones’ style, and everybody kind of made the Cutcliffe thing. I don’t know if that has much impact when it’s all said and done with that connection.”

Washington’s picking of Haskins was met with a more positive reaction.

Here’s NFL.com’s scouting report of Haskins.

“Big and talented with explosive arm talent but limited mobility Haskins is a chance-taker with the arm strength to get away with some tight window throws that most in this class can’t make. Haskins is still very early in his journey and is prone to misreading coverage and stalling in getting through his progressions. While this is normal for an inexperienced quarterback, Haskins is going to be forced to learn on the fly against NFL speed and defensive coordinators conspiring to defeat him. His athletic limitations could keep him pocket-bound, but he has the arm talent, confidence and pocket savvy to become a good NFL starter if he’s protected and given the time to develop early on.”