New York Giants GM Dave Gettleman entered this offseason under intense scrutiny. He had fired Pat Shurmur at the end of last season and many of Gettleman’s free agent signings flopped over the previous two seasons. Giants’ fans were calling for Gettleman’s job and were justified in doing so. However, Gettleman was given one more chance to infuse the Giants with talent and during the 2020 NFL Draft he delivered.

For the first time since he was hired Gettleman’s plan was evident. He needed to add talent and youth along the offensive line and he spent the fourth overall pick on left tackle Andrew Thomas. Thomas should displace veteran Nate Solder who could either find himself moved to right tackle or released. In the second round the Giants were able to grab the best safety in the Draft in Xavier McKinney who should form an exciting duo with Jabrill Peppers at safety this season. In later rounds, Gettleman added more talent to the offensive line with tackle Matt Peart, and guard Shane Lemieux, as well as bolstering the linebacking corps with Cam Brown, Carter Coughlin, TJ Brunson, and Tae Crowder. The secondary, which was bolstered with James Bradberry in free agency, received more help with Darnay Holmes and Chris Williamson joining McKinney. It was obvious the Giants seem to be taking a page from the New England Patriots and bolstering the trenches while building a defense from the outside in.

While many Giants’ fans and Draft experts expected the Giants to add an edge rusher, Gettleman instead chose to bolster a secondary that was exploited early and often last season. Now, the Giants secondary looks like it could be a strength. The linebacking corps also looks formidable after Blake Martinez, Kyler Fackrell were signed in free agency and Ryan Connelly will return after a promising rookie campaign was cut short by injury last season. They will be joined by Brown, Coughlin, Brunson, and Crowder. Oshane Ximines, who had 4.5 sacks in his rookie campaign should also take another step forward this coming season and a group that was mediocre at best last year should emerge as a strength.

Previously, Gettleman looked like a snake oil salesman who didn’t really like his job. He was trying to sell fans on being competitive but nobody was really sure if he believed that as he traded away veteran talent for picks and freed up salary cap space. The Giants were not sure what foot to put forward after firing head coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese following the 2017 season. They had an aging Eli Manning and a veteran defense that was better on paper than o the field and expectations were higher than they should have been. Drafting Saquon Barkley in the 2018 NFL Draft also indicated the Giants were going all in on competing rather than rebuilding but that plan quickly fell apart and Gettleman tore what remained down this offseason.

The Giants seemed to finally embrace the rebuild and Gettleman, who has had two strong drafts already, is likely looking at a third strong draft. This is where success is born, from the Draft. Free agency can’t be counted on to bring in talent alone and the last few years proved that. Now, Gettleman has a young quarterback, a young left tackle, a promising right tackle prospect, a stable of young, talented defensive backs, a potential All-Pro at running back, and a lot of salary cap space in the next two offseasons that should be used to fill in gaps rather than the holes that they had been doing.