How the Eagles and Chiefs' QB Paths Can Help the Giants Find Their Franchise Signal-Caller

There is not one foolproof pathway to finding a franchise QB and the Giants have multiple avenues available to them in that mission

The Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs will face off in Super Bowl LIX, and both teams will be led by quarterbacks who joined their franchises under very different philosophies.

Jalen Hurts was selected by the Eagles in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, after the team traded up to get him. This move was surprising at the time, as Hurts was not widely considered to be a top-100 prospect. However, the Eagles clearly saw something special in Hurts, and their decision has been rewarded handsomely.

On the other side of the spectrum, Patrick Mahomes was the Chiefs' first-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. The Chiefs traded up from No. 27 to No. 10 to select Mahomes, who was considered to be the best quarterback prospect in the draft. This move was widely praised at the time, and Mahomes has gone on to become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

Both Hurts and Mahomes were not viewed as locks to be upper echelon quarterbacks as pros, which seems silly to mention now with Mahomes and the Chiefs on the verge of a historic Super Bowl three-peat and Hurts in the Super Bowl for the second time in three seasons.

So, how does this apply to the New York Giants and their quest to find the next quarterback, a priority this offseason for the organization from co-owner and team president John Mara on down?

There is not one foolproof pathway to finding a franchise QB and the Giants have multiple avenues available to them in that mission,

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There are a lot of assumptions being made regarding what head coach Brian Daboll values in a QB and traits he believes a passer needs to succeed. Who doesn't want an athletic freak at the position?

But, ball placement, poise and processing all matter just as much - go back and see the excitement from Daboll when Drew Lock dialed into that and the Giants finally looked competent in the passing game against the Colts, leading Daboll to say afterward: "If you get good quarterback play, you have an opportunity in every game."

Let's take a look at what lies ahead for general manager Joe Schoen and Daboll as the scouting and evaluation season continues through college all-star showcases, the Scouting Combine, free agency and ultimately the 2025 NFL Draft in late April in Green Bay.

Path No. 1: Be aggressive and take that swing

This one is the most obvious. The Giants are sitting with the No. 3 overall pick, and the tandem of Miami's Cam Ward and Colorado's Shedeur Sanders are widely considered the top two options in that spot. There are questions with both prospects, and the takes on social media and from draft pundits will undoubtedly get more wild as we move forward here in the process.

The Giants have dug in on Ward and Sanders, who spent time with team brass most recently at the East-West Shrine Bowl over the weekend. ESPN analyst Jordan Reid told NorthJersey.com that Ward has the higher ceiling, but Sanders, the son of Hall of Famer and Colorado coach Deion Sanders, is a safer pick just based on his higher floor.

"He's a great kid, he's a great kid, a really good personality, football smart, his dad is a football coach," Schoen told reporters at the Senior Bowl, via Giants.com. "It's a little bit cliché, but he checks all the boxes of a [player with a] dad that is a football coach and the passion that he approaches the game with. It was good getting to meet him. He's had a really good career at Colorado and obviously looking forward to getting to know all those guys in the rest of the process."

Will Sanders and/or Ward be there if the Giants stay put? Debatable. If they believe either player has a chance to be the guy for Daboll in this offense while being comfortable enough to grow into the job in the spotlight of the Big Apple, Schoen should take a page from Kansas City and get his guy. Ward certainly passes the eye test, while Sanders' skill set goes beyond obvious physical attributes - mostly due to the rare athletic gifts observers expect him to have because of his last name.

Path No. 2: Trust the process - yours and the draft

Here's the tricky part of the draft: navigating up and down is a skill for GMs and scouting staffs. Schoen has done pretty well from this perspective, but nobody's perfect in reading the value of players as seen through the lens of your opponents. The next tier of prospects falls into this category.

Ole Miss star Jaxson Dart is an intriguing target at this week's Senior Bowl. Alabama's Jalen Milroe has drawn comps to Hurts for his remarkable athleticism yet raw talent as a passer. Syracuse's Kyle McCord and Ohio State's Will Howard - who succeeded McC