Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert will remain in school for one more year, making the New York Giants quarterback situation more muddled.
A rough season for the New York Giants just got a little bit worse.
Justin Herbert, a quarterback that the team is reportedly a big fan of, announced via the University or Oregon’s Twitter that he will remain in school for his senior year.
There was one more present under the tree. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/ALeRv0zc1G
— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) December 26, 2018
It’s been known for most of the season that this was a possibility, but the lure of being a top-10 pick could have changed his mind. Clearly it did not, as he will return for a final season in college and a chance to play with his younger brother.
Entering his bowl game this season (against Michigan State, 12/31, 3 PM, FOX), Herbert has had a strong season. He’s thrown the ball for 2,985 yards on 59.6 percent completions, and has a 28:8 TD:INT rate. He’s added 173 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
For his college career, he’s put up 6,904 yards with 62.7 percent of his passes being completed and he has 62 touchdowns to just 17 interceptions. He’ll have one more season to add to those stats and establish himself as the top quarterback in the 2020 draft.
As for the Giants, their quarterback situation just got a little murkier. There are several other quarterbacks in the draft, but none that Dave Gettleman is thought to be in love with.
Gettleman’s preference towards drafting the best player available makes it unlikely that he drafts Dwayne Haskins or Drew Lock if he doesn’t feel that they are worthy of a high draft pick, and neither are likely to be available in the second round.
That leaves the team with three options. They can stick with Eli Manning for one more season, bring in a veteran free agent, such as Teddy Bridgewater or Derek Carr (assuming he is released by the Raiders) or giving Kyle Lauletta a run as the starter.
Lauletta getting a run as the starter is the least likely path taken, given that the team won’t start him despite being eliminated this season.
If Herbert was Plan A, the team will need to shift to Plan B, whatever that may be.
